A couple of weeks ago I posted that watching Doctor Who made me want to travel more and see London. I have only been there during a layover to Germany. I have always had a deep love affair with Paris, in fact my kitchen and dining room are full of French prints and signs. Ireland has always interested me because of folklore and the beautiful countryside. So I sat down with pen and paper and figured out a way to go. It looks like I will be taking the trip later this year.

I am looking to possibly September of this year to take my trip to the UK and France. Once I get these countries done I will have traveled to the large majority of this part of the world. So far the sites I am planning on hitting look like this:

France (mostly Paris): Notre Dame (mass at 8 & 9 am and noon), Bastile, Pantheon, Louvre, opera house, moulin rouge, Les Tuileries, Eiffel tower, Pantheon, Arch De Triumph and the Catacombs

England (mostly London): British Museum, forbidden planet, Buckingham palace & gardens, earls court, Trafalgar square, piccadilly circus, china town, regents park, notting hill, windsor castle, st george chapel, oxford, church college, stonehenge, Westminster Abbey, 10 downing street, parliament, big ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, westminster cathedral, Globe, Southwark Cathedral, tower of london, Canary Wharf, natural history museum, kings cross station (for platform 9 3/4), leadenhall market, lackock abbey. I am also looking at going to the Proms one night.

Wales: Cardiff

Ireland/ Dublin: Trinity College and the Book of Kells, st. patricks cathedral, christ church (services daily at 10, 12,12:45), Blarney Castle

Scotland: still looking for places.

For anyone who has been to these areas….am I missing anything important?? I would love feedback and tips.

Technorati Tags: UK, France, London, Paris, Trip, Travel

One of the main questions I get about photography is how I got started in concert photography. So I decided to do a several part series on how I got started and who my favorite musicians are to photograph.

Part #2 – Natalie Grant

So really I should be inserting Crystal Lewis here, but I am having a hard time finding my old photos so I need to look some more. I first met Natalie in 2000. I met her manager at an event for Habitat for Humanity which I was shooting at. He wanted to set a meeting with me once he found out I did websites and photography. He had a new group coming out that needed a site (plus one). I went to the meeting and walked out with three clients and Natalie happened to be one.

One of the main questions I get about photography is how I got started in concert photography. So I decided to do a several part series on how I got started and who my favorite musicians are to photograph.

Part #1 – The beginning

My love for concert photography started in 1992. I was in 7th or 8th grade at the time and was deep into country music (I grew up in West Texas and country music was still somewhat good). In 1992 an artist named Ronna Reeves released her second album called “The More I Learn” and the song had me hooked. I then found out Ronna was also from West Texas and played the area often. I went to a show and met her then I ended up going to Fan Fair (yes it was still fan fair) in Nashville the summer after my 8th grade year. At fan fair I met Ronna again and she remembered me from the show in Odessa a few months earlier. I also met her parents and grandmother at fan fair. After that I went to every show in the area and I always had my camera with me. Pretty soon I was getting good shots. Ronna let me take pictures and encouraged me to get close, get on the stage, etc.

I would mail the photos to her fan club based in Midland, TX ( a few miles from my house) and her fan club manger (and godmother) would use my photos for the newsletters. It was awesome for me as a kid to have Ronna and her family to encourage me. No matter what show I went to they always made time to talk to me and have me backstage and when you are 13/14 that makes a huge difference. One time she even pulled me up on stage to sing with her and well…that did not go so well because I am horribly shy and I can’t sing!