nick pickles music photographer

And, with that, festival season 2010 was done.

Leeds has always had a special place in the circuit for me - the first festival I (very badly and entirely without success) ever attempted to climb the fence at, the first festival I went to as a punter (the year of the riots) and the first festival I worked at. Not to mention being fifteen minutes drive from my flat!

This year’s event was set to be a big one for a host of reasons - from the Libertines reunion to Guns N Roses - and it didnt dissapoint. I was incredibly lucky to have such a great view of proceedings and I hope I did the event justice with my shots.

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It’s often joked that the reason you never see any atmosphere photos from V Festival is because there isn’t an atmosphere. Well, once again the adage proved true - but in some ways, it’s not a bad thing, not least allowing me to focus on shooting bands, filing photos and getting a decent night’s kip.

The line-up at V is usually a mix of radio-friendly big names and random pop acts. Inspiration is rarely drawn from either, but it’s got to be said there were a few great festival moments to be found, buried beneath the pile of dross topped like a cherry (made of solid shit) by Daisy Dares You.

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Back in May I blogged on the Guardian’s dubious rights-grab masquerading as a crowdsourcing of Glastonbury photos. Well, another day, another grab.

This time it’s the NME that is at it, although hardly a surprise given the tales of using ‘interns’ to cover gigs (aka students working for a ‘credit’) and the continued fall in the print edition’s circulation. (Not to mention their very dubious practices around reporting of web-stats)

However, given the NME’s position as the UK’s biggest ‘brand’ in music media (even if it is based on historic success) they still have a big sway, particularly for music photographers just starting out, for whom it is akin to the holy grail. So, their latest forray into ‘brand development’ (after the tours, venues and such like I expect that the only reason IPC will continue the print edition beyond 2012 will be as a loss-leading marketing exercise for these sort of activities) is a photography competition.

Here’s the general deal. You enter five pictures. If the NME shortlist them, they can be reproduced for pretty much any use. (s6.1) Yes, this must be in conjunction with the promotion of the competion, so basically they just need to stick an ‘NME Photo Awards’ logo on it and they can print posters, hold exhibitions, publish in a book, magazine or online, hey they can even use it on a calendar! (s6.1.f) All without paying the photographer a penny.

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So, for the first time in a while I got to cover a festival I’d not been to before! I must admit this was a bit of a last-minute job, but with a lineup that included Thom Yorke (rumoured to be performing with his band ‘Atoms for Peace’) M.I.A, Massive Attack, Patrick Wolf and lots of acts I’d never heard of, I set off with a fair degree of excitement.

Sadly, and much to my surprise, the resounding feeling of the weekend would be shaking my head in disbelief at some of the epic fuck-ups and ridiculous situations that emerged. The best moments were saved for the nightime photohunting on Thursday night with Glastonbury-atmosphere-photo legend Leon Neal and the merry gang of Tim, Tom and Tommy and a counter-surveillance operation involving body painted naked people that Andy McNab would have been proud of.

Alas, all this had to wait. Despite managing to get from Leeds to within 2 miles of the festival site in very good time, the final two miles were pretty monumental. We’d planned to arrive at 3pm, with gates opening at 2pm. We eventually got onsite aroun 6.30pm. It seems some genius had the idea to put all the traffic (artists and event staff aside) through one traffic gate. Which was a single track road. Resulting in massive lines of cars not really going anywhere, for a long time. I dread to think what time anyone would have got on site if they’d joined the que after leaving work.

Eventually on site, the tent went up and beer in hand I caught up with a few other photographers and discovered that on Sunday morning there would be a big art project by Spencer Tunick, famed for his installations of naked people. I remember being invited to one in Gateshead at the Sage (as press!) but declining to take up their offer of a 4am cooked breakfast.

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Ahhh - back so soon. And this time we got 4 songs you know. Although the lighting was pretty rubbish this time, the spotlight guy seemed half cut as he was missed John by a good foot.

Yes he still swigs brandy from a bottle before spitting it into a bucket, and yes I only took about 2 frames of the other members of the band, but there’s not really many others quite like John Lydon. A true legend.

Then again, it’s equally true to say that given the choice, the thought of paying 30 quid to see PiL scares me. (Especially considering there was no support!)

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Where do the days go? Doesnt seem like five minutes since this gig. Not a huge amount to report, both Regina and her support act, Nicole Atkins, were pretty static to photograph, with equally static lighting. A chance to give the 85mm f1.8 a run out as the benefit of people playing the piano is you know where they’ll be sitting, and so can set up accordingly.

Regina’s songs are still as delicate as they are powerful, while Nicole Atkins has a folksy-charm that is difficult to pull off without sounding twee.

But yes - I was still knackered from latitude and so headed home early for the sake of an early night. Special mention should go to Regina’s photo release form which stated we should only use our most “flattering” shots. Sadly they failed to describe from what perspective they were flattering so I’ve no idea if I’m going to get sued or not.

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After giving it a miss in 2009, I returned to Latitude with some apprehension, mainly due to having not camped for ages, and very little prep time. Other than knowing the headliners and that The National were playing, I had no real idea what was on offer - not helped by being at T in the Park when I found out I had a pass. Having said that, the great thing about Latitude is you can wander off and see all sorts of random stuff - not least a bit of theatre in the woods. I’ve no idea who was performing, but the above shot is one of my favourite of the whole festival.

