Rocket Festival 2008

Rocket Festival 2008
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

What a shambolic festival, poorly organised but fun and in a very beautiful location indeed. Taking photos at this festival has made me think about portraiture a bit more seriously and ways of lighting subjects.

Upgrade

Doing Time
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

I went for the loan in the end and bought myself a D300 and accessories ready to shoot NYC in all it's glory!! It's taking a little getting used to as the settings are a little different to the D80 and the speed of the camera is different which makes gaging things a little strange.

I have a little money left over after paying off my credit card and buying the camera to print up some photos to exhibit somewhere in Bristol.

I'm also going to get my very good friend Adam to design and build me a kick ass website to promote myself through.

Well, it's Easter Sunday and I don't have any chocolate eggs :(
I think I might pop to the shops (If any are open) and buy myself one or maybe two ;)

Great tunes I've recently got on 45:

Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - Beggin'

Johnny Moore - What More Can I Do

Admirations - Wait 'til I Get to Know You

Herman Griffin & the Boys in the Band - Are You For Me or Against Me

Billy John - Slap it to Me

Billy Garner - I got Some

David Robinson - I'm a Carpenter

Eddie Ray - Wait a Minute

Groove Merchants - There's Got to be Someone for Me

Marva Whitney - Unwind Yourself

Jimmy Bo Horne - Hey There Jim

The Devastator - Stormy

Marvelettes - I'll Keep Holding On

Emanons - Look in The Want Ads

Hank "Soul Man" Mullen - He Upset Your Dreams

Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking

Bob & Gene - You Gave Me Love

The Budos Band - The Proposition

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - I Just dropped in to see What Condition My Condition Is In

Yum Yums - It's Gonna Be a Big Thing

To name but a few....

Hoochie Coochie

Hoochie Coochie
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

Last nights gig was a success, didn't think my playing was that great but it was a fun show. DJed back to back with Norbert Thunderclapp after playing Northern Soul which was great fun. There will be more of that in the near future!!!

10-20mm

Skate
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

This week I've borrowed a 10-20mm zoom from a member of the Bristol Flickr group as I am thinking of buying one before I go to NYC, great lens but not very sharp and it takes a lot of getting used to the amount of light it takes in. I still have the rest of the week to really test it out but by the looks of things, I'll be getting one of my own very soon.

Welcome to the Public Sector

In my job I have to input data onto an online database from a paper form, today I got quite annoyed at the people who fill these forms in because they miss important info out which means I have to hunt for that data elsewhere and it costs me time. On top of that, one person at work emails me to ask me to arrange an appointment for her but says "See below" for the date and time which is about 4 emails down in the thread. All I ask for is some kind of organisation. Am I being anal? My day would go so much smoother if people just applied some rules to the way they do things. I like to have things layed out in a certain way, I like formats, set ways that you can do something, procedures. In my office there are no procedures for anything and everyone argues about how to do things and there is a lot of confusion and they wonder why.

Welcome to the Public Sector.

Perm

Today is my first day employed permenantly, no more timesheets!! Means I've got a month without pay though!!! The day has been like any other really except I've booked the 4 days I have to book off before April and had them approved.
This weekend I spend over £100 on 45s, but there are some corkers and can't wait until they arrive! I'm DJing tonight and have only one new record to play out, there are still quite a few 45s I've not got round to playing, it should be an interesting night.
It's always a mixed crowd, but at the moment it's busy. Most of the people who come down are students but there are a few that come down because I've informed them through Facebook. It's nice when you see people you've asked to come down actually show up at 11pm on a Monday night.

The tune going around and around in my head today is The Richie Corbin Trio "A Woman Was Made For A Man" featuring Barbera Trent on Vocals, what a tune!! I shall be playing it tonight at some point.

There is only one comfirmed reader of my blog, well, one I know of that is. Is there any way you can see how many people read your blog?? Couldn't find anything on the Dashboard.

6 Years and Counting

Being in The Zen Hussies has changed my life and has made me the kind of person I am today.
I owe a lot to this amazing group of people, may there be many more years to come.

Thank you....

