Urban Portrait Private Commissions

You may have noticed a few changes on our homepage! We now have direct links to our three main sites! As well as the main photography site: www.simonjnewburyphotography.co.uk which covers all our aspects of photography we have direct links to the dedicated wedding site: www.yourweddingphotographercheshire.co.uk and our page dedicated to the Urban Portrait Series: www.urbanportrait.co.uk

We really hope you like the extended new sites and would really welcome your thoughts and comments!

With regards to the Urban Portrait series we have made a package available to anyone wishing to privately commission us. For just £49 you can book a shoot at a location of your choice (in the Crewe area) and get a large 18×12 print of your favourite portrait from the shoot.

Urban Portraits private commissions by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Urban Portraits private commissions by Simon J. Newbury Photography

The Urban Portrait project has proved to be very popular indeed. After a very successful exhibition last year we still have plans to turn the project into a limited edition book run. The book is open to book advertisers priced at just £50 which includes a discount voucher, a signed copy of the book and a print! If you would be interested in being involved, please get in touch!

Meanwhile if you would like your own personal Urban Portrait then please get in touch to make arrangements! We are also available for band/ musician Urban Photoshoots!

Review of the Year – The Dabbers & Gridiron UK Photography

A few other notable things we have been up to this year include the stills photography commission for Gridiron UK and the ongoing rollercoaster of photographing Nantwich Town FC.

Gridiron UK Film Cast by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Gridiron UK Film Cast by Simon J. Newbury Photography in Crewe, Cheshire

Gridiron UK was filmed in and around Crewe. It was a very exhausting but rewarding 4 weeks. It was really interesting to see the behind the scenes work that goes into making a motion picture. The film is based on the true story of the formation of the Crewe Railroaders in the 80s by writer and director Gary Delaney. My main role was to photograph the behind the scenes work, create the official stills for the film publicity and appear briefly as an extra! Although I haven’t yet seen the final cut I have been informed by the director that my main scene, while slightly cut, is still part of the film!! I appeared briefly behind lead character Derek (Michael Dixon) in a scene filmed at the Market Centre in Crewe. I also appear behind Derek’s parents at a fixture at the Cumberland Arena. I’ll be sure to let you all know exactly where to pause your dvds when the film is released! The next stage for the photos will be an exhibition planned. Again, we’ll keep you posted!

Nantwich Town FC Cheshire Senior Cup Winners

Nantwich Town FC Cheshire Senior Cup Winners at Chester FC

We are now well into our second season as official photographers to Nantwich Town FC. Last year saw the club reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the very first time in the history of the club. Last season was finished by a visit to Chester City’s Deva Stadium to take on Stalybridge Celtic in the Cheshire Senior Cup Final. The Dabbers ran out 1-0 winners and it was a great way to end such a great season for the club! This season has seen the Dabbers stronger in the league. Home form has been fairly indifferent but the Dabbers have been far stronger away from the Weaver. All being well the Dabbers will be involved in the playoffs come the end of the season!

Portraits & Weddings – Review of the Year

Well its been a good year on both the wedding and portrait photography fronts. It’s great getting to meet well known people and quite often celebrities make for good portraits because they must be posing all the time!

Portrait Photography, celebrity portraits

Main Image: Jonny Brain (Goalkeeper). Top Left: Chris Ramsey (Comedian). Bottom Left: Michael Dixon (Actor). Top Right: Beth Tweddle (Gymnast). Bottom Right: Dorsey Levins (American Footballer).

Among some of the faces we have made portraits of this year are: Tim Wonnacott (BBC Bargain Hunt), Richard O’Brien (Crystal Maze), Chris Ramsey (Hebburn), Perry Fenwick (Eastenders), Daniel Ilabaca (Freerunner), Right Said Fred, Dorsey Levens (Green Bay Packers Superbowl Winner), Beth Tweddle (GB Olympic medalist), Eddie Izzard, Dion Dublin, Steve Claridge, Tony Christie, Guy Garvey (Elbow), Darren Fletcher (Man Utd), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Painter (Darts), Steve Beaton, Colin Lloyd, Michael Dixon (actor), Rebecca Pitkin (Actress), Jonny Brain (goalkeeper), Charlotte Bradbury (swimmer), Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper MP and Alan Johnson MP.

