Bradley Quinn
Encyclopedia
Bradley Quinn is a commercial photographer based in Holywood
, Northern Ireland
. He is the principal photographer of Northern Irish bands Snow Patrol
and Cashier No. 9. He is younger brother to Jonny Quinn
, the drummer for Snow Patrol. He worked under photographer Ashley Morrison before starting his own business, Bradley Quinn Photography in 2005. He does commercial, wedding and music photography, and uses Nikon
D3
and D700
cameras for his work.
, younger brother to Jonny Quinn
. His aunt is actress Patricia Quinn
and cousin Debbie Armstrong, wife of former Northern Ireland
assistant manager Gerry Armstrong
. He was introduced to photography at an early age by his father, and started doing amateur work using the darkroom
in their house. When attending Belfast
's Campbell College
, he took up photography as a subject for his Arts GCSE
. He then attended Belfast Institute to study A level photography. During his years at the Institute, he was picked by in-house photographer Geoff Hannon. It was his first job, which he did for six months. He had plans to attend university, but decided to take an opportunity to work under commercial and advertising photographer Ashley Morrison. He worked for ten years and finds the experience "invaluable"; apart from film developing
and location lighting, he learnt to deal with finance and marketing.
, the duo's work got exposure in local newspapers and magazines. He has said its difficult to survive on music photography alone, as there are not enough music related publications in Northern Ireland.
During his student years at Campbell College, Quinn had a classmate in Gary Lightbody
. Lightbody was later in a band Shrug
when he was studying in Dundee
and Bradley had told Jonny about him. When Shrug needed a drummer, Jonny moved to Dundee to join the band, which marked the beginning of Snow Patrol
. Bradley began shooting them and felt a "good feeling" about the band, and decided to "chart their history". He photographed Jonny in five bands before Snow Patrol and also worked with Northern Irish band F.U.E.L.
, which had a member in Nathan Connolly
. Connolly later became a member of Snow Patrol. Since the band is friends with Quinn, they are comfortable having him around. He gets access to the stage when the band play, shoot the band relaxing backstage or working in the studio during album recordings. He is trusted enough to edit and select photographs that are to be sent out or uploaded, without consulting the band. His shots of Snow Patrol appear on the band's official website. His favorite songs are "Run
" and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It
", as the on-stage dynamics provide him the best opportunities to take artistic shots. Apart from his work with Snow Patrol, Quinn is the principal photographer for Belfast band Cashier No. 9.
, and started his own business, Bradley Quinn Photography, in 2005 where does commercial and wedding photography. His work with Snow Patrol led to his first exhibition, called "Crack the Shutters" in July 2009. It was held at the Waterfront Hall
during the Trans
festival in Belfast and continued till the end of the month. It showcased 45 images spanning the band's life and two 6 feet (1.8 m) canvasses, one of which was made of 3,000 of his photographs of Snow Patrol. Cashier No. 9 played at the launch of the exhibition. The exhibition was held for three days again (from 7–9 December 2009) at the same venue as Snow Patrol toured in Belfast. He intends to do the exhibition in more venues around the United Kingdom.
. He later started using Canon digital
cameras and switched to Nikon
in 2008. Presently, he uses the models D3
and D700
and various fast lenses
. He used Kodachrome
film, but has always preferred Velvia
(from Fuji
). He finds the darkroom process enjoyable, but prefers post-processing images on a computer. He shoots his photographs in raw
format and processes them with Lightroom, since it provides more flexibility during editing. He gets his prints from a lab in Scotland.
Holywood
Holywood is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the shore of Belfast Lough, between Belfast and Bangor. Holywood Exchange and Belfast City Airport are nearby. The town hosts an annual jazz and blues festival.-Name:...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He is the principal photographer of Northern Irish bands Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
and Cashier No. 9. He is younger brother to Jonny Quinn
Jonny Quinn
Jonathan Graham "Jonny" Quinn is a Northern Irish drummer, born in Bangor. He is best known as the drummer for alternative rock band Snow Patrol, and was previously a member of bands like The Mighty Fall, The New Brontes and Disraeli Gears. As drummer for Snow Patrol, he has played on all releases...
