European Premiere of Dark Shadows

So, at last! Its back to Leicester Square – the newly refurbished square (well its not quite finished). The event seemed to far far more room than before and it felt really good to be back.

It was a case of quality not quantity with this event with a few stars turning up, but those that did were….

Actress Eva Green

As you can see, I was on the carpet, with VIP access.

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer signing

The atmosphere was great, with many fans having arrived at ^AM and waited in the pouring rain.

Actress Helena Bonham Carter

Of course, the film is another collaboration between Tim Burton and Johhny Depp

Actor Johnny Depp

A complete set of my images of European Premiere of Dark Shadows can be licensed from PhotoShot here and here (they are split in 2 sets).

May 10, 2012 | Posted in: Celebrities | Comments Closed

Gala Screening of All In Good Time

A Gala screening for “All In Good Time” was held at the BFI Southbank on  Tuesday 8th May.

Due to the trains running late (a “Bridge Strike”, Broken rail AND Broken down train), I arrived just as the first guests (Actor Reece Ritchie – Prince of Persia: Sands of Time) and Actress Amara Karan (St. Trinians) were being photographed.

Actor Reece Ritchie and Actress Amara Karan

The blurb about the film says:

When their hard saved for honeymoon is cancelled the day after the wedding, the newlyweds have no choice but to return to the Dutt household and set up home there.

As prying family members and gossipy neighbours conspire to keep the couple from consummating their marriage, Atul and Vina start to panic. But if they can just keep their situation private, and if they can just get a bit of time alone, all could be saved for this pair.

So with meddling parents, nosey neighbours and a community that thrives on gossip, can their marriage last?

Well, they look quite good together here, so who knows…..

Photos from the Gala screening of “All in Good Time” can be viewed and licensed from PhotoShot: here.

Some recent work

Anthony Daniels who played C3PO in all 6 Star Wars Movies with a Lego model of his character at Star Wars Episode 1 3D at The Empire, Leicester Square on 8th February 2011

 

Daniel Radcliffe signs posters before introducing a screening of The Woman in Black at The Empire, Leicester Square, London on 11th Feb 2011

 

Kaiser Chiefs play the HMV Apollo Hammersmith on 23rd Feburary 2012.

 

Athlete Ed Moses attends the Sport Relief Mile 2012 at the Royal Parks

 

Actress Kate Winslet attends the World Premiere of TITANIC 3D on Tuesday 27th March 2012

Real Steel, with Hugh Jackman

You may have noticed that this blog has been devoid of any Film Premiere entries for quite a while (if you ignore last months FrightFest). 

The reason? Westminster Council have been refurbishing Leicester Square ready for next years Olympics. Most people would assume that this would be done in stages, maybe a section at a time, minimising the impact on the use of the square and the business within it. When you think of the amount of trade the cinemas bring into the square and its surrounds you would have thought the council would have worked with them, ensuring that the square was able to continue hosting premieres. No. For the past approximately 9 months the square has been in such a state of upheaval that hosting a premiere has been almost impossible. There has not been enough room. In fact for much of the time it has been a struggle even for pedestrians a tourists to navigate the area without having to avoid diggers, dumpers and other plant.

Boxer Amir Khan

During this time the film industry had no choice but to seek alternative venues with the prime benefactor being The Vue inside Westfield Shopping Centre.  I'm sorry but a shopping centre just does not cut it. Even Tom Hanks seemed somewhat bemused at the location.

Titan the robot meets the fans

We I'm glad to say that is changing again. Today the barriers were moved back away from the front of The Empire and the square was once again able to host a major premiere - "Real Steel", a Disney film featuring boxing robots and Hugh Jackman.

Hugh Jackman meets fans

It felt good to be back in the square, there was a great atmosphere and Hugh was obviously enjoying himself at what he referred to on stage as his "family screening" with over 30 members of the Jackman clan in the cinema.

Hugh Jackman with robot Titan

Hugh was joined on the carpet not only by the director, Shawn Levy but also a robot called Titan.

Director Shawn Levy

Lets hope the contractors get their fingers out and complete the works so the square can return to its rightful place as the premiere location.

Brighton Rock (from a distance)

There are big problems for premieres in Leicester Square at the moment. Westminster council are re-developing the square ready for the 2012 olympics to provide a more modern public space. The problem is the hoardings they have placed to hide the works leaves only a small public walkway around the edge.

On Tuesday, this left a large number of photographers (it was a large turnout for Dame Helen Mirren) squashed in to an enclosure about 18ft wide. Usually we expect their to be about 3 rows of photographers, this allows the front to be standing, the second on a small step and the rear on a 3 step ladder. For Brighton Rock we were at 5 rows! Not only that, I was in row 5!!

