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11May 2012

Crewe Live & Band Promo Special Offer

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Summer is approaching and as well as a busy wedding season we have the annual Crewe Live Festival to photograph. We have been chosen as the official photographer for the event for the third year running! This year is shaping up to be an amazing event.

Headliners include Ash, Pulled Apart By Horses and Hadouken! The event will be staged across 10 venues and the town centre and will involve over 100 bands.

To celebrate our third year as official photographer we are running a special offer on band and musician photo sessions. All the details can be found on our site: http://simonjnewburyphotography.co.uk/musicoffer/

We have been busy with shoots this week with Son Of Shinobi, Sink or Swim and Thick As Thieves all having shoots as part of the special offer!


I’ve also started a personal project on Urban Portraits. I am going to photograph a series of people in an urban setting and maybe consider an exhibition at the end. It is proving to be a popular project as I have had over 30 volunteers already!

Meanwhile I have been busy undertaking lots of commercial commissions. I will be photographing some building exteriors for a construction company over the weekend as well as finishing up the hotel interior photographs for Firenze and The Cheshire Cat in Nantwich.

 

11Apr 2012

Nantwich Jazz, Blues & Music Festival

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cleo laine

Dame Cleo Laine performing Live in St Mary's Church, Nantwich

It’s certainly been a busy week for us here at Simon J. Newbury Photography. We were tasked with capturing the 16th Nantwich Jazz, Blues & Music Festival. A wonderful event spread across 15 venues and 5 days!

Tina and myself were out every day capturing

lots of the action around the town and the venues. One of my favourite bands were Spikedriver who appeared at the Crown Hotel Ballroom.

 

Tony Christie was amazing and it was great to actually meet the man and do a portrait of him in his dressing room!

Tony Christie Amarillo

Portrait of Tony Christie taken in his dressing room just before his performance at the Nantwich Civic Hall.

 

The jazz concerts at the churches were also really nice and the entire festival had lots of variety!

Tom Seals played all over the place and we were pleased to be able to get him photos with Tony Christie and Dame Cleo Laine. It was nice to see my photo of Tom on his roll-up banners around the town!

I managed to fit in two Nantwich Town matches as well.I travelled down to Stafford on the team bus on Monday before getting back to Nantwich in time for the final gig…

…The Beat at the Nantwich Civic Hall.

Since the festival I have also done another ‘Paint & Portrait’ with Sharon. I also visited Haslington Hall, where I am booked to photograph two weddings over the summer. I was meeting with Kim & Darren for the pre-wedding shoot which is a standard part of all my packages! The weather was kind and the daffodils were lovely!

05Apr 2012

Nantwich Jazz, Blues & Music Festival 1

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Well its festival time again and we’re gearing up for a busy season. As well as our regular photographic coverage of Crewe Live (looking amazing this year with Ash, Hadouken and Pulled Apart By Horses) we are covering the Nantwich Jazz Festival this year as well.

The popular festival has some amazing acts and top of the bill is Tony Christie. I’m hoping to get a portrait in Nantwich as well as lots of great live shots of his performance. We’ll be getting around all the venues as well to ensure decent coverage of the event!

Its a busy weekend for us as we also have our regular event at the Box in Crewe to photograph on Friday. Saturday is another home fixture for Nantwich Town FC ahead of Monday’s away fixture at Stafford. We’ll also be at Crewe Alex for the WTD Promotions darts exhibition featuring Steve Beaton and Colin Lloyd offering our event photography.

Tuesday (weather permitting) we are meeting up with a lovely couple for their engagement shoot at Haslington Hall. They are getting married later this year and we always offer a complimentary pre-wedding shoot as part of all our packages!

No doubt we’ll see some of you around this weekend!

08Mar 2012

England Under 18s International, The South & The Aussie Pink Floyd

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It seems I have been doing loads of travelling lately. In the last few weeks I have been to Birmingham twice, Manchester, Birkenhead and Stoke. I’m off up to Burnley tomorrow too!

Nantwich Town have been at home for two Saturdays on the trot so I have been over at the Weaver sat pitchside. I have great shots of Mat Bailey’s goals which appeared in all the local press. The England U18 national team also stopped by the Weaver Stadium this week for training ahead of their 3-0 win over Poland staged at Crewe’s Alexandra Stadium. I attended the training session and got a photo of the squad for the clubs website. The facilities at the Weaver must be good as the lads put in a stunning performance in front a a 6000 plus strong crowd. It was good to be pitchside at such a prestigious fixture! It was also nice meeting Sir Trevor Brooking before the game!