Brian Hargreaves for pushing me when I would've given up and giving me faith in myself as a musician.
Jules for giving me the chance in the first place to play with such great people.
Timdog for inspiring me in so many ways.
Fluff for putting up with me and having the patience to teach me horn lines.
Charlotte for being my brass partner in crime.
Ogs for being a great friend and making ideas reality.
Dan for crazy conversations.
Sebastien, Nous vous remercions de votre foi et de l'engagement.
Kirsty for your great energy on stage and off.
Tom for being the right man for the job.

Sometimes you forget how good you've got it, we may not be signed to a label and making a living from the band but it's still the best thing that has ever happened to me and the one thing I enjoy the most.

It's Gonna Be A Big Thing

Psychobilly
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

Writing in general has never been my strong point, in school I was labeled as a day dreamer and bone idle, I found it difficult to concentrate and was easily distracted. Things haven't changed, my ex-girlfriend used to get really annoyed with me if we were in a cafe having a chat and I wouldn't be able to focus on her because there was so much going on around me, it's like I can't switch off to the world, things are always catching my attention. I think thats why I like photography because I can capture the moments I see around me. When I was a young boy, I used to imagine that my life was a film and what I was seeing was the scene unfolding, my games as a child were like movies, I remember having a toy spaceship and flying it past my eye, five or six times at different angles as if changing from one camera to another.

Anyhow enough babble, I'm DJing tonight and need to sort out my 45s.

My favourite tune at the moment is: The Yum Yums "Gonna Be A Big Thing"

Valentine Villains

Valentine Villains
Originally uploaded by Ben Zen

Great Psychobilly band The Valentine Villains played at Mr Wolfs on Thursday night, such a great band to take photos of, they looked the part and they really performed to the audience.

I've decided not to get a bank loan for a new camera as my friend pointed out to me that the camera I have does the job and if I'm planning to go to Uni at the end of the year, the last thing I want is debt I can't afford to pay off. So I'm going to start saving instead and hopefully by the end of the year I'll have enough for the camera I want.

Right then, it's a lovely sunny day outside, I'm gonna go take some photos.......

Do I Borrow?

I'm think of getting a loan for a decent Digital SLR and a new trumpet, as I go perminant in my job at the end of the month and therefore will be on a salary and will be able to manage my finances better. I'm going to the open day at the University of the West of England in February to look at a Degree course in Photography. I need to find out what the requirements are as I have no qualifications at all, not even GCSEs (was a real day dreamer in school) and may need to do an Access course or Basic Skills. Funny really as my job now is Admin for Basic Skills classes!!

I'm sick of office work, I want to be taking photos for a living, on location or studio. I'm going to spend this year building up the best portfolio I can.
I'm off to New York for my birthday in April and my only plans are to take photos and buy 45s. I want to take photos of everyday life as a New Yorker, documentry style images of cafes, street scenes etc. I want to explore areas where tourists don't go, I'm lucky that I'm staying with friends and will have expert advice on the best and safest places to take these photos.

A Shift in Taste

Today I thought I'd tell you about the change recently in the kind of music I'm listening to and DJing out and how this change came about.

Around 10 years ago, when I was 19 I used to be into Electronica like Squarepusher and the weird stuff on Ninja Tune at the time like Clifford Gilberto, that kinda stuff. I liked Hip-Hop, well not all Hip-Hop, just certain stuff, I wasn't sure what it was that I liked until I got some junk mail from a record label called Desco Records. It was about a month later that I checked the site out and heard the Soul-Funk that they were producing and realised that was what I loved about Hip-Hop and here it was in its pure form, I was hooked.
I started collecting Funk 45s after a visit to the States when a friend of mine who I'd got chatting to through the Desco site gave me a Sugarman Three 7". Through this friend I ended up going to a Funk night in Soho, London and met some DJs on the UK Funk scene and they talked a lot about Northern Soul, at the time this music didn't have the heavy beats that I loved about Funk so I gave it a wide birth. About 3 years ago I bought an ex-girlfriend a 4 CD compilation of Northern Soul and I started to get into it. But hasn't been until this last few months that I've started to buy Northern Soul 45s and playing them out. I still love my Funk tunes, but the Soul stuff is so much more uplifting, all about love and positive stuff, I can see a shift coming in the music I'm DJing.....