It’s difficult at times to shoot for traditional purposes, and to have the students like the photos. This set contains 29 students (of 112) and Joshua. It’s been very rewarding to do this shoot. Normally, we’re working together on other projects. (click on the photo for a larger view)

(click on photo for larger version)

The Space is rather small. When I say rather small, I mean not that much bigger than my bedroom–at best the size of the family room downstairs.(via)

The venue in question is The Space, 1132 Broadway St. NE, which draws great acts but has the ambiance (and size) of your stoner uncle’s living room, complete with sacred oil lamps and a mural that reimagines the Big Gold Man as a skeleton.(Statesman Journal)

Someone asked me the other day about my photos taken at The Space. There is no lighting to speak of when you see a show at The Space. If you look in some of my photos, you’ll notice about 3 lights but these are positioned behind the bands, and are often shut down during performances.

It’s quite different to shoot at The Space than larger venues due to the lack of lighting. It’s like truly shooting in the dark at times. I’m trying to capture some of the dynamic aspects of the band’s performance. I want to get some of the feeling of being there, experiencing the show.

There’s no easy way to set anything up. What I do is use 2 nikon sb-800s hooked up with pocket wizards set off to both stage right and left. There’s really no other options. I’d love to be able to light a bit more from high up front, but it’s not possible. Stylistically I like high contrast black and white photos of the performances, though I shoot in color as well. (See my shots from the recent Art Brut show.)

Well I hopes this answer the question from the person who asked me some questions the other day. I want to thank her for her compliments on my photography. I’m pretty sure she made me blush.