Flew to Glasgow yesterday to shoot
Paolo Nutini for Hot Press magazine. Originally it was supposed to be Milan, but was changed to Glasgow at the last minute. Got in early and did a bit of sight seeing. Went to
The Willow Tea Rooms and had a lovely cup of tea and a toasted tea cake which was absolutely gorgeous. Went to
The Kelvingrove Art Galley and Museum, only had a short time but some great paintings and sculptures. Then off to
The Hotel du Vin to meet Paolo for the shoot.
They couldn't have been more helpful in the hotel and knew Paolo, he had had his album launch there recently. They showed me various rooms and I picked the best one for the shoot and got set up. I knew I would need my own lights, as we were scheduled to meet at 4.30pm and it's dark by then in winter in Glasgow.
I picked out different areas in the room that I thought might work and thought of what kind of shots I could do there. Then I just paced up and down, waiting and checking the equipment until Paolo arrived.
He's such a lovely guy, very friendly and down to earth. Really handsome and about 6 feet tall. He was extremely camera shy, which is amazing for someone who's number one in the album charts! You'd think he'd have all the poses down pat, but he's just uncomfortable about posing and especially looking into the camera, but we got there in the end and he was very patient while I adjusted the lights etc. The guy with him, Malky, was very helpful too and acted as my light stand, since I could carry one on the plane.
I like these two shots, the one on the bed is how he must spend a lot of time, on his own in hotel rooms, writing songs. The other one has a bit of the old masters paintings about it, the museum earlier must have rubbed off on me. Paolo sang me a bit of "My Bonnie lies over the Ocean" in the style of Ray Charles, very funny. He'd heard Charles cover it on an old album and was amazed as this was a song we were both taught in primary school.
Just got to the airport with minutes to spare to catch the flight home.