I saw Ryan Adams and all i got is this lousy photo

Last Thursday i was accredited to take photos at Ryan Adams at the Enmore Theatre. Beforehand the photographers were warned that we'd just get two songs to shoot from the sound desk.

That was disappointing, but it turned out to be totally pointless taking pictures after Ryan Adams began playing in almost total darkness.

I thought it was a move just to sabotage photographers, but it seemed he was happy to play in the dark for the whole set to the thousand odd punters who paid about $70 a ticket.

Many in the crowd were pissed off and there was a lot of heckling along the lines of "turn some fu*king lights on!"

It seemed to rattle Ryan and created an uncomfortable vibe for most of the gig.

Read more on the gig at A Reminder, Fasterlouder and Elmo's review for The Brag.

On top of my dissapointment of walking away with crap photos, i absent mindedly left behind my Crumpler backpack at the venue. Thankfully it was mostly empty, but i lost several flash cards and batteries. Bugger.

My new job

I started a new job a couple of weeks ago, Chief Photographer for Time Out Sydney magazine.

It's pretty bloody exciting, getting paid to take pictures fulltime. And for a magazine i've loved as a reader while travelling, one that's just starting up in my hometown.

It's an unplanned career turn. For the past seven years i've worked in the web design field. I have a communications degree, but no formal training in photography. When i took up the hobby about 5 years ago i never dreamed that one day i'd be "Chief Photographer" for a world recognised magazine title.

For the past few years my passion for working on the web was drifting. That coincided with my passion (some might say obsession) with photography ever increasing.

I kept getting more and more freelance photography jobs. My pictures had appeared in magazines all over the world, but the income i was making was little more than pocket money. I continued to work full time in my day job while doing photography on the side.

When i was approached about taking up the photography gig at Time Out it was a no brainer. A regular income taking pictures everyday for a magazine i love. So far i've shot chefs, drag queens, venues, tourist attractions, food, a swimming pool, coffee, a fashion designer and a musician.

I couldn't imagine a much better job.

The Horrors at the Annandale

Last but not least of my Splendour sideshows was The Horrors at The Annandale.

A lot of people reckon they're style over substance - but oh what style and what an entertaining live show. They're fascinating to watch, like characters from the Addams Family with a volatile lead singer who likes to destroy things and stray into the audience.

The band must've had the same tour manager as Lily Allen because instead of a photo pass the photographers were given a pink Nike sweatband to wear. It stuck out rather embarrasingly amongst the black clad Horrors fans.

Lily Allen at The Metro

Here's a few shots from Lily Allen at The Metro. Most of my shots were rubbish and these are pretty ordinary.

One memorable thing about this gig was that us photographers had to wear Shrek ears rather than a standard photo pass. Apparently Lily Allen had a scuffle with a paparazzi photographer in Melbourne and the Shrek ears were a gesture to poke fun at us. It was a laugh seeing the old agency hacks in their green ears.

I found this snap of my back with the ears on Flickr.

Kaiser Chiefs in Sydney

Here's some photos of Kaiser Chiefs at the Hordern Pavilion on Sunday night.

I've photographed them a couple of times before and every time i try and nail a good shot of Ricky (the singer) jumping.

I still haven't got one i'm happy with but i get a little closer each time.

The Kaisers sure know how to entertain.

Arctic Monkeys in Sydney

Here's some shots of Arctic Monkeys at the Hordern Pavillion on Saturday night.

It was the hottest ticket in town after selling out super fast the day tickets went on sale.

It seems the band aren't going to be the one album wonders some pinned them as.

I only got to catch my three songs before racing across town to catch Lily Allen.

There's more photos in the Arctic Monkeys at the Hordern gallery.

Editors at The Metro

Seeing Editors at the Metro on Wednesday night was the start of my Brit band weekend. Tonight i'm attempting to shoot Arctic Monkeys at the Hordern then Lily Allen at The Metro. Saturday is Bloc Party, Sunday Kaiser Chiefs and Monday The Horrors.

I may not be going to Splendour like most of my mates but i'll be at a lot of sideshows.

See more photos of Editors at The Metro.

bluejuice have problems

My first album cover photo!

This is the cover art for bluejuice's debut album Problems. After being around for 6 years they're finally releasing their debut album on the 11th August.

You may remember the photo when i first posted it.

I haven't seen it myself yet, but i believe the rear CD art is the bottom half of the photo.

The band seem to have embraced being odd for this new album. The video for the first single Vitriol has them forming a cult and performing to a bemused Pitt St Mall crowd.

The song has been doing great for them, being the most played track on triple j last week.

It's great to see it doing so well. I visited the band in the studio in May last year while they were recording it. It got stuck in my head after hearing it played over and over so many times and now it's back.

Download Vitriol (mp3 via whothehell.net).

bluejuice (who insist on lowercase spelling) start a tour of NSW, Victoria and Queensland this month. Dates on their myspace.

Check out how strange they are in the flesh.

Back from Fiji

It was lovely, as you'd expect. A proper tropical paradise. We spent most of our time on a resort called Amunuca on Tokoriki island.

I took less photos than i expected, the camera really only came out at dawn and dusk.

One casualty of the trip was my fancy phone. It was soaked through after i stupidly took it parasailing and was dunked in the ocean. Annoyingly i still can't find my old phone, so i'm phoneless.