Category Archives: peterborough

The Willow Festival 2023

Posted in bands, blogging, live music, outdoor, peterborough by

Launched in 1998 and after having a 9 year break, The Willow Festival has made a comeback! Peterborough was treated to a huge amount of live music 21st – 23rd July 2023. I was there Saturday & Sunday and my aim was to photograph as many bands as possible, and the 4000 photos snapped and 32,000 steps walked would suggest I succeeded!

Previously a free event, this years festival was £10 which is a fair price for being able to come and go over the weekend. For the price of your ticket as well as bands there was a funfair, kids activities, a music hub, the Rock Bus, plenty of food options, a Kopperberg bar, and even good parking options. There was a steady crowd all weekend, moving between stages. The pair in the picture above were keeping the atmosphere alive right up until 11pm on Sunday, good job lads!

The Glorious One Eyed Cats on stage overlooked by Peterborough Cathedral.

The festival was held on the embankment behind the Key Theatre, under the watchful gaze of the cathedral. With a choice of 7 stages (all named after local pubs that are supporters of the music scene) you could see any amount of live music you wanted. The sound and lighting was great, a professional job on every stage, thanks to CWS Sound & Lighting who ran most stages. They did a decent job over the weekend to ensure everyone was heard and seen but they also ensured everything ran on time. The bands were unpaid for their time and talents, turning the festival into a showcase event for many bands, a large number of them local to Peterborough. Selling merch and CDs has now become standard for many musicians trying to earn money these days so I was a bit surprised there wasn’t a dedicated merch stand for the bands.

You can read The Willow Festivals mission statement here if you are interested in what they are all about, all good things but in my opinion bands need to be paid.

Brass section of Rebelation

The weather was terrible on Saturday and I think it kept some people away, which is a real shame for the bands as ticket sales indicated the crowd would be 20,000 strong. It seemed very quiet on Sunday as well, it could have been due to the festival area being so vast you didn’t notice crowds, it certainly wasn’t lack of choice of music that kept people away! I really enjoyed seeing some ‘new to me’ bands although it was quite rock heavy. There is a lot of talent out there and if we want to keep going to gigs we need to support bands.

There were so many bands I liked, and I really love photographing bands that are fun & animated, rock bands especially with their rockstar posing and guitarists playing to the audience. Highlight of my weekend was Mr Griff, a funky soul band from Cambridge, I snapped up their new cd The Architect straight after their set.

“Moody, cool as hell, jazz funk driven beauty”…BBC Introducing.

Mr Griff on The Crown Stage

Other bands I loved were Titan, an 80’s heavy metal covers band with an amazing vocalist. Dogs! Teeth! were excellent, really quirky & fun with good lyrics. There were so many well known local acts, P Town Funk did a couple of sets over the weekend, The Glorious One Eyed Cats did a set on Sunday afternoon in the sunshine getting everyone dancing to their brand of rock n roll. New band the Very Beautiful South had a setlist of hits , Groove Cartell were there in the evening and drew a crowd of steadfast fans, with a fat 4 piece brass section, tight and punchy rhythm section, and the always-up-for-a-boogie Martin on vocals, you’ll be dancing along in no time. On Saturday I saw Rebelation (one of the best reggae ska bands on the scene), The Dan the D, rock band Blunden, Janus Stark, The Famous Unknowns (classic rock covers, another one of my highlights). Headlining Saturday was Austin Gold, in the pouring rain on The Crown stage, and The Tourettes were on the Ploughman stage, both bands drew a great crowd, showing local bands are really well supported in our lovely city. Another band to watch out for, with their awesome vocals, is Cush who played on Sunday, a newly put together rock band playing original songs.

Cush at The Willow Festival 2023

The Great Leslie were cool, a 4 piece band based in London, one to watch if you like modern guitar driven sounds, the band have been on an upward trajectory since their very first release in 2020, launching their career when their first ever single was selected as BBC Introducing’s Track of the Week and had one of their singles featured on the Made in Chelsea sound track.

