Photographer’s Notes:

Pictured above is the band We Are Augustines who I had the pleasure to photograph at the borderline for HMV’s Next Big Thing #HMVNextBigThing which kicked off on the 2nd of February. I first saw them perform on a live stream of Chase Jarvis’ webcast last year and i was surprised how down to earth and relaxed the trio are yet when I watched them live they put on an energetic - rock and roll styley performance and rocked the stage big time.

HMV’s Next Big Thing presented me with a lot of photographic challenges. As most events were held in small intimate venues there was no dedicated photo pit to separate you from the punters so it meant I had to show up really early to secure my spot for most events or try and squeeze my way to the front without upsetting hardcore fans which was FUN! (not). The size of the venues meant that they could not use powerful lighting as these would end up blinding people, so instead you find yourself shooting artist that are very badly lit with the dreaded LED parcans and strips which mess-up the on camera AutoWB.

Luckily not every venue was like this and there was no real ban on using a flashgun so always carried one with me just in-case I needed some fill light. To give you an idea how bad the lighting was I had to push my camera to ISO 4000 for some shots.

Some other acts I enjoyed included (more pictures coming soon)

Bluey Robinson

Gemma Ray

Fatoumata Diawara