Tonight I did this...

We Are Scientists at KOKO.... after mistakenly turning up at The Roundhouse (hope my assignment editor doesn't see this!  oops!).  Anyway I made it in plenty of time, phew!

The crowd was heaving, full of screaming girls which was kind of hilarious, and the band were on really good form.  They seemed genuinely excited and having a good time, and they sounded great - thankfully they played "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" on the third song so really made my time there worthwhile (yeah yeah unoriginal but it's such a bloody good song).  Took me right back to 2007 and meeting a certain someone...

And the best thing?  FABULOUS LIGHTING!  Oh what a breath of fresh air it is to go to a gig that has thoughtful, exciting, flattering lighting... and you can almost always count on any band playing at KOKO having good lighting.  It made my job so much more pleasurable tonight, rather than standing there throwing obscenities under my breath about "whoever the f*** decided this lighting would be a good idea" etc etc.  Sometimes I do wonder if people stand back and take a look at what they have created - sometimes there is barely any lighting, and I wonder are the crowd - the paying gig going punters - as pissed off at me that they are standing there unable to make out the people they have come to see (and hear, obviously).

Anyway - this is my favourite shot of the night.... enjoy.

yeah you know the score, it's all copyrighted 'n shit.  Leave it alone x

Justin Wilkes, and a round-up on the way...

I seriously cannot seem to find the time to update at the moment, which is sad, I don't like neglecting my blog, and there's so much exciting stuff going on!  But then that's part of the reason it has been so quite on here lately...

A couple of weeks ago, I did some shoots at PTP studio with the lovely Justin Wilkes from Kiss FM - he was in need of some new promo shots, so we threw some ideas around and eventually settled on this.....

So much fun to shoot, and actually quite fun to shop for as well.  I had an afternoon spent in Cash Converters (ok actually that is NOT exciting) buying crap old stereo equipment to be smashed up by a baseball bat - a look of horror and excitement on the faces of the people working there when I told them this.  A marvellous baseball bat borrowed from my mate Scott, some hazard tape and a can of smoke later and we were ready to go.

Let it be noted that the can of smoke was, frankly, shite - so I asked my good friend, and re-toucher extraordinaire Darran Robinson to retouch in some smoke, it was not what I expected - but I like it so it stayed!  Big thanks to Darran for spending time on this and liaising so closely with me - if anyone needs a brilliant retoucher get in touch (plus scroll down for an even better example of his re-touching after this image!).

Ok so you can imagine how fun it is to smash up a rubbish stereo with a baseball bat, really unleashing all your frustration right?  It's all in Justin's face below....

Then Justin wanted something a little different, for a different purpose - and so, we came up with this.  Shot outside with some remote flashes, and a little bit of ape placement courtesy of Darran... love this!

And there was also this....

More posts coming soon! 

The Status Project is in full swing....

It has been WAY too long since I have posted anything on here...but happily I put that down to being really busy, however, I don't like to neglect my lovely blog....so here is something new for you to see, and there is definitely more new stuff on the way.  Like my recent work for Red Bull, a brilliant shoot I have just done with the lovely Justin Wilkes at Kiss FM, and my photos from the last shoot I did for Quality Knitwear.

In the meantime, take a look at this:  The Status Project.   What's it all about?  Read on...

Me and my partner Vivienne have been working on this for a couple of months, it started out pretty plain and simple, and now is starting to evolve into something quite special, I can only imagine where it will lead in a few months - bigger and better!

Vivienne has just spent a week agonising over programming this website, plus this project would never have come into fruition had it not been for her spectacular vision when it comes to ideas... then it was left to me to do the artwork and photography. I've noticed even my drawings are starting to progress, I guess I didn't really know where it was going at first so I kept it quite simple, but now as I am getting more into it I see this getting quite elaborate!

We actually made most of these over the past two months - but originally I shot the book on a pain white background....and somehow it wasn't quite right, so we decided to re-shoot using wooden floorboards, and now it's really coming to life!

These are all real status's from mine and Vivienne's friends on Facebook. We pick the funniest and / or downright stupid ones, write them out (oh and by the way that's Viv's writing as my handwriting is, well, horrific...but I am the hand model, ha!), then I illustrate it and we incorporate these little chain face toys - making ridiculous faces out of them that try and represent the emotion of the person who has written the status, and then I photograph it. And it ends up here. There will be loads more to come - so long as our friends keep up with the brilliant statuses!

