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Lindy Hop

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  There is a sense of community among swing dancers across the world.  We are all like family in a way.  I can travel anywhere in the world and be part of the club with instant friends.  These people are fun.  Interesting, adventurous, stylish, friendly, and everyone feels passionately about the emotions in the music.  That's what we share.  When that perfect song is playing, it's almost impossible to stay in your chair.  Everyone dances with everyone, and you don't have to know each other.  Here are the photos from day 2 of the Galway Lindyfest 2012.

 

 

 

 

Chris and Hazel (above right and below) were two of my favorite people from Ireland.  Hazel is an amazing dancer and actually an instructor for circus. Very talented girl!  And Chris was one of the first people Annie and I met in Dublin. If you look really closely, you can see that his bow tie is actually made out of wooden dice.  So classy, I love it :)

 

 

 

 

WIth this kind of dance, the choreography isn't planned out ahead of time, you don't even need to "learn the moves."  Everything is about connection.  When the lead moves this direction, the follow can feel it, so she moves as well.  In this way, I've found that the dancers are like two more musicians added into the music.  They can add embellishments or keep things simple, but they are contributing something to the feeling and style of the song.  It's difficult to find the right words to describe this feeling accurately, but it's the number one reason I love dance.  10 talented dancers at the same skill level will each have a completely different dance to the same song.

 

 

 

 

Below is Annie dancing with another of my favorite Irishmen, named Oisin. He is a professional traditional Irish musician and only got into swing dance about 6 months ago.  But he's doing so well and was a pleasure to be around.  It's funny though, because technically I know English but several times I had no idea what these people were saying because of their Irish accents!  Oisin joked that they should have streaming subtitled for us Americans.  I'll definitely have to look into that next time I come back!  I found myself smiling and laughing and nodding often... and having no clue what I was responding too.  Oh well.

 

 

 

 

I pulled out my camera to get a shot of the room and didn't realize that all the humidity and body heat from the dancing had fogged up my lens.  I'm thinkin' maybe I should charge extra for the not-quite-intentional-but-pretty-cool-anyway effect it created for the photo below!

 

 

Thank you dancers and friends from Ireland for making me feel welcome.  Check out the galleries of photos and feel free to purchase prints or right click and download for facebook here:

 

May 11 Galway Lindyfest

May 12 Galway Lindyfest

 

 

 

Happy People

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Sitting in a McDonald's in Dublin, watching the sky go from sunny, to cloudy, to rainy, to dark, to sunny, to rainy... etc.  I have one more day in Ireland, then headed to London in the morning! I don't have tons of time, but I just wanted to say how much I love happy people.  I've had the chance to meet up with swing dancers several times this week, and there are people who are amazing dancers, and there are people who are beginners. The people I enjoy the most though, fit into both categories - they are the people who love the music and have fun.

 

 

 

 

As a photographer, there is nothing better.  Real emotion.  Real people.  Loving life.  And I'm so grateful for this community of swing dancers also.  I was introduced to the Lindy hop scene during high school in Austin, TX, but really got into it with the swing club at BYU about 6 years ago.  I was dancing 15+ hours a week in Utah, but also took weekends to travel to other cities for Lindy Exchanges, where a city would host a weekend of dancing with workshops and classes and people traveling in.  It was a thrill to meet the people, have such an intense training of the technique, and usually some good live music also.  As luck would have it, Annie and I ended up in Galway on the same weekend as one of these events, the Galway Lindyfest 2012.  There were amazing dancers, lots of events, and everyone was so accepting.  We have something in common which makes us all like family.  I feel so grateful for all these awesome people we got to meet, the great dances, and a new experience.

 

 

 

  

 

These are the photos from day 1 of the event, my favorites are from day 2, so check back tomorrow for more fun and style!  People got a little more dressed up for the next dance also, it was fun to see all the outfits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The End of Dublin (Night Life)

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  Well, Ireland certainly has a night life.  I asked someone in a store for a recommendation of things to do in the afternoon and she said "oh, I don't know. Go get a drink.  Not much else to do."  Kind of depressing since I don't drink, but they've got music in almost every pub!  So I had a blast.