The Great Leslies frontman Ollie Trevers

If you ask me, the festival was a success and it certainly blew the cobwebs off after the 9 year hiatus. The organisers did a sterling job of pulling it altogether and I hope the festival will be back next year where it can grow and evolve after this strong start. For next year I hope a few tweaks would make it even better; in my opinion it would be helpful to have a map on site, bigger signage on the tent stages (I found them hard to find) and a place where the line-up is posted on a site noticeboard rather than programmes only. I know you can bring a chair but some additional covered seating areas would be good as well, I lost track of how many laps of the embankement I did but there was a lot of walking. A covered and dedicated merch stand for bands would help bands promote themselves and let people show their support with a bit of cash. For those Jazz/Northern Soul/Funk/RnB bands reading this out there, sign up for next year as I’d like to see more of that genre represented.

Booga

The Willow Festival has a good website with lots of info about each band and social media links, they did well updating all day on facebook and Instagram. So if you missed out you can head over there to find some new music inspiration.

As someone who works the “gig economy” it is tough to find a regular income and whilst showcase events to promote bands to bigger audiences are important I think it would be better if bands were supported for their craft with money, guitar strings aint cheap! What do you think, would you pay a higher ticket price to help support gigging musicians or is there another way? I genuinely hope the organisers do bring it back next year, it’s a huge thing to pull off!

I’ll be sharing photo galleries on my socials but here’s a small selection below. Please go and check out some of these bands and keep supporting live music any way you can!

Ruby Dee Vintage Singer

Posted in bands, branding, live music, music, outdoor, peterborough, portrait, styled shoot, women by

Ruby Dee Vintage Singer

Ruby Dee is a Rutland based Vintage solo singer who specialises in singing songs from the 1900’s and up. Whether it be big band hits or jazzy classics, she loves entertaining people and will bring a bit of old school glitz and glam to your event. Ruby is the voice of several bands, you can find her singing with The Rutland Big Band, at weddings and events with a Soul & Funk twist with The Top Banana Band, and also with Midnight City Band, a new female fronted band who play Disco & Soul.

Follow her on Instagram !

Roo needed some new images for her social media so we got together and one sunny day in Greetham I took these images along with a bit of singing of course. We even managed to find a lovely vintage car to pose with!

I love how the photos turned out, I did add a bit of an old film look on some of the final edits and I don’t always do this, but I think the style works with what Roo wanted so I’m happy. I wanted her to feel pampered and comfortable in front of the camera and enjoy the shoot, which is one of the main things for me, once my client is feeling happy the images flow and it makes all the difference to the final photo.

Branding Photography – What happens at my session?

Posted in blogging, branding, documentary, outdoor, peterborough, portrait, product photography, styled shoot, women by

Becky came to me with a colour idea for her branding session, she needed some new images for her website and she wanted to match her images to her site. She got her hair and makeup done and we shot outdoors in a local public space.

Nerves!

I knew Becky felt nervous, as anyone would be when doing something new! It was the first time we’d met, like many of my clients. We sat and had a chat over a coffee and took some photos indoors before changing outfits and heading outside to shoot. We quickly got into the swing of things and the shoot went really smoothly. Becky was taking my direction in her poses and we tried different ideas, some worked, some didn’t as well but it’s always good to try a pose and just move on if it doesn’t suit. My expertise is in creating these natural and personality filled images that you can’t get with a selfie or a standard headshot

Choosing brand colours wisely can impact how people perceive your brand. In fact, using a signature colour can increase brand recognition by a massive 80%

After a career serving in the Royal Navy, Becky launched her business Your Productive PA. She knows all about outsourcing and that is why she knew that a branding session would enhance her business. Why struggle with things that aren’t your area of expertise when you can get someone else to help you grow? It’s important to put a face to your business, I’ve written about this in more depth HERE.

She already had her website built so these photos were to help tie everything together and inject her sense of humour and personality into the site. She is naturally bubbly and positive and I really wanted her to have a wide range of images she could use, from natural and friendly to the classic headshot type image.

Your Productive PA

Before our session I sent Becky a personalised Pinterest board with some ideas for her poses so we were both on the same page, it’s easier to show another photo than explain sometimes! You can send me photos that you want to try to copy if it helps you describe what you need. I had also sent her my info sheet on branding and how to prepare for the shoot, my aim is to help you get ready and know what to expect at your session.

