Music

Travelling Mercies

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“Travelling Mercies” is a recent album from husband and wife duo Ashton Lane, and it topped UK Official Country Artists Album Charts earlier this year. I was approached by Esther and Tim last summer to photograph and design the album packaging. The shoot took place last September in one of my favourite places, Mugdock Park. In fact, I keep meaning to do a separate blog devoted to sessions I did there over the years (and there have been many), hopefully I’ll get to it soon. Anyway, back to Ashton Lane, I always get a bit nervous when my brief for a Glasgow based shoot includes words “outdoors” and “sunny” simultaneously - I may have many tricks up my sleeve but controlling the weather isn’t one of them so all you can do is hope that you’ll get lucky. And lucky we were indeed - it was a beautiful sunny evening, perfect for what we were trying to achieve.

Behind the scenes:

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4

Stevie Manns

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Stevie Manns is a Scottish singer/songwriter and podcaster who’s been based in New York for the past few years. We connected on social media some years back and we’ve been discussing a possible shoot ever since. It finally happened during Stephanie’s most recent visit to Glasgow in September 2019. We shot in Kelvingrove Park and Charing X back lanes, all natural light. It was a pleasure! Enjoy.

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4

Brooks Williams

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I met Brooks Williams in November 2018 when I was photographing him and Rab Noakes for their joint tour. We got on very well and when Brooks was finishing work on his latest solo album “Work My Claim” last summer, he got in touch asking me to shoot the album promo. The photos were taken in a back alley in Finnieston as well as Kyoti Recording Studio. Have a look:

GEAR
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Neewer 120cm Octabox
Profoto A1
Profoto Air Remote TTL-N for Nikon

Jill Jackson's Xmas Show

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Jill Jackson put on a very special festive show at Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow’s West End this past December. The night was called “A Very Country Christmas” and featured Jill’s solo material (old and brand new) as well some holiday season classics. There were also a few special guests, namely Kathleen MacInnes, Rab Noakes and Soul Nation Choir. It was a brilliant night, truly, and it was a pleasure to capture this event for Jill.

Behind the Scenes/Soundcheck:

A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS:

GEAR
Nikon D4
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

Pictures

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Pictures is a project by Cliona Cassidy (voice) and Catriona McKay (harp and harmonium). I've worked with both artists on several occasions over the years, have great respect for them so it was a pleasure to be asked to photograph and design their EP. Cliona and Catriona had a very clear idea of what they wanted for the cover image and its inspiration was a famous Frida Kahlo photograph of the Mexican painter working in her studio (which you can see below). We first took a portrait of Catriona and then photographed Cliona standing next to an easel, just like Kahlo. Rest of the work was done in photoshop. See the EP cover below as well other images from that session:

GEAR
Nikon D4
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
PocketWizard FlexTT5 Transceiver
PocketWizard MiniTT1 Transmitter 
Nikon SB-5000 Speedlight
Neewer 120cm Octabox