 

 

I sat at the bar of a Japanese restaurant, chatted with the sushi chefs, and ate gyoza.  It was delicious.  There was a large window to my left, so I watched as all the people hurried by.  It's just a lot of tourists, but that's ok.  They're all happy and going to food and music and, most importantly for the area, drinks.  Giant "Guinness" signs everywhere, I don't know if it's actually the Irish people or just the people visiting Ireland, but whoever it is sure likes to drink!

 

 

 

 

 

Had some awesome traditional Irish music at a pub called the Globe.  This is Fred, who we met on Tuesday, playing the bodhrán.  He gave me a mini-lesson on how to play it and I decided that it's more complicated than people think to play it well.

 

 

Before the band started playing, I ordered my non-alcoholic beverage at the bar and chatted with a few people around there.  This guy in the photo below, though, heard something about me being a photographer and said "OH! Take a picture of me.  Right here." My eyes darted around uncomfortably, but the bar was pretty empty, so I pulled out the lens and flash and took a photo.  Of course he wanted to see it.  "Hrmmm... how about another one.  I'll do my George Clooney pose."  I have no idea what he meant by that, but after 15 minutes of his entertaining drunk ramblings and wanting to pose for the camera, this is what we ended up with:

 

 

I really enjoyed the trad group, because they had three of them and they all played instruments and could sang.  This meant the sound of the song changed as they switched lead or instruments.  Made it interesting!

 

 

 

After a bit there, we went down the street to a pub with a blues band. I drank an orange juice with nothing in it and was told that was an insult to the Irish.  I wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel really uncomfortable, so I tried to be really polite and understanding while still explaining I wasn't interested in drinking alcohol...  Oh well...  Met some other awesome people, the lead singer and harmonica player in the band was a friend of Fred's and a great musician! They had more of a Texas blues style and it really made me want to dance.  Just listening was almost as good :)

 

 

Here's the vocalist from their group.  I didn't get a good picture of it, but the coolest thing about him was he also played the harmonica!  I've met people who could kind of play, but this guy was wailing on it! So much fun.

 

 

And now we're in Galway.  Stay tuned :)

 

 

 

Dublin, Ireland

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I have seen seagulls before, but this little guy was like a cartoon.  He followed me around for a few minutes, clearly trying to get a start on his model career.  Annie was sad we forget to have him sign a model release but I said I'd use it anyway, I prefer not carrying bird poop around, thanks :)

 

 

 

Turns out Ireland in May is rainy (which I knew and came prepared with - my awesome REI raincoat) and cold.  Much colder than I expected.  But that's all part of the adventure, right?  Shouldn't have packed my winter clothes away quite this early!  

 

 

 

Everytime I do a photoshoot like this, I seem to find one obsession. One thing I can't take enough photos of, it's just perfect - from every angle, every lighting situation... Well, today it was my boat.  The adorable little blue tug boat.  Ok, I have no idea if it was a tug boat, but that sounds better for my story.  Just soo... cute!

 



We finished the evening stopping in to a couple pubs with live music.  I don't drink alcohol, so I got a great seafood chowder at the first place and awkwardly ordered CocaCola at the next pubs.  That's not usually weird for me when I'm going for the music, but something about being in Ireland and not drinking just made me feel out of place...  The people were so friendly though.  The last pub we went to had a very talented blues-y group and we sat with the groupies.  I met the wife of the drummer, the girlfriend of the singer, and several other friends.  And everyone just wanted to sit and chat and most of them were musicians too.  I got a quick lesson and a chance to play a bodhran, a traditional Irish drum, held sideways and played with one hand.  Loved the energy and the passion they all had in life.  One guy, Fred, was telling me why the English don't like the Irish. It's because the Irish are crazy, no one knows exactly what they are going to do next...  And I think he might be right, but that's why I've loved the culture!  Always something new.