But, as I always say, I love making portraits of non celebrities far more. An example of this is the Urban Portrait project. Other than the Sherborne Regeneration Project I undertook with Cruden and Wulvern the Urban Portrait has become my biggest project to date. It never really started as a project but which I did the first portrait and showed it to people the popularity was immense. Before I knew it I had a raft of volunteers wanting to be in an Urban Portrait, and the project was born! I am really loving working on the project and held a successful exhibition back in July. I was really flattered to get a foreword to the project from renowned rock photographer Ian Tilton. Talks are currently underway to turn the project into a book of 53 portraits. We also have a dedicated site www.urbanportrait.co.uk

It has also been a busy year of wedding photography. Tina and I have been lucky to attend a wonderful array of weddings and get to some new venues as well as a few we have photographed at before. We were really pleased to get all our bespoke wedding books over from Italy and delivered to our clients in good time for Christmas. A few of the new venues we photographed at this year include: Wincham Hall, Northwich, Soughton Hall, Flintshire, Old Hall, Madeley, Haslington Hall, Cheshire, Bangor-On-Dee Racecourse, Reaseheath, Nantwich, and St. Oswalds Church, Bickley. We’ve got quite a few weddings booked in for next year and room for more!!

We have plans to launch a dedicated website to our wedding photography in early 2013! We’ll keep you posted!

Review of the Year – Music Photography

Well another year has gone by so it’s time for the traditional look back over the past year. It’s certainly been a great year with loads to photograph and some interesting projects which will stretch well into the new year.

Music photography has always been a huge part of what we do. Both Tina and I share a passion for music be it local unsigned bands or well known artists. Hence we both love music photography!

Cheshire Music Photography. Ash, PABH, Hadouken at Crewe Live

Left: Hadouken. Middle: Ash. Right: Pulled Apart By Horses.

This year we have been particularly busy. We’ve been the official photographers for Crewe Live in all but the inaugural year. 2012 saw the festival headlined by Ash, Hadouken and Pulled Apart By Horses, marking their return to The Box. As well as putting on amazing shows, all the bands took the time for a promo shoot. Great additions to the portfolio! Between us we managed to cover every single venue and photographed as many bands as possible!

Music Photography in Nantwich Cheshire

Main Picture: Dame Cleo Laine. Top Left: The Beat. Bottom Left: Wilko Johnson. Top Right: Scott Matthews. Bottom Right: Tony Christie.

We were also the official photographers for the 16th Nantwich Jazz & Blues Festival. Some wonderful acts headed to Cheshire and the highlights include Tony Christie, Dame Cleo Laine, The Beat, Scott Matthews and Spikedriver. It was great to get around all the varied venues and enjoy such a diversity of acts. You can check out some of our photos in our slideshow on Youtube or on the official Jazz Festival website.

One of the biggest (and wettest) gigs that we photographed was Live from Jodrell Bank, Transmission 002. The show was headlined by Elbow. Despite the wet weather it was a fantastic gig and even better was getting the opportunity to chat to Guy Garvey backstage before the show! sadly the wet weather meant that the Paul Weller show scheduled for the following day had to be cancelled.

We also photographed The Australian Pink Floyd in Manchester and Stoke. The light show was truly spectacular! We also visited Birmingham to photograph The South.

We also headed over to Sheffield City Hall and to Leicester’s De Montford Hall to photograph Thin Lizzy. One of my favourite photographs of the year was taken on stage with Thin Lizzy in Leicester!

A little bit closer to home we have seen many great gigs at The Box in Crewe. Some of the bands who have passed through include: Sham 69, Dodgy, The Twang, Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Fallows and many more. We have been the official photographers to The Box for four years now and look forward to the 5th year!

