Next up on the Infest bill were Danish band Memmaker. Good electro sounds and good high key lighting as well :). Keep an eye out for a reappearance by one of the members during the Ayria set (photos to come).

Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/memmaker

My Infest 2010 photo archive – http://napalmgram.co.uk/wordpress/index.php/category/infest-2010/

And moving into day 2 of Infest the opening band were Northern Kind. A nice laid back start to the day, which had been a bit of a bizarre start thanks to all the police horses that’d been drafted in to keep the EDL ****s in order.

Website – http://www.northernkind.net/
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/northernkinduk

My Infest 2010 photo archive – http://napalmgram.co.uk/wordpress/index.php/category/infest-2010/

And moving onto the first headliner for 2010, De/Vision. Not a band I’d heard much by, but the crowd certainly seemed to be enjoying their synthpop stylings. Good upbeat way to finish off the first night.

Nice lighting on stage, but I wish I’d had something wider on the 30D as the band we pretty spaced out around the stage so was hard to get them all in from the stage edge.

In other news, I’ve just been asked to submit some of my photos from Infest for publication. So here’s hoping they like what I’ve sent them. No names yet, just in case they don’t ;).

Myspace  – http://www.myspace.com/devisionmusic

Website – http://www.devision-music.com

Infest 2010 archive – http://napalmgram.co.uk/wordpress/index.php/category/infest-2010/

Right, back from the States, Nottingham half marathon completed, and I’ve stopped panicing about colours as my work monitor is just crap so it’s time to get on with some more Infest photos.

Starting off just like the festival with Mandro1d

So we kicked off with a band I’d never heard of, and of course I hadn’t read my programme by this point either. So it took me slightly longer than most to catch on to the humour in the songs (never claimed to be quick on the uptake).  But soon saw the funny side of songs like “The summer of 6.9“, the one that rips off Headhunter and the free advertising for Jaeger and MusicNonStop meant there was plenty to laugh at

Mandro1d Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/mandro1d

Taken a bit longer today as had to the drive back from Bradford. But here’s a couple of previews of photos coming from Day 3 at Infest. From the top we have Project Pitchfork, Ayria and Concrete Lung

Pitchfork really finished the festival off brilliantly, and Concrete Lung were really impressive. Unfortunately I spent so long faffing around trying to find people that I didn’t get a chance to pick up their CD.

Day 1 Previews – Infest 2010 photos day 1
Day 2 Previews – Infest 2010 photos day 2

And so day 2 of Infest’s first pass of photos is done. 1 each for Agonoize, Memmaker and Northern kind.

About to head up for day 3, starting earlier as Parralox have been rescheduled for 3, so it’s going to have to be a fast walk up the hill

Day 1 photos from Infest 2010 here

Good way to put the morning’s alcohol connected recovery to use,  I’ve done a first pass of last night’s Infest photos. It’s been all change this year with the venue, so the stage is in a different place and is a slight different shape this year, but I like it so far (at least for photos, as I’ve not really watched a band except through a viewfinder yet :))

Going to take me a while to get them all up (2 more nights , and I’m taking film shots as well) so thought I’d start with some work in progress ones.

So in this batch there’s 1 for Mandro1d, 1 for De/Vision and one for the Infest legend that is it’s compere Tails

Right, 2 hours till the next Infest band. But going via the Love Music Hate racism gathering that’s going on behind our hotel

So which trusted construction material do you think this is?

Despite all appearances this isn’t wood. It is in fact concrete. To be exact it’s concrete somewhere on the Royal Festival hall. Looks like someone decided the concrete montser would look better if they tried to make it look like wood.

You can see some more of the texturing in this photo:

So, it looks like they decided to use it quite liberally over the whole building.

This weekend sees a jaunt up to Infest to take some band photos, it’s been a while so hopefully I can remember which end to point at the stage. Debating whether to take the film camera as well. And then there’s always the change of  getting some reportage shots as there’ll be fuckwits protesting as well in the city centre.

(photos taken with Canon EOS3, Sigma 24-70 EX 2.8 on Ilford FP4+ @125 iso, developed in Ilford DD-X and scanned on an Epson v500)

Or at least I hope not, as it’s part of the support for the Millenium Bridge in London.  This one came out pretty sharp considering it was hand held in a rather dark spot at an swkward angle to try and get the support beam in. Yet another photo from a day wandering around the southbank (previously)

Taken with Canon EOS3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 on Ilford Fp4+ @125 ISO, developed in Ilford DD-x and scanned on an Epson v500

Carved/branded telegraph pole in Nottingham’s Mapperly Park. Guessing BT is for British Telecom, but no idea for the rest. Doesn’t seem to be on every telegraph pole, so guessing it must mean it’s some sort of wiring hub?

Trying to play around with film a bit. So in this case the film (Ilford FP4+ 125) was actually pulled to 64 and then developed as normal (Ilford ID11 1:1 for 11 minutes). Quite liking the tones and detail that’s coming out of it.

Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford FP4+ @64ISO, scanned on Epson V500

So while waiting for the abortive attempt to visit Exposure at Tate Modern I spent the day wandering along the South bank of the Thames with cameras trying to look for something different.

The foot bridges looked interesting, but covered in people using them (this was about 3 in the afternoon). So, not wanting to wait for 13 hours for sunrise I decided to see how well multiple short exposures would work to ‘ghost’ out the walkers. From the above it seems to have worked well.

