My Birthday
Today I am 34 years old. Today has all the distinguishing characteristics of my birthday...hot and muggy, warm concrete beneath bare feet, sound of thunderstorms in the distance...cake for breakfast, cake for lunch. I'm celebrating by scanning some photos, working on some design for a client, and hanging with friends later.
So much has changed in this year. I am now a father, and that pretty much dwarfs and/or sums up all the other changes I could list. To imagine myself a year ago, with no idea that in a year I would have a son...I can only use it as a teaching example, that we may plan for the future, but there's no telling what may happen. And that's wonderful I think.
Ah, more thunder. Better go bring those drying diapers back inside now...
-llg
I'm a Dad!
This isn't my photo, it's by my brother-from-another-mother Joe. He stopped by the birthing center with some beers, some good cigars, and his Leica, shortly after my son Silas Llewellyn Godwin was born. Check out his blog at www.tasteontour.com.
-llg
Bull City Rumble 2012
Vintage Motorcycles for the win. The Bull City Rumble is a motorcycle/scooter rally that is truly unique. If you are into old bikes from other countries, get your ass to Durham, NC Labor Day weekend. Japanese, German, and British bikes from as far back as WWII, in a full spectrum from OEM restored to truly custom. After hanging out at the 2012 rally for a bit, and talking with the Honda wrenchers, I went home and finished a procrastinated fuel tank job on my bike and took it for it's first official ride beyond the edges of my neighborhood and into the greater Alamance/Orange County area. Thanks, Bull City Rumble!
All images shot with the Canon 5DII and the 'Nifty-Fifty' 50mm lens. My favorite is the one I call, 'Satisfaction.'
-llg
UPDATE: If anyone reading this is in NC and has a badass old bike that they want to have photographed, or be photographed with, hit me up in the comments or Contact Page. I'd like to get a project going on the folk who like to work on these old beauties.
Mipso Trio takes a torch to it.
Mipso Trio is/are some friends of mine. My band, the Dogwood Deddy, opened for them to a sold out crowd at the Local 506 last year. Recently, they approached me for some photos and I proposed an idea I had been marinating in my brain. We did a few standard band shots on a seamless backdrop, then went to work on the spooky composition I had in mind.
Read MoreBrice Randall Bickford: On the Caesura of Paying Attention
I'm very excited to share this one with you alls. I'm trying to do more personal video projects in addition to the personal photography projects, not to mention the commerical video and photo work through my company.
This piece is a bit of a collaboration between myself and my musician friend, Brice Randall Bickford, long-time frontman of the Strugglers. BRB was looking for some simple but compelling imagery to pair with his music, and we agreed that this song would be a good one to pair with some visual sketching. I started shooting some images with a very basic idea in mind, that of the fuzzy details one remembers from dreams. I shot all the footage during a roadtrip from North Carolina to Illinois, and that narrative is woven in and remembered as part of the 'dream,' with Brice's lyrics providing a framework for the imagery. I used the plastic lens from the legendary Holga on my Canon to achieve the low-fi quality and delicious flares.
Check out more of Brice Randall Bickford's music here: bricerandallbickford.com/ and here: trekkyrecords.com/brb.html
Thanks for watching, sound off if you like it (or don't). -llg
Break My Heart Tonight: The Debonzo Brothers
I recently shot and edited a video for my old friends the Debonzo Brothers. We kept it simple, shooting in their practice space in Raleigh, NC, a few lights, a few cameras (my fellow documentarian Peter Bell behind one), and the band. We are all happy with the result, and if you like the music, check them out at www.debonzobrothers.com and buy an album. -LLG