We have done quite a few promo shoots with various bands and musicians this year. Recently we headed over to Dunham Massey for a Winter shoot with Dayve Dean to provide images and artwork to accompany his new album ‘Winter’. The photo-shoot with Interception involved a Russian aircraft in Sandbach. The Human Condition shoot took on a real urban feel under a railway bridge! The Son Of Shinobi shoot took advantage of a wonderful moody sky. Indoors we did shoots with Sink Or Swim, Sham 69 and Dodgy.

October saw the annual charity event we organise called ‘Boxjam’. It’s all in aid of Oxfam. This years extravaganza took place over 3 stages and saw Sink or Swim, George Borowski and The Slippery Hill Boys headline the respective stages.

Looking forward to a wonderful 2013!

Interception Promo Photography

We recently took a booking from Crewe band Interception. They wanted a set of band images for promotional purposes. They came up with an idea to shoot at a scrapyard in Sandbach which has, of all things, an old Russian aircraft!

Needless to say such an interesting visual landscape led to a great shoot and some really interesting photos!

The images are very akin to the Urban Portrait project. We have managed to photograph several bands now in the Urban Portrait style, and indeed it was this that inspired the shoot with Interception! We’ve done similar shoots with Son Of Shinobi (which appeared on their album artwork) and Human Condition.

The book idea has had a few changes. Initially it had been hoped to produce the book in time for Christmas but it seemed mad to rush it so it’s still under way and will hopefully be available early in 2013. The book will now be bigger in physical size as well as having more portraits inside. The overall product will be much better than the original plan which can only be good!

You can purchase one here: http://www.justgiving.com/Guy-Standring1

The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust charity calendar we worked on is now available and is being snapped up. They are only £6 and it gives us great pride to think that the idea that Simon had to do something worthwhile for the local Cheshire charity has proved to be a huge success. Thanks to the support of individuals and local companies every single penny of profit the calendars make goes straight to the Farm! Nantwich Town FC are very supportive of the calendar and have allowed us to sell the calendars at the Marine game on December 29th. Adam, featured in the calendar, whose mum Lorraine did all the organisation for the calendar, will lead the team out as mascot!

All of our bespoke wedding books arrived in good time from Italy and have been delivered to happy clients! It’s been really good to see the final products and get them to the happy couples in good time for Christmas. All the books were designed by Tina exactly how the customer wanted! We’ve also taken quite a few orders for parent books, which are duplicates of the main wedding books and make ideal Christmas presents!!

And as we get closer and closer to Christmas it’s a good time to let everyone know we offer gift vouchers. If you are interested, just get in touch!!

Sham 69 & Chris Ramsey

Well it’s been a busy week for us here at Simon J. Newbury Photography! I’m pleased to say we are due to receive our bespoke wedding albums from Italy ready in time for Christmas! We also have our event albums on their way. All the books have been lovingly designed by Tina and its a good feeling when they are with the printers in good time to meet the Christmas deadline.

We’ve got the first of our family photo days out of the way. We had a good time at Nantwich Town on Sunday and have loads of lovely photos. Our next family, kids and pets photo day will be held in Crewe at Via Dance Studios on Middlewich Street. It will be on Sunday 9th December and places are still available and can be booked now! You can get prints or canvasses and they will all be guaranteed to arrive in time for Christmas!

Music Promo Photography in Cheshire: Sham 69

Sham 69 Promo image

Meanwhile Simon has been down at the Box for a photoshoot with Sham 69 followed by photographing their show. A great gig once again! Tina is at the Box every Friday photographing all the local bands!

Cheshire Comedian Portrait Photography in Cheshire

Chris Ramsey Portrait

After Sham 69 it was on to the Civic Hall in Nantwich for the Feeling Lucky Tour with Chris Ramsey. Chris was in Nantwich last year and Simon was there to photograph the show and do a portrait shoot. Since then Chris has gone on to star in a host of comedy shows and has starred as the lead in the BBC sitcom Hebburn.

