Folk

Heidi Talbot - Grace Untold

in , ,

PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTWORK & VIDEO FOR HEIDI TALBOT’S NEW ALBUM

Grace Untold is the new album from Irish singer-songwriter Heidi Talbot. I met Heidi on a shoot with Boo Hewerdine in February 2024, although I’d been wanting to photograph her for a long time. Heidi and I got along brilliantly, sharing our love of music and yoga, and I guess that shoot with Boo went well as I was asked to create visuals to promote Heidi’s new release, Grace Untold, an album inspired by and dedicated to Irish women, warriors and goddesses. I shot the album cover, filmed and produced the video EPK and designed the CD and Vinyl packaging. See all of that and more below:

Album Cover shoot, March 2025:

Hair & Make Up: Paulina Siembor
Styling: Michelle Watson Creative
Assistance: Marta

Album Promo, April 2025:

Album EPK:

GEAR
Nikon Z8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2 + Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto A10 + Profoto Clic Softbox Octa 2’
Reflector
DJI RS 2

Celtic Connections 2025

in ,

PHOTOGRAPHING THE 2025 CELTIC CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL

1,500 artists, 40 nationalities, 300 events, 24 venues and 18 days… That’s just some of the stats for this year’s Celtic Connections festival which wrapped up on Sunday. I wrote about working on last year’s outing and how much I enjoyed being a part of it, so you can imagine my delight at being asked to document it again this year. It was a very intense 3 weeks and I’m still catching up on sleep but my heart is full. You can find some of my favourite shots from the past few weeks below:

GEAR
Nikon Z8 x 2
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters

Mànran at the Hydro

in ,

Behind the scenes with Mànran at the Hoolie in the Hydro

The first time I worked with Mànran, the multi-award-winning Scottish supergroup, was in 2022 when we did a very last-minute promo shoot in Glasgow. Earlier this month they were headlining this year’s Hoolie in the Hydro and I was asked to photograph the band on and off stage during the event. You can see some of my favourite images from the night below:

GEAR:
Nikon Z8
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
Profoto A10

Celtic Connections 2024

in ,

Documenting the 2024 Celtic Connections Festival

Well, this January flew by for a change, thanks to Celtic Connections, the world-renowned folk, roots and world music festival. Glasgow Life approached me late last year asking if I’d be interested in documenting the 2024 outing of the annual winter event and I was, like, hmm, I need to think about it. I’m kidding, obviously, I jumped at the opportunity!

This year’s festival run from January 18th to February 4th, with over 300 events involving 1,200 artists across 25 of the city’s venues. I’m not superhuman and was able to photograph only a portion of that, but hopefully what you see below is a good representation of the 2024 Celtic Connections. I had a blast and am looking forward to the 2025 edition if they have me back. Enjoy a selection of my favourite shots from the past 3 weeks:

GEAR
Nikon D850 x 2
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikkor 35mm f1.8
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters

Remembering Rab Noakes

in ,

Rab Noakes 1947 - 2022

It’s truly surreal and heartbreaking to write a heading like this. Only a few weeks ago I was in a recording studio with Rab where he was working on a new album with Brooks Williams. He was in great form, cracking jokes, and his voice sounded great. And yet here we are. I got a message from a friend on Friday asking whether I’d heard the news about Rab. I did not and my heart sank.

I met Rab Noakes through Jill Jackson, his close friend and a frequent collaborator, who enrolled me to take some promotional images for their upcoming tour. Rab and I got on very well, he liked the images and would get me to photograph him for his following projects with Barbara Dickson, Brooks Williams as well as solo. I loved taking pictures of him, he was one the most impeccably dressed men I’ve ever encountered and his charisma and charm were a joy to capture. While we didn’t always see eye to eye (Rab thought ABBA was nothing special and Ella Fitzgerald was overrated - gasp!) we always had a great time together and he was incredibly supportive of my work, kept recommending me to other artists and attended my exhibitions.

I leave you with some of my favourite images I took of Rab throughout the years.

He’s greatly missed.