A few did leave but I thought I would wait and see what I could get. Magazines and papers really want a mixture of images but particularly full length shots, especially of the women. From my 5th row, shooting between others (and leaning heavily on a good friend who was stuck next to me), full lengths were not really an option, this is the closest I got..

Dame Helen Mirren attends the European premiere of Brighton Rock

I concentrated on getting some nice portraits…

Dame Helen Mirren attends the European premiere of Brighton Rock

13 Hrs at Frightfest

Actually this is day 3 so closer to 48 hours. What a difference a week makes; 7 days ago I was standing in a damp field, today I am working with 2 lovely actresses (Isabella Calthorpe, Gemma Atkinson) and a werewolf for the launch of their new horror movie 13 Hrs. 

We managed a few set up shots inside before heading out in to leicester square for a few more. It was at this point I was reminded how rude some of the press photographers are.. I know we all have to get our shots but to barge into an what is obviously a set-up shoot, pushing the photographer (me) aside is just plain rude… especially when the culprit was a well known “veteran” in London. Manners cost nothing and he would have still got his shot…. oh well…

This is one of the set up ones. There are more in my frightfest event gallery which will be published later…

Streetdance 3D

Tuesday was the World Premiere of Streetdance 3D at The Empire.

Again I was lucky to have red carpet access for (it has to be said), this laid back, atmospheric premiere. Maybe it was the fact that many of the main press pack are over at cannes so there were less press, but this event had a really nice feel to it. Lots of younger performers and dancers hung around on the carpet enjoying themselves for what I would think, for many of them, was their first film.

N-Dubz were one of the acts hanging around and Dappy was seeming particularly relaxed and happy to be snapped.

Originally uploaded by Julie Edwards Uk


Head over to The Empires facebook page to see a couple of Flawless performing on the Red Carpet.

Joe Perry and Bad Company

For some, Saturday night would have been a trip down memory lane at The Brighton Centre as “Bad Company” played.

Before Bad Company though, we were treated to the legend that is Joe Perry (of Aerosmith Fame). A treat it was; as well as his playing, we got 4 songs to photograph him! I think this is the first time where the band is 4 strong but all the focus (and lights) were on the lead guitar.

Both acts have obviously performed thousands of gigs in their time and whilst they were undoubtedly performing for the paying audience (quite rightly), it was clear that they also made sure we (the 4 photographers) got good shots. (In fact a couple of poses were way over-the-top, especially considering the age of the performer, but hey, they were enjoying themselves).

Howard Leese of Bad Company

Howard Leese of Bad Company

Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers

Now something I have to get off my chest (a rant)…..

As a photographer, I get a pass to a gig by applying to the PR agent (either for the tour or performer) and it is up to this PR who gets passes.

I know I am not well known, but the agency I work for is and I have shot many of the big acts performing in the UK over the past 12 months.

Last week I applied for a gig that is happening towards the end of April. I sent in my standard request, details, link to portfolio and 99% of the time I get a positive response. This time I did not… fair enough but after a couple of email exchanges, the final response is that “I need a publication to take your shots”.

You would think thats fine and fair but (and here is my issue), this same PR has said the same to me before. (Still fine). I know on that last occasion who shot the show (of a big name) and many were hobbyists, “wana-be’s”, some even with very little experience.

So, how did they get in? Small independent magazines (some web based), none of whom pay for content, some again written in spare time. I wonder what the total circulation of these are? Maybe I am missing the point and this is the future of media but at some point someone has to pay for the investment in time, equipment and experience surely? (For example, Saturday night one of my lenses broke, minimum replacement cost £500.00).

So here is my tip if you are starting out or want to get in to music photography; ally yourself to a local freebie magazine, use this to get access.

Maybe my agency is not big enough? Well my images are distributed to 35 territories world wide and they are cited in one of the industry “must read” books as one of the best agencies with whom to place images. (but are not Getty, the biggest, who I am sure will not have a problem getting a photographer a pass).

What is galling however is I know, come the summer festivals this PR agency will be sending out notes and requests to shot this new act or that new act at each of the festivals to gain coverage (as they did last year) … so they want us to help them to gain the success but once they have it, we can get lost…..

New Book available

To be honest, it’s a bit late but it is the first time I have used Blurb and I wanted to go through a proof copy before I released it.

The book contains a record of the major events that took place at The Empire, Leicester Square where I had the pleasure of being the house photographer for the year. For each event, there is a short description, the principal cast and a couple of photographs from the event, many of which will not have been seen before.

The book is available in 2 sizes;
- 10in x 8in softcover at £21.99
- 13in x 11in hardcover at £49.89

Please take a look.