After the shoot I edited all the best shots and within the week Becky had her new photos. It’s an uncomplicated process, I resize the images for online use and I can also shoot your images to fit your site easily.

I always ask my clients to tag me on social media or shout from the rooftops if they enjoyed their session, here’s what Becky said when she shared some images on her LinkedIn profile.

(blushing)

I don’t class my self as photogenic at all (well, not without the help of a glass or two of gin or prosecco anyway), BUT, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the photoshoot earlier this week with Lucy

Not only did she put me at ease the instant we met, but she made the whole experience thoroughly enjoyable and I didn’t end up with faceache (as a result of holding a fake smile), as I found myself smiling the whole way through.

Thank you, Lucy, for a very enjoyable session and some fabulous photos for the new website. Give her a try, you won’t be disappointed.

You can find Your Productive PA online at the links below.

Engagement Ring Shopping?

Posted in blogging, peterborough, product photography, wedding by

Its a minefield out there when it comes to choosing rings, read on for some helpful tips.

Getting engaged can be overwhelming! It’s such an exciting thing to happen, my proposal story is a lovely one that I will remember forever and I’m sure you feel the same. I love hearing the romantic and sometimes funny stories from my couples and over the years I’ve gathered a few bits of advice to help you if you are going ring shopping together.

I said YES!

You’ve just got engaged to the love of your life, how do you choose a ring that will last a lifetime?

Aardvark Jewellery, Birmingham

First of all, are you a traditional person or would you prefer something more unique? If you are like me and DON’T want a ‘Normal’ engagement ring then traipsing around shopping centres and high street jewellers windows will frustrate you.

There are clearly two styles of engagement ring in the high street shops, that is a solitaire ring or a Halo style ring. The solitaire is the classic one stone diamond ring and prices vary massively. There are rings that look like a solitaire ring (one stone) but they will have 4 smaller stones to look like one, these are generally more affordable.

The benefit of the halo ring is that the halo is made up of lots of tiny diamonds and their purpose is to encircle the main stone and make it look bigger and sparklier. They will all come in different types of gold which vary in hardness and colour. It is a good idea to have a look and see what you do and don’t like. I quickly realised that I liked rings that had different shapes, and I liked the main stone offset with smaller stones either side. During a try-on in one shop the assistant told me the ring I had picked wasn’t really an Engagement ring. It was a 3 stone ring that looked pretty, I didn’t need her opinion!!

What is your favourite colour?

Alice ring by Alison Moore

So what can you do if you can’t find a ring? Instagram and Pinterest are great places to start but the main thing I think is to think about you, your own style, your lifestyle and your ethics. If you are a quirky type of person who loves colour, you may want a coloured gem, if you are very active you might choose a stone that is bevel set or has prongs holding the stone in place that won’t catch, or go for a platinum ring which is a harder metal. Many couples are choosing lab grown diamonds, fair trade, ethically cut diamonds or gemstones like Moissanite. My favourite are Grey diamonds and salt and pepper diamonds which have become very fashionable recently and they are beautiful, like small galaxies created naturally by inclusions in the stone. Each one is unique but you won’t find one on the high street!

Help. There are so many options!

This pretty solitaire is set by Lilia Nash in her signature flower setting and would be perfect for the person who doesn’t want prongs catching and it looks so unique as well. There is a really useful page on her website with design info and advice.

Rock n Roll Brides

If you prefer something that not everyone has, use colour and shapes, the symbolism of things that may be important to you like birthstones or a star theme. I’ve seen skulls, custom engraving, even tattoos. A custom ring may take up to 8 weeks to be made so this is something you need to factor in. This beauty by Ellie Air is all kinds of amazing!

Wedding Bands

Imagine what kind of wedding band you will need to fit your ring or buy a set that goes together. This pretty wishbone ring is so dainty and the gentle shape would fit with lots of engagement rings.

Custom Rings

If you have a custom ring made for you, think about the wedding band as well, will you get the same jeweller to make a matching band, will you be able to find something that will fit the same style?

Buying Online is perfectly OK!

