FujiFilm x100v

Jill Jackson, Yours Aye

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New album campaign for Jill Jackson

“Yours Aye” is the brand new album by Scottish singer-songwriter Jill Jackson. After several pandemic-related delays, it finally saw the light of day in early May (hitting #1 on iTunes Country Album Chart no less). I’ve written about working with Jill many, many times (you can read about our first decade together here for example) and what can I say? It’s always a pleasure and a really, really good laugh.

Jill approached me last year to do a photoshoot for the new album cover and after sending me some examples of the mood and style of images she was after (see below), I suggested shooting the whole thing on film. Since Jill loves all things analog there wasn’t any convincing needed. I have to admit though that before the session I started panicking a little - what if I mess up and we don’t get the cover shot we needed? I got back to shooting film in recent years but haven’t done many 100% analog projects for clients so to alleviate my paranoia and to cover my back I took my digital equipment along with my Nikon FM and ended up using both.

We shot in Basement49 Studio as well as outdoors in Glasgow’s Merchant City. Gulabi did a brilliant job developing and scanning the 5 rolls we went through on the day (2 color and 3 black and white) and you can see some of my favourite images from the session if you scroll below. Wonder if you can tell which ones were analog and which were digital?

My involvement in the project didn’t end there however. Earlier this year I filmed Jill’s live sessions at Gorbals Sound studios as well as an interview, all of which are being used to promote the album on various platforms. I was also recently at Cottiers where Jill officially launched the album with a brilliant live set. Have a look below to see all of that and more. Enjoy and do check out “Yours Aye”, it really is a masterclass in songwriting and production.

Jill's visual references

for the session

“Yours Aye” Album Cover:

“Yours Aye” album cover shoot.

Basement49 Studio and Merchant City in Glasgow, June 3rd 2021:

“Live Sessions”

Gorbals Sound, March 6th, 2021:

ALBUM LAUNCH

Cottiers, Soundcheck & Live Show, May 19, 2022

Behind the scenes:

GEAR

Digital:
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Studio Lights (can’t remember what was used exactly)

Analog:
Nikon FM + Nikkor 100mm f1.8
Kodak TX 400
Kodak Portra 400
Studio Lights

Video:
Sony A7III x 2
Sony 35mm f1.8
Sony 85mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 + Metabones Nikon G to Sony E-mount Converter
Profoto B10 + Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa
Neewer CN-216 LED Light x 2
DJI RS 2
Edited in FCPX

Live:
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 / Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

BTS:
FujiFilm x100v
iPhone 11 Pro

Roxana Halls

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I met London-based artist Roxana Halls earlier this year when she travelled up to Scotland to see her portrait of Horse Mcdonald, acquired last year by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, about to go on public display for the first time. I was there to document the day and the moment I saw Roxana, I thought she’d be a fantastic person to photograph. The opportunity came along when I was in London a few weeks ago and despite rather hectic schedules, we managed to carve out a bit of time for me to visit Roxana’s studio and take some photos. There wasn’t much time, I was probably there about 20 minutes, but Roxana was a great sport and I’m pleased with how this sitting turned out. Have a look:

GEAR
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4 + Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
FujiFilm x100v

FujiFilm x100v

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Thoughts on FujiFilm X100v Camera

My name is Kris and I am a lazy photographer. What I mean by that is that I’ve never been the type of photographer who carries a camera everywhere they go, taking pictures of anything and everything. I’ve always admired such people, I’m just not one of them. I value comfort and practicality above all else. See? Lazy. When I started taking photos, it was with a Zenit 11 and that camera is built like a Soviet tank, not exactly a “throw-in-your-pocket” type of equipment (although it could certainly double as a weapon if one had to defend themselves). In recent years, with photography becoming my full-time job, I’ve worked with various Nikon DSLRs - D700, D4, D850 - but these are expensive cameras to be carrying around and not exactly light or compact either. I’ve realised, however, that I missed taking snaps of my friends or of places I was visiting. I’d usually use my iPhone for that but it never feels right for me, no matter how great the phone cameras are these days. And this is what brought me to the FujiFilm x100 series.

I’d been watching various YouTube videos about these cameras, reading reviews, checking prices on eBay, and last year I eventually bit the bullet and bought the then recently released x100v model. First of all, it’s beautiful. I often feel that in the digital age the aesthetics of a camera are the last to be considered. I realise that what a camera looks like isn’t of utmost importance for most, and I’m not too bothered about it either when it comes to the equipment I use for work (the Nikons aren’t exactly ugly but they won’t be winning beauty contests anytime soon). However, if I’m going to carry a camera with me every day, I want it to be compact, practical, and, yes - pretty. And the old-school, analog-borrowed look of the whole x100 series is really lovely (I went for the silver model). As for the performance, I’ve been shooting with x100v for almost a year now, always have it in my bag, and I really love it - it definitely exceeded my expectations when it comes to image quality and it also brought back the joy of taking photos just for fun, without overthinking. I’ve got it set on Aperture priority and don’t worry about much else. I mainly use it for personal things: meeting friends, traveling, behind the scenes, etc, but I’ve also occasionally taken it out on work shoots and ended up with decent results. All in all, I’m super happy with it, and here are some examples of snaps I’ve taken with the FujiFilm x100v so far:

Cheerio 2020

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Well, 2020 was a doozy, wasn't it? I wrote a bit about my experience during the first lockdown before - remember that? We thought, or perhaps just hoped, that we were out of the woods by that point and life would merrily if slowly, come back to normal. I mean, LOL! At this point, I feel like that old lady in the Titanic wearily announcing “It’s been 84 years…”.

While my first lockdown was filled with making music, reading books about music and taking online music courses, the autumn one was filled with fanatic cooking and baking. Nigella Lawson has always been a huge inspiration for me (I’m pretty much convinced by this point that we’re the same person) but Lockdown #2 took it to new heights. I couldn’t tell whether these were the signs of me transforming into a fully-fledged “domestic goddess” in my 40s, or that a nervous breakdown was imminent. Still, nobody in my flat was complaining, obviously, and being in the kitchen really helped my overall mental health and became an outlet for creativity. Post-Christmas restrictions, however, just plunged me into a state of numbness. Needing an escape, and not being able to plan a physical one, I’ve been reading about Old Hollywood and watching movies from that era (Gilda, Sunset Boulevard, Jezebel, etc). There is something comforting about getting lost in that world. I also found a brilliant YouTube channel with video essays diving into the history of women in Hollywood through the prism of Academy Awards. Not that I’m obsessive about things or anything.

I do miss working and being creative but have been trying not to think about it or look too far ahead. 2020 has been a challenge and an eye-opening experience for everyone (I didn’t realise I had so many epidemiologists on my social media for example) but it’s over now and despite it being generally shit I still managed to take some photos I’m happy with and here’s a selection of them:

And I loved working with Tam Dean Burn on this music video for Louise Rutkowski:

ALBUMS OF 2020
Róisín Machine Róisín Murphy
What’s Your Pleasure? Jessie Ware
Gaslighter The Chicks
Future Nostalgia Dua Lipa
Women In Music Pt. III HAIM
That's How Rumors… Margo Price
Jaguar Victoria Monét

SONGS OF 2020
Murphy’s Law Róisín Machine
No Time To Die Billie Eilish
Levitating Dua Lipa
Ooh La La Jessie Ware
Midnight Sky Miley Cyrus
Gaslighter The Chicks