I really like the first one of the Millenium bridge. The lighting seems to have worked out nicely and I like the slightly washed out tones. And the backdrop of St Paul’s works nicely. Just a bit of a shame about the fact that the trees aren’t planted symmetrically. Everyone seems to have disappeared, apart from the gentleman in the wheelchair playing the steel drum.

Hungerford bridge turned out a bit differently, definitely a bit more claustrophobic and darker. Was actually crammed into a little nook on the bridge itself so the ‘ghosts’ are more visible. Don’t think this one is quite as sharp, but I think that’s down to a cheap tripod and a little bit of bridge vibration (I did think about doing something similar on the Millenium bridge, but standing on it and remembering it’s vibration problems I don’t think it would have worked).

Taken on a Canon EOS 3 with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens on Ilford FP4+  @ 125ISO, developed in ID-11 @ 1:1 and scanned on an Epson v500.

Don’t think this Zone’s as closely controlled as Nottingham City Council would like. Or maybe the graffiti only appears after 5pm Mon-Sat?

Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford FP4+ @ ISO125, developed in DD-X 1+4, scanned on Epson V500

Really loving the crispness and textures that I’m getting with the black and white film, being able to see all the saw marks on these stumps. And the extra isolation from the lager film area is great as well, really like the way that the backgrounds on these 2 photos are full but they’re cut off from the main point of the photo.

Finally they’re up. Far too much stuff on at the moment, but here’s the photos from the Wormrot gig at The Old Angel all the way back in May. Top sweaty night of grindcore.

Tried something slightly different with the PP on these and it seems to have come out nicely, almost a selenium toning effect. Thinking that might have been helped that I shot them at ISO 800 and developed for IS1600 (Oops)

Following on from the Screaming Banshee Aircrew photos we have the headliners, Nottingham’s own Luxury Stranger (myspace).

Another band I’ve not seen for a while running around with other things. But they’ve just got back from playing at Leipzig, so things seem to be looking up. Recommended for those who like their old skool Cure or Echo and his Bunnymen.

Colour ones taken on the 30D, black and white on the EOS 3

Been a while since I’ve seen Screaming Banshee Aircrew play (last time may well have been supporting The March Violets a couple of years ago (Pictures). There appear to have been some lineup changes (I’m sure I remember more than 4 in the band?) and a change in sound. There definitely seems to be a bit more of an edge to their sound these days. But it still sounds good, or at least as good as it can through ear plugs 12″ from the PA (my fault not theirs).

Took the EOS 30D out for a play as well for a bit of a change, so there’s some colour this time.

Black and white pictures take on a Canon EOS 3 on Ilford HP5+ @ 1600, some with flash, some without.

More playing with film. A quick couple of shots from a trip to the National Trust’s Sudbury Hall.

I like the perspective in the first one, though I should have been a little more careful with the framing of the bottom ball. While the viewfinder on the EOS 3 is larger than the 30D it’s still not 100%.  I think kneeling down would have helped this shot a lot as well, if I could have place the centre point just about the middle step maybe, though then there wouldn’t have been quite the same sense of perspective. That and it was a filthy day so I’d have got muddy, note to self; one must suffer for one’s art.

I do like the tones in the 2nd one. The ball looks almost like a small moon. And there’s enough apparent ‘depth’ that it still seperates nicely from the wall at the back. Divided on the almost complete shadow at the bottom, while it definitely helps to define the shape of the ball, it would be nice to have some detail in there. Possibly a touch more exposure, or maybe a reflector of some sorts?

Taken with a Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens and Ilford HP5+ @400. Developed in Ilford DD-X. Scanned on an Epson v500.

Not the greatest sight in Nottingham, but I do like the contrast and tones in this one. Would have been nice not to have to shadow cast by the central nut, but I didn’t have a flash on me and the EOS 3 doesn’t have a built in.

Wonder how this would work with filters? Another plan at some point is to head out with the tripod to find a suitable test subject and then work through trying out lots of filters to see exactly what they do. I’ve tried a red filter a couple of times, but it doesn’t seem to have made a major difference, which isn’t what I was expecting.

Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford HP5+ @ ISO 400, developed in DD-X, scanned on an Epson V500

Ok, getting very tardy with band photos now. These ones date from the 8th May, but I blame having too  much fun at other gigs in the mean time :).

This was a bit of a strange one. Just a couple of songs performed just outside The Heavy Sounds shop in the middle of the West End Arcade in Nottingham. Don’t really know much about the band, except they’re a 2 piece consisting of guitar and drums, and that this event was to celebrate the launch of their debut 10″. Pretty good sounds, but I haven’t managed to get back down and pick up a copy, oops.

After this the bands just kept on coming as I traipsed up to The Old Angel for Wormrot, Unkind and a couple of others. Photos from that gig should be up pretty soon. Though I’m about to head out to Luxury Stranger and Screaming Banshee Aircrew, so I’m going to have even more to develop and process.

Canon EOS 3, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 EX DG, Ilford HP5+ @ ISO 400, developed in DD-X, scanned on an Epson V500

Well Infest is back on this year, and looking forward to it. Though for a bit of blatant self-promotion I thought I’d just mention that I did the promo shots for this year – http://infestuk.com/press.html. And the kind organisers have agreed to let me DJ on the Friday night on the 2nd floor, so I didn’t annoy too many people when I DJed in 2008 then :).