We have also been about to loads of live music gigs of late. The first visit to Birmingham was to photograph The South (formerly the Beautiful South) at the o2 Academy. This was the fifth time I had seen the band and they put on a great show!

We also headed up to Manchester to photograph the Australian Pink Floyd at the Apollo. It was a real visual spectacle with a stunning light show and video graphics. If you like Pink Floyd then its really a show you will enjoy!

We also managed to find time to photograph Syntronix at the Carlsberg Suite at Crewe Alex. Great performance and good crowd. Over at the Box Mercedes put on a really good show.

Sham 69 are heading back to town on Saturday and I’ll be doing some band photos for their publicity and website. One of my favourite portraits is of Al Campbell taken the last time they played at the Box!

We have also been busy covering a few events. We photographed a Christening party at Crewe Vagrants on Sunday. A great set of images for the happy parents. We have also photographed a few after dinner speaking events. We were with Yvette Cooper over in Tranmere and will be with Alan Johnson in Burnley.

23Feb 2012

Dodgy promo & music photography!

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The music loving people of Crewe were treated to a fine performance from Britpop legends Dodgy at The Box last week. They were kicking off their new tour of their latest studio album.

I met the guys during their rehearsal day and we did a photoshoot at The Box. I did portraits of the three band members as well as a set of group shots. The images will be on my website very soon as well as appearing on my Flickr stream and on the official Dodgy Facebook page!

The images are being well received and someone commented that it was a “good, honest photo” of the band. I love that description and its really what I strive to produce in my work!

The gig itself was amazing and Tina and I got loads of images of the performance!

Its been all go with music photography lately. I’ve also done a very interesting photoshoot with local legend Tom Seals. It was a very well organised shoot which was fairly technical but very rewarding. I won’t go into detail as I am sure Tom wants to have a grand launch of his new website which the images are for!

The same weekend saw the Reign Of Sirius shoot. They are a metal band from Macclesfield and travelled over for the shoot with their new members. It was a very pleasant shoot and I really like the final images (as do the band more importantly!!). I played them on my Radio show on Monday and I am sure that will be the first of many plays!

Tomorrow I have yet another shoot with emerging Crewe band Rockwood. Looking forward to photographing a band I have been friends with for ages now!

Quite a bit on next week musically as well. The Beautiful South are now The South and after a recent request for some images I did of the band a while back I am off to Birmingham to photograph them at the O2 Arena. Another band I photographed last year was the Australian Pink Floyd. They were at Chester Rocks. I supplied them with the images from the event and I’ll be photographing them next week at the Manchester Apollo.

Sandwiched between those two events I have an after dinner event to photograph with Yvette Cooper MP and a Christening!

01Feb 2012

St. Valentine’s Day Special Offer

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Well it doesn’t seem that long since Christmas but it’s February already! That means St. Valentine’s Day of course!

Because we love you all so much we have a special deal for you romantics! On the 12th February we are holding a special couples shoot. You can book a timeslot for you and your loved one and come and have a photoshoot with us in Crewe, Cheshire. The images will be put online in our password protected client area gallery for you both to choose your favourite shot which will be edited and delivered to you as a large 16×12 print for just £49. You may choose to upgrade to a stretch framed canvas print which is on offer at just £89. These prices are all inclusive of the photography and the final print!

We have limited places so get in touch as soon as possible to book your preferred time with your local award winning photographer!

25Jan 2012

Thin Lizzy

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As you know music photography is one of my favourite areas of photography. I have worked with many bands in promo/ band setups, live photography, documentary or at festivals.

I was recently asked to photograph Thin Lizzy on their European tour which was a great honour. Tina & I traveled to Leicester to photograph the band both from the pit and onstage. Its actually an amazing experience being on the stage while such a huge band entertain a massive crowd!

My favourite shots came right at the end of the set as the band got together centre stage and saluted the crowd to rapturous applause. I got behind the band so I could capture the emotion of the fans. it makes for a great black and white shot!

Next up we are off to Sheffield to hook up with the band again to make a set of portraits and a full promo shoot. Really looking forward to it.

By contrast we have been at two gigs back in Crewe at the Box. Gypsy jazz legend Gary Potter rolled back in to town and I have to say I stand amazed at his music. It’s simply amazing! All the gig images are on the Facebook page if you want to check them out!

Before we get all rock n roll on Sunday we have a shoot in Preston with another MP and some local council candidates on Saturday. After that we head back over to the Weaver Stadium to photograph Nantwich Town! We are certainly getting about this week!

