Carl Spring

Graham Coxon at The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham. Click to see more.

 

The first proper gig I ever shot was Graham Coxon. Back in 2009 I photographed him at Norwich Arts Centre, I managed to get a pass through the tour manager. I got talking to him after the show and he hooked me up again to shoot at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms a few days later. I still have a photo from the show on my living room wall. If it wasn’t for those two shows I probably wouldn’t be shooting live music today.

 

I remember that show and how nervous I was.  Shooting him three years later, in the same venue as my second ever gig, I had the exact same nerves. This time it was more of a self doubt over how much I had progressed. I have this strange self induced pressure I put on myself when photographing bands and artists I like, I want to get the perfect picture; the one perfect moment. The problem is sometimes that doesn’t happen, there is no perfect photo and tonight, unfortunately, it was one of those times.

 

Graham Coxon took the stage and had a nervousness about him. With the first 3 of the show it was standing at the mic, his seeming nervousness getting the better of him. Lighting was great, but there was no major photographic moment, I was happy with the images I had, left the pit and enjoyed the show. Within 3 more songs there had been backwards somersaults with the guitar and the trademark Coxon leaping around the stage. My heart sank. What if... I would have had.... All those thoughts that run through the mind of a photographer seeing the most amazing photographic opportunities unfold, yet being stuck at the side of stage next to the bouncer with no chance of getting a shot of the photos I was seeing. What made it worse was that at the front of the pit there was a fan with a DSLR shooting the whole show. I know the rules, I know why they are there, but sometimes it is hard not to be down in the dumps about it.

For more images from the show, click HERE

 

 

PHOTO NOTES

 

It is satisfying to prove to yourself how much you have improved over time. Technically I am obviously much more competent in my photography than the last time I shot Graham Coxon. Shooting the gig was easy in a technical sense as the light was good, unlike the pit in The Rescue Rooms. The pit is now incredibly narrow (fingers crossed they will move the barrier back a little again). There was no chance of passing other photographers without catching each other. Luckily the other photographers were cool and it wasn’t a massive problem.