Youssou onstage, The Barbican July 18th

As the sound from the stage grew, Youssou’s voice boomed from backstage as if from heaven – ‘Salaam Aleikum’. He then gave a tribute in Wolof and translated into English by Dudu Sarr, to the late, great Charlie Gillett. He launched into ‘Pitche Mi’, one of Charlie’s favourites and one from the album ‘Immigres’ that brought Youssou to the music world’s attention.

Unlike Paris, it took time for the audience to get to their feet and The Barbican lacks the manic energy of a packed Bercy as a venue. Still good.

Youssou backstage, The Barbican July 18th

He’s done it so many times but I was still amazed by Youssou N’Dour’s calm before he went on stage at the Barbican on July 18^th. TV interviews, warming his voice up, looking at pictures of classical music greats, untangling his earpiece. As the wonderful band took the stage with Wailers keyboard player Tyrone Downie in the line-up, Youssou stayed behind, hidden.

Summer storm

A few years ago I was in Paris on a research/recce trip prior to filming in the city. As I was making ‘phone calls in the back seat of our rented Renault Espace, I noticed a gathering of summer storm clouds in the distance to the south of the city. The light was changing constantly like an animated William Blake painting. I ended the call, grabbed the only camera to hand (Canon Ixus), asked Gina to drive as slowly as she dare (not easy in Paris) and with the camera set on auto, hit the button as many times as I could until my hand and the camera were drenched.

Here is one frame – Tour Eiffel in a summer storm.

Zanzibar

I wish I was in Zanzibar. This is what it looks like at dawn, midday and sunset.

Heaven.

Carlou D at the Africa Centre London

Rising star from Senegal Carlou D launched his CD at the Africa Centre in London’s Covent Garden. Some of the greats of African music have walked the floors of the now faded hall including Baaba Maal but the building is in desperate need of some tlc.

I’ve been following Carlou for over two years now, documenting his progress so I was there to take pictures. It was a struggle from the start, as the lighting was simply dreadful and didn’t do justice to the songs of Carlou and his band. The sound wasn’t great either – why is it that live sound engineers all seem to think the solution to any problem is to TURN UP THE VOLUME.

I did my best but sat at the computer late into the night frustrated.

The album ‘Muzikr’ is excellent and with the nurturing of Motherland Music Carlou D looks set to be the man to fill the shoes of Youssou N’Dour and Baaba Maal.

Robbo's glove

November 2008. I’m in my seat early in the south stand at White Hart Lane for the match against Blackburn Rovers. We greeted our former goalkeeper Paul Robinson with cheers and chants of ‘England’s number one’ whilst our new keeper, the long-armed Brazilian Heurelho Gomes patrolled his penalty area like an Octupus with too much adrenalin coursing through his body.

Gomes kept a clean sheet, Roman Pavlyuchenko scored early for Tottenham and we held on for the win. At the final whistle Robinson turned to the south stand and threw his gloves into the air. Most of the regulars where I sit are bigger than me but thankfully no one’s taller. As the gloves floated down I leapt like a geriatric salmon and grabbed the left glove. Even as I pulled it into my body for safekeeping someone tried to wrench it from me.

Robbo’s glove – mine!

Paul Robinson was magnificent for Tottenham during his four years at the club. Gomes has gone from strength to strength and at times was the best ‘keeper in the Premier League last year. Perhaps one day the Octupus will throw his gloves in our direction, hopefully the right hand to match Robbo’s.

Best zoom lens...?

We went to Vejer de la Frontera for Easter. As we were going for four days it was hand baggage only. It meant I had to cut down on camera gear. I took my Nikon D700, an old Nikon 28mm f2.8 lens and my Zeiss 85mm f1.4. A couple of batteries and some memory cards and I was ready.

Vejer is a hilltop ‘Pueblo Blanco’ from which you can see Morocco on a clear day. The streets were buzzing with Easter celebrations - religious processions every night culminated in a bull run. It may not be as grand as the madness of Pamplona but it matters to the good citizens of this edgy and beautiful town.

I was regretting not bringing my 24-70 mm f2.8 zoom within minutes of driving in. My Zeiss 85mm is a sharp and great lens to use particularly in low light. But it’s unforgiving, technique has to be right to get the best out of it.

So the 28mm spent more time on the camera and I walked to get close.

Can’t remember who said it first but it's true - the best zoom lens is your legs…

Youssou N'Dour 2010

June 19th, 2010, Youssou N'Dour returned to Bercy. Dressed in Adidas green and yellow for the souncheck he must have wished he was watching the World Cup.

Come show-time, Bercy was packed, probably 17,000 and mostly Senegalese. There was nothing new about the songs he sang but Youssou gave his faithful fans what they wanted - the sounds and dancing of home.

In the front of the heaving mass shoved up against the crush barriers were some familiar faces from the last time I was here two years ago. I asked one how much he'd paid for his ticket. €40 he said proudly. I started to do the maths gazing at the full stadium but gave up when my stomach flipped thanks to the row of bass speakers I was leaning against.

After something like four hours Youssou left, a hero and father figure to his loyal audience. As Bercy emptied, I wandered out into a wet Paris night and headed towards Bastille and our rented apartment.

The verdict? Not as good as 2008 but despite shambolic moments it was exciting, vibrant and a privilege. I doubt if his show at The Barbican in July will get close to the energy on stage at Bercy.

Youssou N'Dour

In April 2008 I went to Paris to photograph Youssou N'Dour at the Bercy concert venue. It was one of the best night's of music I'd ever witnessed and photographed, all in front of 15,000 excited people from Senegal . These pictures were taken during the night.

On June 19th he's playing there again. It promises to be another 24 hours without sleep, but well worth it. It's the 10th anniversary of his Bercy shows so I'm sure there'll be some surprises. Looking forward to it...

HMS Daring, 'Building Britain's Ultimate Warship'

May 31st 2009, I joined HMS Daring with a film crew of two to complete a film that had been started in 2004. A year to the day that I walked up the long gangway onto the flight deck at the stern of the new ship, the 75 minute documentary was transmitted on Channel 4. I'll be honest - I'm never sure anything we make will ever be transmitted after the strange goings-on a few years ago when a good series of mine was dumped by a new commissioning editor, but we sat down to watch Building Britain's Ultimate Warship and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Making the film took me by surprise. We had extraordinary co-operation and help from the Navy and the crew on the ship and it partly satisfied my long-held wish to make a film at sea. I hadn't expected to become quite so attached to both the ship and the crew of men and women and to be so bowled over by their attitude and commitment.

At the end of April 2010, just over a month before transmission, I was back on board for another stint to take publicity pictures for Channel 4. The atmosphere on board was very much the same - helpful, generous, committed and thoroughly professional. As I followed Capt McAlpine and his crew for two days I was reminded how much I'd enjoyed myself on the Royal Navy's latest and most expensive ship to date.

I'll be back on board on July 1st for Affiliates Day - it'll be great to catch up with everyone again. Let's hope the sun shines on HMS Daring.