The Urban Portrait project is still underway with a book planned in the new year. you can always check out the latest info about the project at the dedicated website: www.urbanportrait.co.uk 

Urban Portrait Book

Progress is being made in the Urban Portrait Book project. We have had discussions with a local publisher and we are confident we can go to press. We are looking for sponsors to help fund the initial run so any local businesses interested in getting involved are more than welcome!

It’s been a varied and busy time of late. The traditional wedding season has concluded and we had a very lovely visit to Wallasey Town Hall. Our bespoke books have started arriving from Italy and have been delivered to happy clients! We’ve had lots of comments on the wonderful layout created by Tina using her Graphic Design skills to the full!

As well finishing a last few Urban Portraits for the book we have had a few musician promo shoots. Tim Gallagher is finalising his recording and we had a great, if slightly chilly, shoot in Hassall Green beside a canal. Looking forward to hearing the EP and seeing the final artwork which will be designed by Tina! We’ve also been lucky to visit Whitby Morrison in Crewe for a shoot with Shaun & The Special Sauce. Whitby Morrison are the worlds leading manufacturer of ice cream vans. I’m also pleased to say that the company are sponsoring the Urban Portraits book. By bizarre coincidence straight after the shoot with Shaun I headed over to Nantwich Town for some press photos of Ed Whitby and Nantwich Town Chairman Jon Gold as Whitby Morrisson are sponsoring a stand at the Weaver!

I was also commissioned to photograph the recent Labour Party Conference held in Manchester. I produced a set of press photos covering the event and some of the fringe events. The highlight for me was meeting and photographing Eddie Izzard! I also got to photograph Lord Coe and Jonathan Edwards!

I am available for press work and I have recently been undertaking a variety of commissions for Cheshire East Council. I’ve been to Knutsford, Macclesfield, Handforth, Nantwich and Crewe to photograph a variety of events!

I’m also available for private commissions for Urban Portraits. If you would like to be photographed, please get in touch. I now have a site dedicated to the project: http://www.urbanportrait.co.uk

I am also organising a day of family/ kids/ pets photos in Nantwich. It will be a special event where you can come along and have a set of photos, then order online with delivery guaranteed by Christmas. More info to follow soon!!

Charlotte Bradbury & The Olympic Torch

Well July is certainly the season for weddings. It’s just a shame the weather hasn’t realised yet! We have a wedding at Old Hall in Madeley and if the sun responds to it’s invite we will be outside. If not I am sure it will be a lovely occasion indoors! We are then off to St. Oswald’s Church in Worleston, Nantwich. Its such a beautiful church and we have been along to the wedding rehearsal so we can find the best spots for the photography and meet the vicar in advance of the big day as we like to do!

In May the Olympic Torch relay passed through Crewe. Swimmer Charlotte Bradbury carried the torch through the town centre and I was pleased to get some great shots of the procession and Charlotte as we enjoyed some early morning tunes from Tom Seals!

Charlotte Bradbury carrying the Olympic Torch through Crewe, Cheshire

Charlotte Bradbury carrying the Olympic Torch through Crewe, Cheshire

Charlotte is a swimmer from Nantwich who had hopes of taking part in the Olympics but injury ended her hopes of qualification. I arranged to do a photoshoot with Charlotte at Cheshire East’s Crewe swimming pool. We did a variety of portraits with such a perfect backdrop!

Charlotte Bradbury

Charlotte Bradbury, Swimmer.

Another interesting shoot I have undertaken recently was of Kiss tribute band Dressed To Kill. It was certainly an experience! The pictures speak for themselves!

Simon photographing Dressed To Kill

Simon photographing Dressed To Kill

Dressed To Kill Promo

Dressed To Kill Promo (Click on the image to view the others)

Music Photography: Live From Jodrell Bank

Last year I was fortunate to photograph The Flaming Lips and British Sea Power at Transmission 001 at Live From Jodrell Bank. This year saw the festival grow to a 2 day affair with headline acts Elbow and Paul Weller. Sadly the weather ended hopes of the Weller gig taking place.

