Dean Fardell's portfolio of work reads like a Who's Who of the world's top musicians. He has photographed almost every rock and pop star you could name - Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Brian Ferry, Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart, Bob Geldof, Kasabian, Keane, Hard-Fi, Annie Lennox, James Morrison, Pete Doherty, Katie Melua and Paolo Nutini.

From humble beginnings taking sports photographs in his home town Grantham, in Lincolnshire, Dean cut his teeth as a music photographer working at celebrity football tournaments, music festivals and awards ceremonies. He built a reputation for a professional and friendly approach and, more importantly, producing creative and action-packed shots. Now Dean is part of Gibson Guitars' photography team, covering festivals and concerts and photographing major artists for Gibson and Epiphone advertisements and Gibson's Guitar town London project.

After photographing Sir Paul McCartney at the BBC's Electric Proms in 2007, he was asked to be the former Beatles official photographer at the Brit Awards. Dean is also part of Paul Weller's photography team, contributing images to his website, and an official photographer for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity and the music industry's Soccer Sixes Tournament. He has also been commissioned to take photographs for Orange Amps adverts and to work as a freelance photographer for several press agencies.

Despite his growing reputation as one of the country's top music photographers, Dean's approach remains simple. He said: "In these modern times, anyone can go out and buy an expensive digital camera, lenses and software and call themselves a professional, but you've got to have passion for your work and an eye for the best shots. I always aim to get the best image from the best possible conditions and angles, which gives better raw output with less need for editing with computer software. The bottom line is I love what I do."

Not many people can say they have sat in on an acoustic session with Paul Weller, had a cup of tea with Paul McCartney, kicked a football about with Kasabian and had a beer with Amy Winehouse.