The style I was going for

My style has always been about capturing detail; so lots of close ups, abstract objects, unique angles, contrasting shadows etc. The location was what I described as an abandoned warehouse; it was very atmospheric with leaking roof (it was fortunate it was raining as well to add texture), graffiti walls, broken bricks and even an busted up car in one corner to spice it up!

Ellie's blue dress was an interesting juxtaposition to the urban surroundings. Rob's drumming gave the shoot a solid grounding; drums have a natural place anywhere that needs an edge. Darren was given enough room to give the classic rock pose whenever he needed. His animated performance was just awesome to shoot as ever. What can i say about Noel? He gives it everything, every time without fail.

I cannot wait to see the video. You guys are in for a real treat!!

The only thing I can't double on are lenses because they're very expensive, however I did bring along all my lenses; it's a shame I didn't have my 24-70 at that time as that would cover the wider angles. Even though I strongly recommend Nikon's 24-70mm F2.8, which is a wallet bashing £1000, if you cannot stretch to that then go for Sigma's equivalent; however I do warn you test the actual lens first before purchasing as there are soft picture issues at the wide 2.8 aperture.

Performance is KING

These guys work extremely hard, they are amazingly talented musicians, a bunch of very nice and humble people and most of all they ALWAYS give a great performance. They must have played their song Forget You over 15 times that day but they never complained nor did they let their energy level drop. Every take was fully committed to the performance and it showed. I had been there for 6 hours and I thought that was enough, but they kept giving so much to the cameras i just couldn't stop shooting!

Planning the unexpected

When the band invited me to cover their video shoot I felt privilege. I had quite a few questions about the location which I think any photographer would find useful.

• What are the lighting conditions like? This is where a fast lens is a requirement because they are not going to allow flashes during the shoot.
• What shots do they want covered? It is very important to get this confirmed as soon as possible. You need to know what, where and how which leads us to location.
• What are the locations? If you can, then scout the places where the band will shoot. In the case of this Slashed Seat Affair video it only happens in one place

Like a wedding shoot, I have a failure/redundancy/backup plan. I double up on everything; cameras, battery, memory cards (30gb in all) and photographers!