Portrait & Editorial Photography from Mike Gatiss

Music photography combines two of my greatest loves. Music has always been a huge influence on my life and if I ever told my life story I wouldn't be able to do it without referring to the music I was listening to at the time. Whether it's the Stock Aitken and Waterman produced pop of my youth, the Heavy Metal rebellion of my teenage years or the eclectic mix that fills my iPod now, there's a tune for everything. Live music photography is an art. It's not just about getting the exposure, focus and all the other technical factors right; as important as they are. The critical element is capturing the passion, the energy, the music, and all the other reasons the fans turn out in droves. One of my biggest thrills is working with new unsigned bands to help them develop their image and putting together a stunning press pack including live and promo shots - to help get them noticed, so whether you're just getting started or are an established act give me a call or drop me a line to discuss what I can do to help. Galleries are grouped in alphabetical order to make it easier to find what you're looking for but drop me a line if you have any problems.

Roller derby is a full-contact sport played on quad roller skates, by players skating around an elliptical track. The game consists of a series of two-minute countdown jams. At the start of each jam, each team sends five players onto the track: one Jammer (point scorer), three blockers (defensive/offensive players) and one Pivot (a special kind of blocker). The players are identified by their helmet covers – a stripe for the pivots and two stars for the Jammers. The pivots and blockers form a pack at the start line and the two Jammers line up on or behind the Jammer line. The Jammers’ aim is to make it through the pack of skaters and skate a full lap to enter the pack again. Once they re-enter the pack, they score a point for each opposing skater they pass legally. Now for the fun bit: the skaters in the pack are doing their utmost to stop the opposing Jammer passing them and scoring points, while at the same time trying to help their own Jammer to pass opposing players. They do this by landing heavy shoulder or hip checks on opposing players, shoving them out of the way or knocking them to the ground. Skaters may use specifics parts of their body to engage opponents, and skaters may only target their engagements to specific parts of their opponents’ bodies. Illegal hits result in time served in the penalty box, legal hits often result in skaters flying off the track and landing in the crowd!