10Jan 2012

Band Promo Shoot Offer

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I’ve been doing band and music photography for years. It’s always been a great love of mine and I’ve got to meet some great bands and musicians over the years. Promo images, or band shots if you prefer, take a fair bit of understanding to get right.

A band’s image is very particular. As important as the sound? I would say so! I like to work with bands to create an image that says everything about the band without making a sound.

I’m pleased to have had one of my promo images published in Kerrang! – of the mighty James Cleaver Quintet! I’ve also had many images published on websites and newspapers.

All through January I am running a special offer on band photoshoots. £70 gets you a full shoot, your selection of 10 of the images, those images edited to a professional standard plus a set of portraits of each band member!

Bookings must be made in January to qualify for the £70. Price rises to £125 from February!

01Jan 2012

Review of the Year – 2011 – Part Four

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2011 was also a special year for our wedding photography. We got to share and document the special day of Emma & Ben, Jane & Tom, Kate & Matthew, Michelle & Matthew, Sarah & John, Emily & Mike and Joanne & John. We visited some wonderful venues and had a great time photographing all of them! A few highlights were the 50s theme, the Glastonbury Festival theme and the helicopter ride for the bride and groom to Crewe Hall!

We’re looking forward to lots of weddings in the new year, and have quite a few already booked in!

I was also honoured to be asked by Cheshire East Council to be involved in two big events. The first was the Centenary week of celebrations at the Lyceum Theatre. I was the official photographer for the week of events and photographed the performances that were put on in celebration and also photographed the buildings interior which is an amazing building and also the exterior when it came to life for the magnificent Illuminos Project, a fantastic light show telling the history of the building.

The second event was being asked to sit on the judging panel for a photography competition covering various categories designed to encapsulate Cheshire East in picture. The standard of entry was very high and choosing the various winners was not an easy task! It was inspiring to see so many great images of Cheshire!

We have also been up to lots of kids photography. From some lovely monochrome newborn photography through to babies and toddlers and through to some great shoots with older children. Lots of patience leads to some very rewarding images!

I was also pleased to produce the mayoral portrait for the Worshipful Mayor of Crewe in the Municipal Buildings mayoral portrait.

We’ve also kept busy with lots of product and commercial shoots. A great way to spruce up a website!!

All the best for 2012!

31Dec 2011

Review of the Year – 2011 – Part Three

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I’ve been the official photographer at The Box in Crewe since 2009. I’ve watched it grow and go from strength to strength. This year has seen an amazing set of bands and musicians appearing at the venue, as well as the capacity increase.

One of the best nights I had photographing at the Box was when Guillemots played. Fyfe Dangerfield and his band all posed for portraits and a group shot before a wonderful performance in front of a brilliant crowd. My monochrome portrait of Fyfe is one of my favourites of the year.

The immense Funeral For A Friend were also just amazing. A ram packed Box lapped up the Welsh rockers who headed off to Download the following week. Another great set of portraits, again all monochrome!

One of the nights that took me by surprise was the UK Subs. A brilliant night was had followed by some green room documentary photography and a pint from Charlie, the lead singer!!

My annual charity event Boxjam (all in aid of Oxfam) extended to 2 days this year. Boxjam III crammed in nearly 60 acts over 2 stages and raised £720! Really pleased to bring My Preserver and Benjamin Bloom back to Crewe as well as a host a brilliant local acts.

A fine night was had in the company of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly! Aka Sam Duckworth. Arriving late due to traffic hold ups we did the portrait shoot after the gig. One of my favourite portraits of the year and also a great set of live images.

Amongst the other (hundreds) of bands stopping by were Futures, Tellison, James Cleaver Quintet, Sham 69, Adam Ficek & Gary Powell and Blitz Kids!

I’ve also worked with many great local bands including: Junker, Skeletal Damage, The Escape, Violet Omen, The Retrospective, Hayley Strangelove, James Gardiner, Chloe, Revelation, Midnight Lycan Party, Longshanks, The Resistance, and Sumofly.

I also travelled to Birmingham’s O2 Academy to photograph The Bluetones on their farewell tour at their penultimate gig.

I’ve also covered some big events this year. Working with WTD Promotions I have photographed some great professional darts exhibitions. Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock, Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins, Andy ‘The Pie Man’ Smith and John ‘Darth Maple’ Part all headed to Crewe for some great evenings down at Crewe Alex. I’ve also covered some after dinner speeches including Alastair Campbell and Labour Leader Ed Miliband MP at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

I was also booked to be the official photographer at the North West Regional Labour Party Conference in Blackpool. This inevitably led to loads of MP portraits!