Photographer Dave Giordano takes you through his 2011 year end photography journey. See what he has been up to!
2011 is what I possibly consider one of the best and most memorable years in my life. I’d like to share a visual journey with everyone on here.
California
The year started out great. I took my first trip to California alone and it give me a chance to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I’ll never forget standing in the Hollywood hills at 6am watching the sun rise. Or driving down the coast to San Diego and just being blown away by the endless oceans and beaches. I really used my week in California to the fullest. Woke up at 5am every morning to shoot and stayed out till 1am shooting just so I wouldn’t miss a single place.
In March I got the chance to shoot The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
The Rising Sun All Stars
April would become the month that changed me the most. I reunited with some friends that meant a lot to me and re-joined their band. Played some of the best shows I have ever played in my life. We got to open for Dead Prez. We performed a bunch of shows in Manhattan at venues such as National Underground, Canal Room and Arlene’s Grocery. We played shows all through the summer and because of that had the best summer of my life. We played a ton of shows in D.C and Baltimore. I look forward to see what 2012 brings us.
Garland Jeffreys & Levon Helm
The beginning of May was amazing for me. I got an E-Mail from Garland Jeffreys asking to shoot him at Levon Helms home. This was such a big honor for me. I’ve shot Garland once before and they really liked me work. Now I’m getting asked to go to Woodstock to Levon’s home. Levon played in the group The Band and also backed Ringo Starr and Bob Dylan. The trip upstate was amazing and the only thing I regret is saying I would spend the night so I could take photos in the a.m but not following through. Garland Jeffreys was so nice to me. I got to eat dinner with him and his band and everybody was very welcoming to having me there. (unfortunately at this time I am not allowed to post any photos of Levon Helm online)
DMC & The Dirty Pearls
In May I was asked to shoot DMC and had an amazing time doing so. It’s a really interesting feeling doing everything on my own but I couldn’t be happier about it. I got to do things my way this year with no one there to tell me how I should be working or managing my time.
GTRStore
August started a big change in my life. I started a position working full time as a photographer for a high end e-commerce guitar store called GTRStore. This job opened many new doors for me as a photographer. I have never shot guitars before under professional lighting. There was a lot of stress for me as to if I could represent a guitar in a way that makes the buyer want it. Being a musician I knew what I wanted to see when I shop for guitars online. I did days of research, studying and practice on reflective lighting. Almost all photos I’ve seen of guitars you see the lights used in them. I knew I could set the bar for how companies shoot guitars and at most set a standard for great work in the industry. I made my own custom setup for shooting these guitars. From the lighting to the guitar stand used for it.
In October I got to fly out to Nashville, TN to visit the Gibson U.S.A and Custom Shop factoy.
I would like to thank everyone who helped make this an amazing year and to all the bands I shot this year….Thank you!!!
There are so many bands I shot this year that would make this list go on forever. But they will get their own feature very soon.
-Dave Giordano