It is lovely to get to try on rings and see them in person but it is totally fine to buy online, as long as you have done a bit of research into the company and know your correct size. I looked online first and then decided to choose a shop in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham so I could visit in person and see the rings. If you find a smaller family business or local maker it is easier if something happens to your ring like a stone coming loose or if you want an upgrade in the future. I chose a custom ring and it was really good to be able to get an idea of size because alot of the jewellery you see online are magnified by macro lenses in the photography, so being able to see if it suits you on your finger is a good idea. You could also mock up a ring at home using the measurements and see if it looks how you imagined, this is definitely something I’d recommend if you are buying your stones loose.

A lot of jewellers offer ethical custom rings now and are happy to work with you on a design. Here’s a few that I like!

Oore jewellery on Etsy
Sarah Swell
Gardens of the Sun

I hope this has helped you think about your engagement ring and congratulations!

I’m getting married, send me your wedding brochure!

Behind the scenes with Bear Industries

Mark creates bespoke lamps and other lovely pieces for your home from junk. To you and I it may be scrap but rusty bits of engine, tank parts, even an old jet wing have been transformed by Mark into some fantastic objects that would look stunning in anyone’s home. This is the art of Bear Industries. He is a real life Womble!

I was at the warehouse to record some behind the scenes action while he was getting filmed for a new TV show that will be airing on Quest very soon. The crew were recording the big reveal of his newest work to his client, all very cloak & dagger. He really hadn’t seen it so the reaction on TV will be real.

If you’ve read my blog before you might normally know me as lucytakesphotos, wedding/portrait/boudoir photographer from Peterborough who likes music, but on this day I was doing a different kind of photography I also enjoy, creeping around watching how things work and getting those documentary style behind the scenes shots.

I do enjoy being a wedding photographer, especially here around Cambridgeshire, the countryside and venues are really lovely, I’m looking forward to next year when hopefully all our lives will be back to some kind of normal after this terrible Covid-19 disaster.

There are always projects that spark my creativity a bit more than weddings though and working with other artists, musicians and creatives really is something I enjoy and want to do alot more of!

I remember my partner coming home after rehearsal one day telling me I’d like Marks house because he has loads of cool stuff and Lego, they play in a couple of bands together and often I’d go to the gigs and take photos, but I didn’t know about the amazing lamps he made. So when Mark asked me if I’d help him get some decent product photography for his new website I jumped at the chance.

If you’d like to see more of Bear Industries I’ve done a lot of product photography for Marks new website which is looking fab so please do click through and have a look at his work.

BUY NOW @ Bear Industries Online Shop

Always supporting the smaller and local businesses.

The Glorious One Eyed Cats-Live

Posted in bands, blogging, live music, music, peterborough by

So, according to the One Eyed Cats website they are a …

High-octane rock & roll, cool blues, jumping rhythm, driving rock or a hair-down sing-along, the Cats always deliver.  And deliver incredibly well.

Their large line up is suited to their huge sound, with a fiery brass section, rocking guitar and rolling piano.

Their music is always lively, passionate and entertaining.  They always aim to lift the roof off, rock socks off and leave everybody fully entertained – having had a good laugh, boogie and night.

All with immense enthusiasm, fine humour and unquestionable musicianship.

As cheesy as it might sound, I have to agree!

I was at a gig last week in the Brewery Tap, Peterborough, a very popular and well established pub, Thai restaurant and micro brewery, if you’ve never been before then make sure you go because if you like a quiet pub there’s a spot in a corner for you (they have good beer) and if you like it louder then there’s loads of different DJ nights, soul music, bands, a Prince tribute night is coming soon and tomorrow they have The Peterborough Big Band. 

  So back to the gig, It was a Thursday of a bank holiday weekend no less, so it was bound to not be a normal Thursday night! The crowd had had food, were drinking after work, any band would do well but the Cats brought a little something different tonight, they have many years of gigging experience behind them and they turned up, plugged in and rocked the place! The Cats filled the dance floor and by end of the night left everyone wanting more. All the band are brilliant musicians, you definitely wont see any backing tracks here, they seemed to enjoy the night as much as the crowd so if you want a good night out go find the Cats and bring your friends! 

Here’s a few photos.

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