Blur

Posted on February 23, 2012 by gromkeogh

Congratulations to Blur who have just won the outstanding contribution to music award at the Brits in 2012. I have no idea how relevant the gong is, but it has had a positive effect on their album sales the following day, so no bad thing I suppose. They have always been one of my favourite bands, and was very much in the Blur camp in the Vs Oasis ‘war’. ‘Roll With It’ or ‘This Is A Low’. Come on people, no contest…

Herewith is a gallery of shots which contains, amongst other things, some photos from their performance at Oxegen 2009. I loved it, shambolic, songs for hardcore fans, off the wall, what’s not to like. Unfortunately most of the crowd didn’t get it, being that Parklife was released before they were even conceived. Have also thrown in a shot I did when I had the pleasure of meeting Alex James when he was doing an interview with Stuart Clark about food, over breakfast! Incidentally his ‘Blue Monday’ cheese which is sadly no longer in production I believe, is amazing. Please start making it again… There is also a pic of Damon on stage with the excellent The Good, the Bad And The Queen. Finally, Graham Coxon in solo mode at Electric Picnic in 2006. All I can say is I can’t wait for the new material…

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The O2, Dublin

Posted on February 18, 2012 by gromkeogh

A hugely anticipated sold-out show in the The O2 a few months after his show in the intimate surroundings of the Olympia Theatre. Big production, full choir and the fans loved it.

Lights, Academy 2, Dublin

Posted on February 15, 2012 by gromkeogh

Really enjoyed the show by Canadian songstress Lights in the small but perfectly formed Academy 2 in Dublin. Was a sold-out gig with space being at a premium, so had one angle to shoot from. The lighting was as you expect at a club gig, challenging! So whacked the camera up to IS0 6400, f2.8 and went for it. Thankfully it was a gig that the crowd seemed to have a huge interest in photography as the amount of flash would second most red carpet events. Still, it meant I got the odd sympathetic bit of light, which is fitting considering the artist’s name…

David Kelly

Posted on February 12, 2012 by gromkeogh

Sad to hear the passing of Irish acting legend David Kelly tonight. I had the pleasure of photographing him in 2007, and he was an absolute gentlemen. Charming, true professional and just a lovely man. This is my favourite shot, as I feel it captures the cheeky glint in his eye, which I always remembered from his role as Mr. O’Reilly, the inept Irish builder in Fawlty Towers.

David Kelly, Library Bar, The Central Hotel Dublin, 15th October 2007

Kenny Egan

Posted on February 5, 2012 by gromkeogh

These were shots I took of Irish Olympic Silver medal winning boxer Kenny Egan in December 2008. He was quite rightly the talk of the nation that year. These were taken at his training HQ in the National Stadium Dublin. Looking back, it was a most nerve-wracking shoot! Mainly because you have a light heavyweight boxer throwing punches at you for a photo, and me praying he doesn’t get it wrong and lands one by mistake. I seriously doubt the Canon EOS 30D was built to withstand that sort of punishment…

Bonnie Prince Billy, Vicar St, Dublin

Posted on February 4, 2012 by gromkeogh

First live shoot of the year, and the honour went to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy at Vicar St, Dublin. Going to keep it short, but just want to say what an amazing show it was. Early contender for gig of the year. And facial hair of the year. Puts me to shame…

‘Wasteland’ – Tarantella Fall

Posted on January 21, 2012 by gromkeogh

The latest video for Tarantella Fall. This is for the forthcoming single ‘Wasteland’ which is being released on February 10th. Shot on the streets, well, laneways, of Dublin. Tried to employ a variety of shot types, with a heavy influence taken from film noir, thanks to the well of cinematic knowledge that is Mr Dave Cullen! Very happy with how it turned out, and spent a lot of time doing pre-production and location scouting so that actually made a huge difference and meant we were much more prepared then we have been before!

Graham Keogh Photography – on Facebook & Twitter

Posted on January 1, 2012 by gromkeogh

What with it being a new year, I have gone a made a resolution to set-up a dedicated Facebook page for all things photography. If you are on the Facebook, pop over here and ‘like’ if you would be so kind.

On the subject of all things social and media, don’t forget I can also be found lurking on Twitter, talking about everything from photography to beer, and yes, mainly about beer… Catch me here.

Dublin Zoo

Posted on January 1, 2012 by gromkeogh

We decided to take advantage of Dublin Zoo’s quest to reach the one million visitor mark in 2011 where they offered entry for a paltry 2.50 euro. It was a no-brainer, and having not been there for almost 20 years, I thought it would be an opportune time to visit. However, being December, it was always going to be a hit and miss affair weather wise. We took our chances and popped along…

It was very wet when we got there, and from a photography point of view it added unforeseen problems. A lot of the enclosures are viewed through glass, but due to the inclement weather it all fogged up which meant snapping through it was a write-off. The African Plains and the areas with cages were fine as I had brought the trusty 4.5-5.6 100-400mm Canon lens so I could get right up into the action. Also meant I could try and make it look less like a zoo, by pulling the background out of focus. It was also extremely overcast and dark so used 6400 ISO to get a high shutter speed. Some of those monkeys are faster then any musicians I’ve photographed!

Was great fun, and thankfully the weather had meant it wasn’t as busy as it should have been. Actually by the time we got around it had cleared up a bit and I managed to get shots of the tigers and snow leopards as the glass dried out. Really recommend it, and great photo ops for amateurs and pros alike.

Pugwash

Posted on December 22, 2011 by gromkeogh

Here are Thomas Walsh from Pugwash’s selection from a shoot I did for them. Have been a huge fan of the band since I got a copy of their album ‘Almond Tea’, so it was a pleasure to be asked to snap them. Having really enjoyed the Duckworth Lewis Method shoot, I knew it was going to be fun. The boys were rehearsing, so it was an opportune time to get them and they kindly let me stay for the whole session, and even had a wee jam with the boys, on a gorgeous Rickenbacker bass too.

Shot some in the carpark and lit them using the street lighting. Cranked it to 6400 ISO and it gives them that nice grainy feel, and then throw in the fisheye lens, and hey presto! And as soon as they knew I had that lens, they got very excited! Then did a few in the corridor, again with the combination of fisheye and the lads all wearing black, you can get some quirky things.

For the rehearsal shots, it was all available light. The flash sucked the life out, but it was bright enough that I could get high shutter speeds. Used a mixture of fisheye and 24-70 lens, depending. Problem with the fisheye was that you are literally up in their face, so I felt a bit of a gatecrasher. But then at the end it all descended into farce and craziness, so that was fine! I processed them to black and white and purposely over-sharpened them, and it means they don’t look like they were taken in a small rehearsal room in Dublin. Monotone works really well in studio style shots so why change a winning formula.

Oh, and check out ‘The Olympus Sound‘, the crackin’ new longplayer by Pugwash. Plugtastic, or should that be Pugtastic…