I am a film and digital photographer that loves to shoot concerts. I currently shoot concerts for bands and The Darker Side of Austin; product and lifestyle photos for Bloody Rose Boutique; stock photos for sites like Adobe and Shutterstock; and street and art photography for sale on various websites. Although it seems like I have been shooting forever, my photography career had two lives with a long break between each life.
I first got into concert photography in the 90s when I used to write concert reviews for Good Times Magazine on Long Island. I shot everything with a Pentax K1000 with the stock SMC 50mm f/2.8 lens and an 80-200mm zoom lens that I bought when I was a teen in the 80s. I went everywhere with that camera. Whenever I covered a show for Good Times, I made sure to get a photo pass to go with my press pass so I could shoot the shows. When I submitted my reviews the editor would publish my photos of the shows alongside the reviews. In 1998, I started a short-lived ezine called Forbidden District, where I would publish photos and reviews of New York City punk, goth and industrial music shows that weren’t of interest to Good Times and other mainstream music papers. My first life as a photographer ended when my camera gear was stolen in New York City and I couldn’t afford to replace any of it.
I continued to shoot for myself for “fun” with various point-and-click cameras and iPhones and eventually post photos on my Instagram. even though I was shooting with these unprofessional cameras, my concert photos started getting noticed by the different bands I would shoot. It wasn’t until the Covid-19 pandemic when I finally replaced my Pentax K1000, and also bought a Sony A7IV, and several lenses, an Epson v850 flatbed scanner that my photography career began its second life.
Besides being a photographer, I am the co-owner of the dark fashion boutique Bloody Rose Boutique in Austin, I play bass and guitar, compose and record music (Discogs), and run a entertainment blog called The Darker Side of Austin.