I hope you enjoy - any feedback is appreciated!

www.thestatusproject.org

In September I shall be mostly...

...cycling 470 miles from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Thessaloniki in Greece! As you do...

I will be raising money for the charity that looked after my dad throughout his battle with cancer, Yes To Life, and helped him to survive for many more years than had been expected by doctors. They are an incredible charity, that have helped, and will help so many people and families who are suffering cancer in their daily lives, just like my dad was.

To read the full story of the charity, my dad, and the ride itself please click on the widget below, and please donate if you can, no matter the amount. My target is £3000, with a minimum target set at £1500 (meaning I need to raise at least this amount before I am able to participate in the ride) - so as you can imagine, everything counts, no matter the amount!

Thanks for taking the time to read - I will be setting up a blog specifically for the ride, to keep everyone updated on the progress throughout the year, with photos, words and maybe even videos! I can't wait to be helping out the charity again, please check them out when you have the time.

New 85mm f1.4 lens...

Total geek out!  I got my brand new 85mm lens yesterday - and it's gorgeous!  The best thing is it is made by a lesser known Korean manufacturer called Samyang, who make third party lenses for big manufacturers, and I heard a lot of good things about this lens - especially via a big review in the BJP.  Which made me want it.  A lot.  What made me want it even more is that it's a fraction of the price of the Nikon equivalent - only £200!  Ok it's only manual focus - but this hardly matters when you are doing portraits.

So, I ordered direct from their distributors in Poland and it arrived a few days later...half expecting it to be plastic and not as good as they said, but, it's heavy, well made, and stunning.  The bokeh is amazing.  And I am going to stop before I look like a total nerd.

Enjoy...

New work coming very soon...

I can't believe I haven't posted anything for almost three weeks!  I have been manically busy - setting up the studio, shooting Quality Knitwear's new look book, testing in the studio and working on my new (and currently on going) project, which is really fun to work on and I am sure something people will love...more on that soon!

When I get a moment to get the edits ready I will start posting - expect Quality Knitwear photos to be hitting the blog on Monday.

Until then I hope everyone's out showing their opaque skins to the sun...

A beautiful find...

I was just going through some old photos and I found this scan of an image I took back in 2008.  This was in Mulmur, Ontario, and the truck was stationary at the side of the road - with no one around.  It was eerie and beautiful and an incredible piece of machinery.

I had my big old Pentax 67II with me and took some shots... when I just opened up this image in Photoshop my heart fluttered, I realised I really need to take out my Pentax again and shoot some medium format film.  Nothing compares to the depth that you get on film, and on a big negative, on a 6x7.  Well, at least digital doesn't compare...

I can't wait to get shooting on film again, I've really missed it.

A walk on the Heath...

The weather took a turn for the better last night and I went for a walk on Hampstead Heath to clear my head after staying holed up all day shying away from the damp outside, what a beautiful evening it was.  In my rush to get out into the outside world I neglected to bring a "real camera" with me, but, to quote Chase Jarvis, the best camera you have is the one you have with you.  Amen.

Here's to my iPhone and it's rather average camera (it's a 3Gs), for being there and enabling me to capture the beauty of the Heath in silhouette...

New studio test shoot, going back to the 80's...

Last week I went back to the studio with some friends..........and some wine.... and this is what came out (there will be more to come as I get through the edit).  We had so much fun, except for when we realised we are subconsciously stuck in the late 80's / early 90's...

Hola my beautiful friends and thank you for being such great and willing models!

A nice little nod on the All Walks blog...

Thanks to the lovely ladies at All Walks for the little intro on their blog piece about the Snapped event a couple of weeks ago...

http://allwalks.org/?p=1932

NME awards...

Last Wednesday was the NME awards at the Brixton Academy, and I was lucky enough to be there shooting for IPC Media along with Red Bull and Carling.  It was an absolutely amazing night, and got me all "fangirl" over PJ Harvey, Warpaint, Liela Moss, Juliette Lewis and of course, the incredible Dave Grohl.
Actually I did thankfully managed to suppress my excitement so as not to embarrass myself, but, it was a room full of greatness in my eyes!