, the drummer for Snow Patrol. He worked under photographer Ashley Morrison before starting his own business, Bradley Quinn Photography in 2005. He does commercial, wedding and music photography, and uses Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
D3
Nikon D3
The Nikon D3 is a 12.1 megapixel professional grade full frame digital single lens reflex camera announced by the Nikon Corporation on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D300 DX format camera. The D3, along with the Nikon D3X, was a flagship model in Nikon's line of DSLRs, superseding the D2Hs...
and D700
Nikon D700
The Nikon D700 is a professional grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by the Nikon Corporation in July 2008 and manufactured in Japan. It uses the same 12.1 megapixel "FX" CMOS image sensor as the Nikon D3, and is Nikon's second full-frame digital SLR camera...
cameras for his work.
Early life
Bradley Quinn was born in 1976 in BangorBangor, County Down
Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...
, younger brother to Jonny Quinn
Jonny Quinn
Jonathan Graham "Jonny" Quinn is a Northern Irish drummer, born in Bangor. He is best known as the drummer for alternative rock band Snow Patrol, and was previously a member of bands like The Mighty Fall, The New Brontes and Disraeli Gears. As drummer for Snow Patrol, he has played on all releases...
. His aunt is actress Patricia Quinn
Patricia Quinn
Patricia Quinn, Lady Stephens is a Northern Irish actress best known for her role as Magenta in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Hers were the red lips that appeared in the film's opening song "Science Fiction/Double Feature"...
and cousin Debbie Armstrong, wife of former Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
assistant manager Gerry Armstrong
Gerry Armstrong (footballer)
Gerard "Gerry" Joseph Armstrong is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur....
. He was introduced to photography at an early age by his father, and started doing amateur work using the darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
in their house. When attending Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
's Campbell College
Campbell College
Campbell College is a Voluntary Grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The College educates boys from ages 11–18. It is one of the eight Northern Irish schools represented on the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and is a member of the Independent Schools Council.The school occupies...
, he took up photography as a subject for his Arts GCSE
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
. He then attended Belfast Institute to study A level photography. During his years at the Institute, he was picked by in-house photographer Geoff Hannon. It was his first job, which he did for six months. He had plans to attend university, but decided to take an opportunity to work under commercial and advertising photographer Ashley Morrison. He worked for ten years and finds the experience "invaluable"; apart from film developing
Photographic processing
Photographic processing is the chemical means by which photographic film and paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image...
and location lighting, he learnt to deal with finance and marketing.
Music photography
Quinn started to photograph bands his brother Jonny was in around the time he was working under Ashley Morrison, confident one of those would make it. He photographed bands like The New Brontes, Skintflint and Watercress, among other more major bands who were touring at the time. He used to work for free, and sent his shots to the local press. Working with music journalist Colin HarperColin Harper
Colin Harper is an Irish music journalist. He was born in Belfast and graduated in 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast. As a writer for the Belfast "Irish News" he wrote unsiged features on local bands and famous bands on tour...
, the duo's work got exposure in local newspapers and magazines. He has said its difficult to survive on music photography alone, as there are not enough music related publications in Northern Ireland.
During his student years at Campbell College, Quinn had a classmate in Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody
Gary Lightbody is an Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.- Early life :...
. Lightbody was later in a band Shrug
Shrug (band)
Untitled demo 1 Untitled demo 2 -Band members:* Gary Lightbody - lead vocals, guitar* Michael Morrison - drums* Mark McClelland - bass guitar...
when he was studying in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
and Bradley had told Jonny about him. When Shrug needed a drummer, Jonny moved to Dundee to join the band, which marked the beginning of Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
. Bradley began shooting them and felt a "good feeling" about the band, and decided to "chart their history". He photographed Jonny in five bands before Snow Patrol and also worked with Northern Irish band F.U.E.L.
File Under Easy Listening
File Under Easy Listening was a short-lived Alternative rock band formed in Belfast in 1998 and were named after the 1994 album by Sugar.The band consisted of Nathan Connolly, Aaron Ditty, Dave Magee and Peter Comfort...
, which had a member in Nathan Connolly
Nathan Connolly
Nathan Connolly is a Northern Irish musician, who is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for alternative rock band Snow Patrol.-Early life:...
