Ben O'Brien Smith | Photojournal

NYU KoSA PAS Weekend of Percussion 2012

Ben O'Brien Smith — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:48:28 +0000

A wonderful event with all sorts of percussion master classes, performances and clinics. I was proud to represent Evans and ProMark as sponsors for this fantastic weekend of percussion.

Michael Eagle

Aldo Mazza

Swiss Chris

Chembo Corniel

Afro-Cuban Workshop

Mike Clark

New York Metro Pipe Band

NY Metro Drum Corps

D’Addario Pro Arte Concert | Carnegie Hall 2.2.2012

Ben O'Brien Smith — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:37:17 +0000

I had the pleasure of shooting a performance as part of the D’Addario Music Foundation Pro Arte series at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night. Two incredible guitarists, Cecilio Perera and Johannes Möller, performed for a full audience at Weill Recital Hall. Cecilio is the 2011 winner of the 44th Michele Pittaluga International Guitar Competition held in Alessandria, Italy. Johannes is the 2010 winner of the Guitar Foundation of America Competition.

Cecilio Perera

Johannes Möller

NYC Winter Jazzfest 2012 | Night Two – Part II

Ben O'Brien Smith — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:23:20 +0000

And part II…

Shareef Clayton

Dennis Yuri Hernandez

Antonio Zamora

Terry Greene II

David Murray

Cindy Blackman-Santana

Aurelien Budynek

Felix Pastorius

NYC Winter Jazzfest 2012 | Night Two – Part I

Ben O'Brien Smith — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:59:30 +0000

Night two of the Winter Jazzfest brought on another great evening of music. It’s interesting to look back on the night and realize that I was listening to live music for 7+ hours. Great way to spend a Saturday evening, if you ask me.

Gregoire Maret

Ben Williams

Gregoire Maret & Clarence Penn

Mark Guiliana

Will Calhoun

NYC Winter Jazzfest 2012 | Night One – Part II

Ben O'Brien Smith — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:52:19 +0000

Part II of night one…

Mark Guiliana

Ben Wendel

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Rez Abassi

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Zach Danziger

Mark Guiliana

"Big" Sam Williams

NYC Winter Jazzfest 2012 | Night One – Part I

Ben O'Brien Smith — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:26:28 +0000

Another incredible NYC Winter Jazzfest is in the books. I managed to catch over 14 different acts across the two nights. Lugging around a bag of camera gear and trying to get close to the performers (which requires getting from venue to venue quickly) provides a nice little workout. I must applaud the organizers for putting together such a fantastic lineup across two nights and five great venues (even if the Zinc Bar was hot enough fry an egg on the stage). Sadly, the lighting wasn’t so great a most of the venues. Some bad mixtures of color, low light and bad placement made for quite a challenge, but here’s what I put together.

Matt Moran

John Medeski

Miguel Zenon

Jason Lindner

Ismail Lumanovski

Tamer Pinarbasi

Panagiotis Andreou

Favorites of 2011

Ben O'Brien Smith — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:51:17 +0000

With about 35 hours left in 2011, I felt that a “best of” post would be appropriate. I also want to put it out there that I’m selling prints of my photos now. If you see anything (from any of my blog posts) that you like and are interested in hanging it up on your wall or maybe even giving it to a friend, leave a comment w/email address and I’ll get in touch with you.

Thank you all for following my photo blog this year! Your comments, compliments and assistance in spreading the word about my photography has been greatly appreciated. I’m thoroughly looking forward to what 2012 has in store. Cheers!

TK Wonder | NYC Winter Jazz Fest

Eric Krasno & Nigel Hall | Bowlive II @ Brooklyn Bowl

Aquiles Priester | Modern Drummer Festival

Alex Skolnick | The Iridium

Tunnel Sparks | Central Park

NYC Skyline | 9.11.11

Bryan Beller w/the Aristocrats | Hiro Ballroom

Phil Ehart w/Kansas | Cobb Energy Center

High Falls | Mt. Mansfield

Portrait of New York City

New York Cityscapes – Part 3 | 12.26.11

Ben O'Brien Smith — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:04:25 +0000

And lastly, the final post from my series of NY Cityscapes from 12.26.11.

Williamsburg Bridge

West Side IAC Building - Designed by Frank Gehry

West Side IAC Building

Jersey City Skyline

One World Trade Center

New York Cityscapes – Part 2 | 12.26.11

Ben O'Brien Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:38:18 +0000

Part two of my December evening of cityscape photography. See part one here.

Brooklyn Bridge Skyline

Manhattan Bridge Support

Underneath the Manhattan Bridge

Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyline

Empire Portrait

New York Cityscapes – Part 1 | 12.26.11

Ben O'Brien Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:32:21 +0000

I spent Monday evening creating what I consider to be some of my best land/cityscape photos. The weather was mild for a late December evening and there was only about a 5mph wind on occasion and clear skies (These things matter quite a bit when you’re shooting photos with exposures of up to 75 seconds in duration). My goal was to photograph the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, and Roosevelt Bridge while still getting some shooting time in over on the West side of Manhattan. Sadly, due to some incredible views of Lower Manhattan, I never made it up to the Roosevelt Bridge. Luckily, it should still be there the next time I head out.

Lower Manhattan Sunset

Lower Manhattan

Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges

Manhattan Bridge