Blair Witch Cat!

I thought the light was so wonderful the evening I took these photo's.
It was streaming in through two rooms from the front of the apartment into this middle room, which is my office.

Not sure what Oscar was waiting for... as there was no one on the other side of the door.

He's weird!

But then again, I would never have taken the shot without him in it.



OSCAR!!


Good boy!

x Shivers

Amsterdam Arm In Arm

Well I'm rather chuffed with myself, tonight!

I've just received three copies of Amsterdam's Arm In Arm from Al Hale @ Crusin' Music Managment.
Thanks Al!


And I'm chuffed because the photographs that were used for AMSTERDAM's brand new album, were taken by me back in Oct '06 on Asbury Park's boardwalk in New Jersey.

It wasn't even an official photo session. I was just in the right place at the right time trying to capture Mr Ian Prowse, (a Bruce Springsteen fanatic) when he wasn't acting the maggot, on the rather barren boardwalk during an overcast, miserable day.



It wasn't the most fun I've ever had on a Saturday afternoon but it certainly turned out to be something special.

The 2nd photo (from the back of the album) is actually made up of two photo's that I pieced together.

Ian isn't even in the original shot of the feather. I added him from another photo that I took. Which I blurred and flopped so it looks like he's walking towards the ocean in a rather melancholy way, which actually suits him.

Original Ian Shot:

Original feather shot (which was just there and not planted by me):

Orignal feather shot, adjusted for contrast:

Merged photo's:

And hey presto! The album shot (you can see that Ian's been moved slightly to the left to allow for track titles):



It turned out OK, methinks but it's great to have the final product here in my hands after so long.

And hey, the music's not too bad either so pick up a copy if ya can! :)

xxx Shivers

"IN... YOUR... FACE, MULLEN!"

...said he.
And it was... thanks, Stephen.






Happy now?

:) Shivers

DAFT (as a brush) PUNK!

Myself and Stephen recently travelled to Niagara Falls. I was mightily impressed with the Falls themselves but the rest of the place fell very short of what I was expecting. It was all casino's and haunted houses! Pfffffffffffft!

Anyway, this was my one of favourite shots from that trip. Close Encounters of the Stephen Kind!

x Shivers

CCTV

Well, now that I have some downtime I can start posting again!

And so, to continue on with a Venture Bros theme... I give you some grainy shots of our leaders, Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, sitting outside the studio on a warm summer's evening.

And no I wasn't spying on them... we, the crew, had finished for the evening and were drinking in the hotel bar across the street.

Happy Days!!! :)

Venture Bros

Well, I thought I do my own bit of self promotion for Season 3 of The Venture Bros.

So here's a couple of panels I did earlier this week that were influenced by classic Film Noir.




x Shivers

Toffee Toff!

OK... I break my own rules yet again but Jon kinda convinced me to put this one up... I'm only doing it cos I like chest hair. Ehhh the character's not Jon's... just wanna get that straight! :)

x Shivers

People are strange...

Well... not so sure if anyone on here remembers one of my first posts about a sketch I had done of my friends in The Stranglers that had made it onto the back of a mad fan as a tattoo.... ahem... well... here it is.....!!!!!!


I do in fact know this guy but I still think its hilarious/completely bonkers that he did this but if you knew him and his wife this is one of the many Strangler tattoos that they share between them so its not really that odd!


Madness! :D

xx Shivers

Photo's courtesy of Ava Rave... thanks Ava!

Home

Home is the new single from a wonderful band called Amsterdam who hail from Liverpool, England.


Why am I telling you this? Well... not only are they jolly good friends of mine and need a bit of promoting this side of the pond but the photo you see here is by me! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.... :D

This was taken on the Brooklyn Bridge ("obviously" says you) while walking home from work (this time last year, I think?!) but I have to say, as thrilled and excited as I am, I'm also gobsmacked that they used a photo of mine.

The single (released on 10 December in the UK) is the first track on Amsterdam's new album Arm In Arm which will be out early next year and I'm so pleased to say that they are using another photo of mine for the cover of that!

Oh I'm all excited... !!!!!

x Shivers

Thought I'd give drawing a go...

For a change like...

Slideshow

Taken over the last year or so...

Times Sq Madness thru a Fisheye Lens

Last Thursday night saw myself and an old college friend, Andrew Kavanagh (who's actually staying with me at the mo), descend upon Times Sq after a night in the Edison Hotel bar.

We went there with the sole purpose of seeing Dominic Chianese, aka Uncle Junior from The Sopranos, sing some jazz... and excited we were... (awww, just look at 'im!)



Alas, he doesn't even perform on Thursday nights but does indeed perform every Monday night so I shall be going back and with a number of people in tow I imagine.

T'was a pity really but sure, we had fun all the same watching the over 60 regulars hitting on each other.

So, to Times Square with my beautiful new Nikon camera and fisheye lens.
We stumbled out onto the streets of Manhattan after midnight and proceeded to wreak havoc on inanimate objects much to the amusement of unsuspecting tourists.




I'm quite surprised Andrew didn't get a ticket, never mind arrested!



I love the guy at the bottom of this next shot...


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...........


Andrew singing his heart out...



Hmmm... does my bum look big with this fisheye lens?! :)

Thanks Andrew, for a fun night (and week)... I haven't been that silly in ages!!

NOW GO HOME, YA FECKER!!!! hahaha

xx Shivers

The Boss @ Madison Square Garden

Well, well well... after trying unsuccessfully to purchase tickets for this concert, Stephen managed to get his hands on 2 freebies via a God sent friend of his by the name of Frank Caruso (many thanks, Frank... I shall name my first child after you... even if its a girl!).



What a wonderful night! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole concert, even if we were in the nosebleed section and didn't actually know half the songs played but I do pride myself on knowing all of his new album, which, for the most part I love, esp Long Walk Home, Gypsy Biker and the title track Magic.

Here's Long Walk Home...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwcgoUYpBF8&feature=related




Some of the album can be a little too early 80's for me though. Its got that classic E Street Band feel, namely, in my rather honest opinion, 'corny' sax solos. I only say that because I'm such a huge fan of his 2005 album Devils & Dust which has a completely different feel musically.

Devils & Dust...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xokeiep6yHU


With that said, I'm pretty sure hardcore fans love those sax solo's and there was a lot of that going on last night too but it made me smile from ear to ear.
One thing I do have to say is that the main reasons I like this album so much, as with Devils & Dust, is that Bruce has got a lot to say... and most of it is against Bush and the Iraq war and I admire him for that. He's not afraid to speak out against this Government and to me that's only a good thing.




All in all it was a wonderful night... esp Stephen's dancing during the uber cheesy Dancing In The Dark... I was sure he'd, not only take someone's eye out but be beaten up by drunk, absolutely fanatical Springsteen fans!!!
Funny thing is, I actually thought he was exaggerating Bruce's cheesy white man dance moves but to my utter amusement, as you'll see below... he was playing it down!

So I shall leave you with THAT video... I defy you, first off not to laugh your head off and secondly, to not do that dance! :)

xx Shivers


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg

sde

Sorry to anyone out there who's been checking my blogs for updates... I've just been far too busy lately to really get a chance to upload any photo's. Venture Bros takes up most of my time these days as does this guy...




I know Stephen's not too keen on this photo (then again, he's never keen on any photo I take of him) but I think its a wonderful shot of Stephen.
I really love the silhouette, the warm tones, the light and the darkness and the lines of perspective... oh, and the man himself of course!

xx Shivers