Guy Garvey, Frontman of Elbow. In front of the Lovell Telescope.

Guy Garvey, Frontman of Elbow. In front of the Lovell Telescope.

I was at the Elbow gig though armed with the camera on official business! A great line up saw Transmission 002 take off where last years event finished! I arranged a portrait shoot with Guy Garvey of Elbow in front of the dish which was a nice little shoot. I’ve got to say of all the backdrops I’ve used in my time the Lovell Radio Telescope is one of the most special!

Elbow performing live at Jodrell Bank

Elbow performing live at Jodrell Bank

The live music itself was really good and not at all ruined by the deluge of rain. It’s a shame that that rain ended any hopes of me photographing the Gomez, Graham Coxon and Paul Weller show the following day! Still, I got a nice set of images which I have shared on the Facebook Page.

Wedding season is truly upon us and I have 5 special days to document next month. I have a few weddings in North Wales as well as one in Crewe, and one at Old Hall in Madely, South Cheshire. I hope the weather is better than for the Elbow gigs as two of the weddings are outside!

As the new season approaches for Nantwich Town I have lots of work ahead getting the new player portraits and the new squad photo. I was at the Weaver Stadium this afternoon to photograph the new kit. A change of sponsorship and a new away strip will be launched very soon by the club. It’s exciting times at the club as manager Jimmy Quinn has assembled a strong squad for the coming season. A lot of new faces bring hope for a successful season. I’ll be at most of the matches providing action shots for the club and local press in my role as official club photographer!

Eventbrite - Urban Portraits by Simon J. Newbury. The Exhibition.

My Urban Portrait Exhibition is really taking shape now, having photographed nearly 30 portraits. It’s been fantastic to have so many people volunteer to be a part of it. The majority of the photographs were taken around Crewe and the exhibition itself will be held at Bar 7 on Nantwich Road on Sunday July 22. As well as the photographic exhibition there will be some wonderful acoustic music to enjoy, all for free! I’m still shooting portraits for the project and hope to have a body of around 50 images by the time the exhibition comes about. I hope you can join me there!

Urban Portrait Exhibition

My urban portrait project is really taking shape! I’ve photographed 20 models in an urban setting mainly around the Crewe area so far. I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of volunteers wanting to be a part of the project.

I am pleased that I have managed to organise an exhibition event which will be held at Bar 7, on Nantwich Road. The exhibition will involve a digital display of the images which are still being photographed right up to the event! I’ll be doing a talk about the project as well as a Q&A session. There will also be some great live acoustic music from Nick Bayes (the face of the project so far), Lee Garner, Al Dean & Tom Seals, Phil Maddocks and Sink Or Swim. It’s a free event and all are welcome!

Urban Portraits Exhibition Poster: Nick Bayes

Urban Portraits Exhibition Poster

As well as the urban portrait project I have been photographing loads of bands lately. I am running a special offer on band promo photography leading up to Crewe Live 2012 for which we are the official photographers.

Son Of Shinobi Promo Shoot

Son Of Shinobi Promo Shoot

I am also proud to announce that we have been chosen as the official Mayoral photographer for the new Civic Year. Congratulations to Cllr Peggy Martin and good luck for the new civic year! I attended the Mayor Making Ceremony at the Municipal Buildings in Crewe and I will be photographing the official Mayoral portrait this coming week.

The Worshipful The Mayor of Crewe Councillor Peggy Martin & The Worshipful The Deputy Mayor of Crewe Councillor Irene Faseyi

The Worshipful The Mayor of Crewe Councillor Peggy Martin & The Worshipful The Deputy Mayor of Crewe Councillor Irene Faseyi

I’m also looking forward to photographing the Olympic Torch as it passes through Crewe on Thursday.

To register for the exhibition please visit:

Eventbrite - Urban Portraits by Simon J. Newbury. The Exhibition.