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Swatkins & The Positive Agenda /  by Londen Wheeler

For the first time in my life, I photographed a live concert!  Can y’all believe it?  I’m finally branching out of sports and portraits to try something completely out of my comfort zone.  This specific event was a special one because it was the EP release show for Swatkins and The Positive Agenda.  Since moving to Portland, I’ve been attending a bunch of live music shows and meeting a ton of amazing musicians.  One day last week, I figured I would reach out to Swatkins and ask if I could photograph his EP release show.  He agreed to let me come by and take some photos of the concert and I tell you what, it was an amazing time for me, both as a photographer and a musician!  Swatkins played nothing but funkalicious original hits and at one point in the concert, we were taken to church! 

As someone who has never photographed a concert, I have to humbly pat myself on the back because I was very pleased with how they turned out.  As always, I’m looking to learn more and perfect my craft as a photographer so if anybody knows of any bands who need a concert photographer, let me know!  I need more practice so that I can start taking this more seriously and also use this to meet a bunch of other really cool people!

See the Youtube link below to hear one of Swakins and The Positive Agenda’s songs. He is crazy good on that talk box and it is really hard for me to not go and buy one when I know I don’t need it!

In the meantime, give Swatkins (@swattykins) a follow on Instagram and as always, be sure to follow me (@londensbridge) to see the latest and greatest things that I’m doing and posting! I really appreciate everyone for the continued love and support since moving up to Portland! Y’all can expect a blog post about my move to come soon. I just have a few things to get squared away and that will finally be ready to post! Peace, love and funk to y’all!

Click here to listen to Swatkins & The Positive Agenda’s latest EP!

SMU Men's Basketball vs Wichita State /  by Londen Wheeler

What a wild ride 2019 has been so far in terms of the opportunities that I’ve had with my photography.  I’m still trying to figure out what’s next on my journey as a photographer!  I don’t know what the rest of the journey will look like but it’s been pretty sweet thus far.  You won’t find a blog post from the second basketball game that I shot at SMU, mainly because I got caught up with doing some other stuff and didn’t have time to make a post.  So, you’ll get this one instead!

The game against Wichita State was one of the best games I’ve seen in a while.  The intensity that each team played with was beyond amazing. These guys were going at it in the first half and at one point, I was hoping that we could take the game into a double overtime, jump start my excitement for March Madness! Unfortunately, the double overtime didn’t happen but it was still a great game nonetheless.

One other cool fact about this game was that it was their senior night and the last home game of the season.  President Bush didn’t show up to the past two games so I’m really lucky that I got a few photographs of him while he was there… Well, he could’ve been there but just not courtside like he was when I saw him.  Who knows.  Anyway, the senior night was pretty cool.  It was a packed stadium, intensity was there, the crowd was excited and all four seniors got to start together.  Being an athlete my entire life, I know exactly what it feels like to be playing your last home game and feeling how you’ll never go back to play there again as an athlete.  Wild, right?

Well, that’s all for now! Stay tuned for more to come this month! Lots of things moving and manifesting right now and I’m super excited to see where things will go.  Also, if you don’t already, give me a follow on Instagram to stay in the loop with what’s going on when I’m not posting blogs!

Happy Late Valentine's Day?? /  by Londen Wheeler

First thing's first... DID YOU GUYS SEE BLACK PANTHER YET?!  It's a must see if you haven't seen it yet!  #WakandaForever

Alright, back to the business at hand!  How's this for being different?!  This is my first time doing a shoot like this and I'm sure it won't be my last!  This shoot made me take a step out of my comfort zone.  Being that most of my shoots have been outdoors the past couple of years, this was also good practice for working with light that's available me.  For some of the shoot, I used my ring light and a backdrop.  Towards the end of the shoot, I challenged challenged myself to find the best available lighting in the house.  You know when old folks haven't done something for a long time, then they go do that thing and end up doing it well.  Yeah, that was me during this shoot and it's safe to say, that I still got it!

Not only was it a fun shoot, but it was certainly a lot better when Alex comes in and just completely slays!  This late Valentine's Day shoot was one to remember.  I'm super satisfied with how well everything went and is ready to do another shoot since I don't have much time to pull my camera out.  I almost want to buy some strobes because I miss doing studio work but at this point in my life, I'd rather spend money on traveling!  Because who doesn't love a good trip, right?

Speaking of trips...  Get ready for some super awesome photos coming in the next blog post.  It'll be a trip that I've been trying to make for a while and now I am finally getting a chance to go!  I haven't seen some of friends in years so it'll be good to see them as well!  Anyway, have a great rest of the week guys!

Overcome! /  by Londen Wheeler

3x Olympian Lolo Jones

3x Olympian Lolo Jones

Olympians...  That is the only word to describe this year's JDL FastTrack Camel City Elite meet.  I got to meet Lolo Jones for the second time, Matthew Centrowitz, Jason Richardson, and Breanna Rollins.  It was another year of amazing opportunity and great people.  I got to connect with some really cool photographers, some who have done some crazy amazing things in their careers.  Not only did I get to meet cool photographers, I got to photograph the "world's greatest athlete" and 2012 Olympic champion Ashton Eaton.  Eaton was in the same preliminary section as one of my teammates in the 60 meter dash.  The next day, he competed against my roommate in the shot put and only beat him by a few inches.

I ran the 200 meter dash and didn't run the time that I had hoped but it's all good.  It is early in the season and there's a lot of room for improvement.  Only a few more weeks until our conference track meet.  Can't believe that this is my last indoor college track meet.  Wow... Where has the time gone? On top of that, I only have three more months until I graduate.  Like what?!  

I must say, 2016 has been pretty eventful and I can't wait to see what else comes along during the year.  Alright, guys, I'm signing off!