Beep,Beep, Yeah!

BP Fallon, or Beep as he is affectionately known, is to me, a living legend. He has known and worked with the most amazing bunch of musicans from the last 40 years. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, T Rex, U2, you name it! Check out his website http://www.bpfallon.com/ and try to keep your claw from dropping open!

Beep very kindly allowed me to photograph him yesterday while back in Dublin for the weedend on a flying visit from New York. I had only contacted him last week, hoping to photograph him sometime in the future and here we were less than a week later! "No time like the Present" says Beep. He made me a lovely cup of herbal tea and was a gentle and gracious host.

Delorentos

Latest shoot for next issue of Hot Press. Delorentos in their home town of Portrane. We visited a few of their favorite locations and got some good stuff. We had just finished taking some shots at The Round Tower when I looked over in the next field and saw this amazing landscape. The lads quickly jumped over the fence, the sun came out and click, this is the result, no digital trickery, no dropped-in skies, just as it was. It's nice when things go right!

Miriam O'Callaghan Shoot

I really enjoyed this shoot. It was for The Hot Press Interview. Miriam was lovely, very down to earth and couldn't have been more generous with her time and patience.

I had a good wander around RTE TV studios while waiting for her, picking out various places I thought would be good for the shoot. I chose a wall in the corridor, an area in the Make-Up room, a props area backstage and the reception in a new building.

Miriam is so good at putting people at ease, I forgot who she was and we chatted about all kinds of things.

I asked her if Jason from Hot Press had managed to get any confessions out of her in the interview, like a lesbian affair in college for example, she said no, all very boring. With that Anne Doyle, the newsreader walked past and Miriam said "Anne, he's asking about our supposed lesbian affair", to which Anne paused for a moment and deadpanned "what do you mean supposed" before going in to read the news.

Now there was a shot I missed!

Delores O'Riordan

Just finished a shoot with Delores O'Riordan from The Cranberries. We shot it in The Westbury Hotel in Dublin, for the next issue of Hot Press. Delores was lovely, very down to earth and looked amazing with her blond hair. I found a corner of the bar and set up a light. I think the colours of the background and what she was wearing worked really well together.

She gave me all the time I needed, about 15 minutes, and even gave me a kiss on the cheek at the end!

**** the recession

This will be the first image in my studio window for the New Year. The text to go along with it on the side window will say "how to deal with the recession". Since we have all been scared to death by the media about what the New Year will hold, I thought this was appropriate.

Des Bishop

Just did a brilliant shoot with Des Bishop.

Des needed a shot for his new tour "Unbearlable".

He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted, so I had a think and came up with a few ideas.

I was expecting him to say no to most of them, but he did everything I asked of him! Including getting into the sea in November!!! What a trouper.

As a result, there are loads of really great and different shots. (Even if I do say so myself)

I am really happy with this shoot. More like this please!

Halloween

Pearl wanted to fly and Calum wanted to chop someones head off!

Your wish is my command!

Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle the writer, very kindly agreed to come in to the studio to let me photograph him. I had about 45 minutes and we tried several different lighting set ups. I think one of the keys to a successful portrait is to try and relax as much as possible, both the subject and the photographer. Most people have a dread of being photographed and before the shoot often compare it to a trip to the dentist, but usually by the end, they seem to have enjoyed the experience.
Even though I am sure he has been photographed thousands of times, Roddy was no different. We had a great chat about schooldays and some of the mad teachers we had (he used to be a teacher) and we both relaxed fairly quickly.
These are a couple of my favorite images from the shoot. The second one was literally the last shot of the session. He put on his manbag to leave and I called him back to take a shot with it on as I think it looks really cool. I had been toying with the idea of buying a manbag myself for a while and went out and bought one after the shoot.

He invited me round to his house for a cup of tea and to show him the results of the shoot. He seemed very happy with them and gave me a signed proof copy of Click, a collection of short stories about a photographer. What a lovely guy.