Update on My Life

It has been an unbelievably long time since I have updated. No I didn't die, yes I've been incredibly busy. I'm home from London at this point, my new home being Boston, MA at Northeastern University. So far Boston life is fun, but nothing compared to London. I am enjoying all of my music classes tremendously, and have taken lots of great photos since the last update. Also, I have a new website! LairdPhotos.com is now all mine. I created the site using a template, and I think the result is great. The site is not completely polished yet, and I still have some decisions to make about it, but its nearing completion.

Here are a few images and their stories.


This is a picture from the Louvre Gallery in Paris, France. Paris was an interesting city, and most of the stereotypes are true about the people They weren't the kindest.



Here's a photo I'm really proud of. This is from Canterbury. There isn't too much story behind it, other than this guys music was beautiful.



Nice, France. This was the most relaxing week of my life. Priorities for the trip were sleep, relax on beach, sightsee and drink good wine. All were accomplished. After that I continued to Munich Germany for Oktoberfest. Probably luckily, there are no pictures from that.



I recently did a photoshoot for a local band, Call Me Anything. It was a great shoot producing some great images, of a new style for me. I used 2 Umbrellas with strobes for the shots. I'm super happy with most of them, unfortunately they have had a member change so they won't be able to use the images. I'm sure I'll have another opportunity to shoot with them.



Another shot.



Accelerate quite a bit. This is a very recent picture. I had the opportunity to again manage the Mo' Pleasure show at my high school. With a different, much more Jazz oriented line up this year, it was a great show. On drums was Omar Hakim, who was Sting's drummer at one point. Also Rachel Z on the piano, a great pianist from NYC who has worked with and co-wrote with Najee. I love being a part of this show.



And another.

On a personal note, I have gotten the job to be the Staff Intern at Litchfield Jazz Camp this summer. I'm super excited for this opportunity to work so closely with a lot of great musicians and people that are influential in the business. Obviously a huge part of this is the Litchfield Jazz Festival, which so far has an incredible line up, including Trombone Shorty and Roy Haynes. It should be a great month for me. I will also continue to take photos and document the summer for Litchfield Performing Arts.
So all in all, life is good. Classes are tough, but going well.

London Update Number 2

So London is still fantastic. Living on my own has not proved to be that difficult once I got over the initial obstacles which were laundry and cooking. I am really enjoying my classes which involve lots of field trips to super interesting places (olympic site for 2012 for instance). We have actually begun really working.

Ok, so, pictures: I've taken lots. But i'll only post the ones I really like.

Obviously, Big Ben (which is really St. Stephens tower, as Big Ben is the bell). This is at night, with the camera perched on a ledge, leveled by my strap. This is about f/11 or so, which is what gives the lights the starburst.
This is Jess. Jess is cool. I mostly included this picture because I love the actual picture. This is one of my first backlit pictures that I am truly happy with. It's also pretty cool because we are on the London Eye in this picture.
This is a tower in Brixton. Brixton is a developing area in London with a very large Afro-Caribbean population. I got curried goat at a small local restaurant there with a Guava Juice as a drink. It was delicious.
Obviously, Stonehenge. I did a little bit of editing to get the people out, but not too much. I love the colors and light in this picture.
Still stonehenge, and I really like the colors in this one.
This is a street performer in Bath. We went to the Roman Baths, which were pretty interesting. I love this picture because of the very strong contrast and silhouette that the man provides.

Thats it for now. I'm a little behind on pictures, and have more to post, but thats for another update.

London Update Number 1

So, first update in London. Here are some pictures.

Heres a shot of the road I live on. Where I live looks just like these houses. Its amazing, the cars are amazing. I have seen every kind of nice car. Today, a Mercedes SLR Mclaren was parked behind an aston martin DB9. This happens all the time.

This is part of the group that I'm with. We're crossing the Millenium (I think) bridge over the Thames river.

Obviously, Big Ben.

Well, so far. The trip as been AMAZING. I have gotten lost a few times, and enjoyed it. Hit the pub, gotten a few drinks, etc. Email me with questions, comments, or even suggestions about what I should do. Musicdelstrad@aol.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

Update

Sorry guys, I haven't updated in a really long time. Here's a photo that I sort of found by accident. This is a 100% crop, with my 50d and 35L. I thought they had been damaged, but I guess not. This is spot on.

Italia

So I just got back from Italy. Expect a HUGE amount of pictures from my trip. Heres one in florence with a 11-16 at f/11

Moto

Here's an off camera flash shot. I love it. Its from motocross the other day

Hartford

Here's a shot after a jazz show in Hartford last night. ISO 3200 f/1.4. It was dark.

Argh

This is how I feel sometimes

Rocky Hill-Brad

Here's an edit of a shot I took long ago. I made a lot of adjustments, then brought more color back to the rider. There result is sweet I think.

Reactions

Here's a cool shot from a gig that my friend's Dad played. Its also cool because its one of the first raw editing jobs I'm happy with. However, I don't like the pink fringe.