San Diego Skyline

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I spent the afternoon of Day 2 in San Diego at  a beach, sitting, sleeping, and writing things in the sand.  Oh, how I would love to be on the beach right now!  Jealous seemed like the correct word to write :)  I first tried writing them with my toe, but the water kept beating me to it and washing the words away.  So I walked and walked and walked looking for a big stick.  And I couldn't find one anywhere!  Then Justin suggested a lightstand - turns out camera equipment has multiple purposes!

 

  

 

It was perfect :)

 

 

 

 

And the working part of the day - corporate photos.  Jeremy's business partner, Nate, flew in that morning so he could join us for photoshoot #2.  Nate has spent the last year or so traveling around the country - a couple weeks here, a couple weeks there (California, Colorado, Utah, Florida and a few other places) and has finally settled back in San Diego with a permanent address.  Most of the work they do is online anyway, or traveling to meet with clients in other states, so being able to move around without interrupting the business is pretty cool.  I love the perspective both of these guys have on life and people, though.  They make a huge effort to understand people and it shows in the relationships they have, even while not staying in one place for very long.  You can still connect with people and make a difference.  Everyone travels for different reasons, and I've loved the experiences I've been able to have traveling recently - new people, new places, new experiences.  I've gone out of the state at least once every month since November, and this will continue for almost a whole year.  I'm excited to see the connections I can make as this continues!

 

 

Nate and Jeremy run two businesses together, SpireWave and Mind Breakthrough.  (The SpireWave website is about to be relaunched, but until then, you can read a little bit about it on Jeremy's website here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the view of this skyline with the water.  For you photographers interested in the specs on this one below, I had one speedlight on my camera, two behind them for backlight, and one from the front right with a soft box. I used pocketwizards to trigger, and shot it at 1/15 sec, f/3.2, ISO 640.  Most importantly, though, I called ahead to make sure they'd turn all the lights on for the office buildings in the background ;)

 

 

 

And I hopped in one at the end - thanks Justin for taking the picture!

 

 

 

 

Dueling Pianos

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  My sister's in town this week!  So, we took her to the dueling pianos at Keys on Main last night.  I love going there on week nights because everything's just a little more relaxed.

 

Now, in the story of my life: before there was photography, there was music.  I've always needed an artistic outlet, and I've sung all my life and played most every instrument at some point.  I actually studied Music Education at BYU.  Here's the thing, though:  I grew up listening to jazz, classical, my mom's favorite music (usually stuff from the 40's), and occasionally my sister's music in the car.  So, my knowledge of music theory might be strong, but my the song I actually recognize???  Well, my repertoire has definitely been lacking.  So it is amazing to just sit in a piano bar on Wednesday night and hear a huge variety of different styles and songs all with insanely talented musicians and a friendly bartender to serve our non-alcoholic drinks :)  I'm learning new songs, enjoying the music and the emotion... Very little compares to good live music.  And I was excited to get some cool photos last night.

 

 

There was an awesome saxaphone player!

 

 

 

And my two favorite pianists.  First, Kendrick.  This guy is an entertainer.  Along with many other wonderful songs of course, he managed to successfully and impressively sing Lady Ga Ga's "Poker Face" last night.  And the crowd went wild!

 

 

 

 

Then there's Rich Wyman.  When I first heard him sing, I just sat there with my jaw dropped.  He has such a unique style in his voice with so much passion for the music, it's contagious!  He has released several albums of original work and also recently released one called "Songs I Wish I Wrote."  It's my new favorite "I've been sitting at a computer editing for too long and I'm going crazy" music.  Refreshing and motivating, full of emotion.  I love it!

 

Check out his website

Buy his original music on itunes

Or his new album on CD Baby

 

 

 

I loved how the lighting worked in these shots too.  Perfect atmosphere!

 

Check out more photos from this evening at Keys on Main HERE