. Connolly later became a member of Snow Patrol. Since the band is friends with Quinn, they are comfortable having him around. He gets access to the stage when the band play, shoot the band relaxing backstage or working in the studio during album recordings. He is trusted enough to edit and select photographs that are to be sent out or uploaded, without consulting the band. His shots of Snow Patrol appear on the band's official website. His favorite songs are "Run
Run (Snow Patrol song)
"Run" is a cover of the Snow Patrol song by Leona Lewis on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on 31 October 2007. She later released the song as a single from Spirit: The Deluxe Edition in November 2008. At the time, "Run" was the UK's fastest-selling digital only release ever, selling 69,244 copies in just...
" and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It
If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It
"If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" is a song from alternative rock band Snow Patrol's fifth album A Hundred Million Suns. It was released as the follow-up single to "Crack the Shutters" on 8 and 9 March 2009. It was the third single taken from the album. The music was composed in collaboration...
", as the on-stage dynamics provide him the best opportunities to take artistic shots. Apart from his work with Snow Patrol, Quinn is the principal photographer for Belfast band Cashier No. 9.
Other work
He is based in HolywoodHolywood
Holywood is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the shore of Belfast Lough, between Belfast and Bangor. Holywood Exchange and Belfast City Airport are nearby. The town hosts an annual jazz and blues festival.-Name:...
, and started his own business, Bradley Quinn Photography, in 2005 where does commercial and wedding photography. His work with Snow Patrol led to his first exhibition, called "Crack the Shutters" in July 2009. It was held at the Waterfront Hall
Waterfront Hall
The Waterfront Hall is a multi-purpose facility, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. Practice partner Peter McGukin was the project architect....
during the Trans
Trans (Festival)
trans is an annual, non-commercial arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Linked with the Urban Arts Academy and is organised by the Belfast Waterfront Hall...
festival in Belfast and continued till the end of the month. It showcased 45 images spanning the band's life and two 6 feet (1.8 m) canvasses, one of which was made of 3,000 of his photographs of Snow Patrol. Cashier No. 9 played at the launch of the exhibition. The exhibition was held for three days again (from 7–9 December 2009) at the same venue as Snow Patrol toured in Belfast. He intends to do the exhibition in more venues around the United Kingdom.
Equipment and technique
Quinn started his career using manual cameras from OlympusOlympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...
. He later started using Canon digital
Canon Digital IXUS
The Digital IXUS is a series of digital cameras released by Canon. It is a line of ultracompact cameras, originally based on the design of Canon's IXUS/IXY/ELPH line of APS cameras....
cameras and switched to Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
in 2008. Presently, he uses the models D3
Nikon D3
The Nikon D3 is a 12.1 megapixel professional grade full frame digital single lens reflex camera announced by the Nikon Corporation on 23 August 2007 along with the Nikon D300 DX format camera. The D3, along with the Nikon D3X, was a flagship model in Nikon's line of DSLRs, superseding the D2Hs...
and D700
Nikon D700
The Nikon D700 is a professional grade full-frame digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by the Nikon Corporation in July 2008 and manufactured in Japan. It uses the same 12.1 megapixel "FX" CMOS image sensor as the Nikon D3, and is Nikon's second full-frame digital SLR camera...
and various fast lenses
Lens speed
Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter, or minimum f-number, of a photographic lens. A lens with a larger maximum aperture is a fast lens because it delivers more light intensity to the focal plane, allowing a faster shutter speed...
. He used Kodachrome
Kodachrome
Kodachrome is the trademarked brand name of a type of color reversal film that was manufactured by Eastman Kodak from 1935 to 2009.-Background:...
film, but has always preferred Velvia
Velvia
Velvia is a brand of daylight-balanced color reversal film produced by the Japanese company Fujifilm. The name is a contraction of "Velvet Media", a reference to its smooth image structure. The original incarnation of the film was called "Velvia for Professionals", known as RVP, a classification...
(from Fuji
Fujifilm
is a multinational photography and imaging company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Fujifilm's principal activities are the development, production, sale and servicing of color photographic film, digital cameras, photofinishing equipment, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, medical imaging...
). He finds the darkroom process enjoyable, but prefers post-processing images on a computer. He shoots his photographs in raw
RAW image format
A camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
format and processes them with Lightroom, since it provides more flexibility during editing. He gets his prints from a lab in Scotland.