Meadowhall Christmas Lights Night

Nov 042011
 

November kicked off as a bit of a celebrity Meadowhall month. Starting, appropriately, on the first of the month with a WH Smith book signing by Leigh Francis.  In character as TV JUICE host Keith Lemon he was on a promotional book tour for ‘Keith Lemon: The Rules”. A popular read looking at the queues. So popular in fact the signing started early and finished an hour and half later than scheduled, despite Smiths taking the book off sale to avoid fans being disappointed by not getting their copy signed. Leigh Francis is also known for his character Barry Gibson the music paparazzi and his portrayal of celebrities in Bo’ Selecta!

Two Days later, 3rd of November, that’s right not even bonfire night and the behemoth that is the UK retail sales industry is getting into Christmas mode. The Meadowhall Christmas Lights Switch on Concert, an event that strangely had no switch in sight, or Christmas lights either. The fans didn’t care they were there for the acts, besides the event was raising money for Cash for Kids and Meadowhall’s Charity of the Year, Helen’s Trust and with a 15,000 capacity and entry fee of £2.50 that was going to be a success.

Fans at Meadowhalls Christmas lights switch on concert in Sheffield on Thursday evening 3 November 2011. Image © Paul David Drabble (Paul David Drabble)

Opening act was  Tinchy Strider which seemed surprising  for artist with 3 top ten chart places, 2 of which reached the number 1 spot. As he left the audience were informed Tinchy was hopping on a helicopter which would fly him down to London where he had a second gig later that night.

Next up Dance group Rational  followed by  Bee, Holly, Lizzy and Rianna, the Girl group Vanquish then a quick chat and song from Sam Clark, Australian singer/song-writer/actor from Adelade, probably best known as Ringo Brown in Neighbours. The second Girl group of the night was Girl Next Door.

Listed as one to watch Encore recently supported N Dubz and Jessie J. Encore are Mark Asari, Cairo Benn and Pierre Jermaine. If your looking for more info on them its worth noting their web presence seems to be Want more Encore not just Encore.

Six D had some chart success back in the summer when their début single “Best Damn Night” entered the UK top 10. If you think you have seen them somewhere before check the X-Factor talk talk Ads where they appear as dancers.

Cover Drive all the way from Barbados felt the cold. ” We’re not used to this weather” singer Amanda told the audience, backed by T-Ray, Bar-Man and Jamar. They released their first single “Lick Ya Down”  in August, it entered the charts at  #9 and the début album is due for release soon.

Next very talented Ronan Parke the 13 year old Britain’s Got Talent runner up. Ronan made the headlines after Simon Cowell went to the police over allegations that his company SyCo had fixed the show so Ronan would win.

Headlining and officially switching on the Meadowhall Christmas lights, Matt Cardle. Winner of X-Factor 2010 he held the Christmas number 1 spot with “When Worlds Collide” and his new album “Letters” has just been released in time Christmas.

Want see more from Meadowhalls Christmas Lights Switch on Concert? Check out my Facebook Fan Page the link is on the left.

Two Jobs A Day, A Public Relations Rarity

May 092011
 

Public Relations Photography

Something that seems to have become an endangered  species in Public Relations Photography is booking two jobs in a day. According to my diary it was going to be a fairly straightforward day with one booking. The brief  shoot “behind the scenes” images of the 888.com sponsored Premier League Darts at Sheffield Motorpoint Arena for Sky Preview Magazine, a publication aimed at licensees who use Sky sporting broadcasts to help bring in customers.

Public Relations Phone Call

The day before the Darts my phone rings and a second clients needs a Public Relations job shooting the same day as Skys. At this point Murphy’s law will generally kick in dictating that either

  1. The two jobs are at the same time and on the same day.
  2. The two jobs are the same day, aren’t at the same time  but they do overlap
  3. The two jobs are the same day, don’t overlap but the distance between locations makes photographing them both impossible.

It looked like number three would be the problem. The second Public Relations job was in Cleethorpes on the east coast. A client needed  the interior layout of Halletts Lifestyle convenience store and some of their staff photographing. The store had just won a national award as Blakemore Wholesale/ Lifestyle Retailer of the Year 2010/11. The job was urgent, a plus for me as it meant the client was happy with a morning shoot and booking number two had just become booking number one.  I had, for once, given Murphy the slip and had two jobs on the diary.

By 09:45 I had driven the 75 miles to Cleethorpes and was already working. By 15:05 I had made it back to the office edited, processed, captioned and distributed the digital images to the client. With just enough time to produce an invoice and grab something to eat I was off to the Premier League Darts.

One of the countless things I love about being a full time professional Press & Public Relations Photographer is the variety. Going from shooting  the aisles of traditional a seaside corner shop, to the showmanship and razzmatazz of  televised Premier League Darts is nothing if not varied.

The Double Page Spread in the Sky Preview Magazine

 

If you want to see more examples of my Public Relations Photography visit my home page

 

Skating into Meadowhall “Comedy Dave Vitty”, Dancing on Ice star

Mar 052011
 

Three days on from Matt Cardle and it’s back to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, celebrity spotting again. This time it’s Chris Moyles sidecick from Radio 1 “Comedy Dave” Vitty.  Now a Dancing On Ice Star “Comedy Dave” was signing autographs and meeting fans in the lower arcade close to Marks & Spencer as part of the  promotion for  Torvill & Dean’s Dancing on Ice 2011 Tour which has its opening night on the 9th of April 2011 at Sheffield Motorpoint Arena. As part of the promotion fans were also given the opportunity to win Torvill & Dean skating costumes as worn by the superstar skating couple, a signed skating boot and free tickets.

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Fashion Guru Gok Wan

Oct 202010
 

Fashion Guru Gok Wan paid a visit  to W.H. Smiths book shop in Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield today as part of his book tour promoting the autobiography “Through Thick and Thin”. On his arrival the “How To Look Good Naked” took a few minutes out to walk down the large cue of thrilled readers waiting to meet him before sitting down to Sign copies of the book and pose for photos with fans.

If you want to know what Gok had to say about Sheffield check The Real Gok Wan on Twitter