I was able to have access to the tables where all the guests were sitting which ensured a good view of the stage when there were performances - great to see PJ, Crystal Castles and The Foos playing - it also meant getting crushed in amongst a heaving mass of sweaty musicians - everyone was having a great time and it was good to see a distinct lack of egos in the room, everyone was just there to party and have fun.

The best moments had to be getting a great shot of Juliette Lewis and Dave Grohl together - both of whom are incredibly nice people, and of course watching the Foos play an enormous 2 hour set and seeing every body going crazy dancing on tables.  I was shattered by the end of a 6 hour photography stint but it was well worth it, here are some shots from the night...

ALL IMAGES © ANNABEL STAFF PHOTOGRAPHY 2011.  NO REPRODUCTION PERMITTED.  Thanks!

Rob Zombie...

Well, could work get more varied than this?!  Last week shooting a brilliant and beautiful night for All Walks at the National Portrait Gallery, this week huddling up with 30 other photographers in the pit at the Brixton Academy to shoot Rob Zombie!

After a 12 year UK hiatus Rob returned to England for a sell out show, not only that, I believe that this was the first time that Rob had brought over his entire stage - which was, frankly, a mind-blowing spectacle!

The stage, and all us photographers, were in a heavy cloak of smoke from the start - which was simply impossible to shoot through, but somehow it didn't matter since I was in awe of the whole thing!  We were warned prior to the show that Rob loves red lighting - and he didn't disappoint - which was another hurdle to over come, as anyone knows who has to shoot under red (or blue) gels, it does not translate well in camera...

The pyrotechnics were so fierce I could feel the heat permeating around me, the whole set up was really incredible - the outfits, the make-up, the stage, the GIANT metal robot with glowing blue eyes - which Rob came out of to start the show, the grotesque skeleton mic stands, video projections... I could go on for ages.

But, as they say, a picture can tell a thousand words...

(oh and Arsenal beat Barca - what a night!)

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT ANNABEL STAFF / REDFERNS / GETTY IMAGES 

All Walks Beyond The Catwalk...

A few months ago I was invited to be the documentary photographer for a huge event at The National Portrait Gallery, that was being curated by the wonderful women at All Walks - namely Debra Bourne, Caryn Franklin and Erin O'Connor.  At the time it was still in the planning stages, but time flew by and before I knew it the day had arrived.  I was the only photographer who was officially allowed to document the entire event, apart from some photo calls, the rest was all down to me - a roaming one woman camera toter sweating my way through three huge floors of gorgeousness!

If you are not aware (and you should be - I jest, but really, you should be) of who All Walks Beyond The Catwalk are I will explain a little.  Set up in 2009 they are an initiative focused on changing the attitude and face of the fashion industry, to put it in a nutshell there needs to be a more realistic interpretation and representation of women in fashion media - be it race, size or age, there is currently little diversity, but All Walks are trying, and successfully so, to change this.

The event at the Portrait Gallery was somewhat a showcase to bring about awareness - in true All Walks spirit it was open to the public, everyone being welcome to see and enjoy what was on offer.  Rankin, a personally inspiring photographer, unveiled nine (beautiful) images that he had taken exclusively for All Walks, which were displayed around the gallery on the Rankin trail, juxtaposed next to old masters and varying degrees of perceptions of female beauty through the ages.  They portray wildly beautiful women of all colours and ages - one of my favourites being Valerie Pain who I had a little chat with, what a wonderful person she is, how I would love to do a real shoot with her, such a gorgeous woman!

Also, i-D had a pop-up studio set up with photographer Alistair Guy (nice bloke!), with members of the public queuing to have their portrait taken by him - which was great, such a buzz everyone was so excited. Josephine Chime had a brilliant installation for Vogue - like a seaside head-through-the-hole attraction, loved it.

All in all the night was a great success, with the All Walks founders and the likes of Lorraine Candy and Linda Papadopoulos joining a packed out debate in the lecture theatre, there was a lot to talk about.

I had a really great time and am so honoured to have been a part of it, below are some of my shots from the night, I hope you enjoy and here's to more great success to my favourite ladies at All Walks, keep it up!

ROLLING STONE keeps on rolling...!

Without taking away from the excitement of seeing my Duke Spirit shot on the Rolling Stone website, here is another - this time of Kele from a few months back, bumper!

ROLLING STONE!

SO COOL, very happy about this!