I ventured down on Thursday, mainly because Tom Jones was scheduled to play an intimate set in ‘The Woods’ at midnight. Also this meant I had some time to sort my tent out, which had never been out of the box I’d bought it in on Thursday morning.

Click on to read more, or for a fuller set of photos click here.

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Second festival, and my fourth T in the Park. Still as mental as ever, 85,000 scottish folk on the booze - a very unique atmosphere!

It’s hard to describe T this year - my first time shooting Muse, Eminem’s first european gig for five years and being on stage with one of my favourite bands, Editors, all great experiences. There were some incredible moments, including a *huge* version of ‘God is a DJ’ by Faithless, Tom from editors running towards me screaming during ‘Smokers outside the hospital doors’ and another epic Mumford and Sons set, but something didnt feel quite right.

It was probably due to the rain that battered the site on Saturday, and a distinct lack of sleep, but I also wonder whether it was down to a lineup that lacked any real unique moments of greatness.

It was a buzz shooting Eminem, but it isnt my kind of music and the consensus seems to be it wasnt exactly a stellar performance. Many of the bands playing are doing the rounds,  something affecting lots of festivals this year, and there wasnt much variety on the bigger stages.

T is still a great festival, with an incredibly passionate crowd and a great setting, but I think they need to rekindle the kind of variety that brought Brian Wilson and a whole host of acts who were ‘one offs’ to the various stages.

On the upside, Im incredibly happy with some of my shots (below) so I must be doing something right!

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So, once again another Glastonbury dissapears before me quicker than you can say Vuvuzela. For the first time since 2003, the festival passed without a drop of rain falling, and while I now need to spend time de-dusting my kit, it’s certainly better than having to wash everything to get rid of the mud.

The day kicked off and ended on the Other stage, and I was especially happy to join headliners Orbital on stage for their set - although not without a bit of a jog!

The Joy Formidable are one of my favourite up and coming bands and they didnt dissapoint the pretty decent crowd who’d got out of bed early on the last day to catch them. I shot the later half of the set from stage, great fun although from a photographic point of view quite challenging as there wasnt much stage lighting around, so like the Courteeners on Friday I was left to try and grab the odd moment when you could see faces.

Then it was off to catch Avi Buffalo on the park stage, and very good they were too, but by then my mind had turned to the day’s alternative headline event - England v Germany. Most of the festival’s press pack were camped down there and two blokes in full George’s cross body suits got a great deal of attention (and probably didnt see much of the match through the pack of photographers waiting for them to react to every goal). In the end, it was a massive let down in footballing terms, but an interesting shoot to do alongside all the usual music shots. One portrait of a rather ropey looking punter particularly caught my attention.

After the game (well, about 70 mins in) I gave up and tredged to the bar by the John peel stage, as I was down there for Gang of Four, Broken Social Scene and Julian Casablancas. There were alot of rumours that the latter’s set would infact be a Strokes gig, so the usual chaos of trying to confirm rumours and extra access kicked in. Last year I ended up on stage with the Black Eyed peas because of the Justin Timberlake rumour, this year I managed to blag a bit longer in the pit. Which in truth was totally useless as a) there was no strokes gig (although a few strokes songs were played) and b) JC played in the dark. I was shooting at 3200 ISO and in the end most of the photographers gave up and just started using flash. By the end of the third song it was a total free-for-all. I was going to walk away, but then he came down into the crowd but as I was at the wrong side of the tent I didn’t get anything useable.

After that it was onto tea and the final shoots of the night. As covering Glastonbury is a team effort, my schedule meant I was covering Empire of the Sun’s first UK show - so I kicked off with Orbital in the pit, then on stage, then about 20 mins in ran up to the Park. I ended up making such good time that I got there with about ten minutes to spare. As soon as the first three (visually stunning if not a bit weird sounding) tracks were over it was back down the path to the Other stage, hoping to catch the end of Orbital’s set. For anyone who has been to glasto, I did Park photo pit to being on the Other stage in 9 minutes. Amazed I had any energy left but I made it to watch the last 20 mins or so - including an appearance by the latest Dr Who, Matt Smith, who joined in on keyboard for a massive version of the show’s theme track.

I’ll do a more reflective post on the whole event and pick my favourite shots, but Sunday was definitely a productive day - hectic, yes - but on the whole another good day for photos and even a bit of exercise!

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Day two. for a minute there, I……..

So, all told a much better day. Started to get my head around what was irking me yesterday, felt in a bit of a lull but things feel much more positive now. Some really challenging shoots - Jamie T was lit with a very dull blue wash, while the XX were a few spotlights away from playing in the dark. Wandered into the crowd for Muse (as much to get a shot for my the wall of my new flat as to file!) and ended up with a few nice wideangle shots. Managed to catch a few tracks of the National - including shooting the first three. The sunshine and black backdrop made for some great studio style shots, which has definitely been something on my mind. The shot of Foals frontman Yannis I particularly like as it doesnt feel like a live shot, has a crispness to it that doesnt mirror the brilliant energy of their performance. I’ve no idea whether that makes it a rubbish live shot or not, but I like it so it’s going up heh.

one day left. never enough.

(oh, and I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to do an edit of a shot of the national, so you’ll just have to wait for that.)

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