Pros Show Up! Persistence is rewarded and a little Burlesque to start off the New Year!

  

The Lovely Nina Bel Vande!

   Welcome to 2014! For my final event shoot of last year, I went to the Pink Boom Box holiday show at the Brass Rail.  I am a regular shooter for Pink Boom Box, they always put on a great show and if I am not going to make money from the shoot, at least I am hanging with good friends (most of whom also happen to be beautiful and talented perfumers) at a bar with a decent beer selection. Also, since I am shooting mostly the same group of performers in the same setting over the course of time, it's a good opportunity to try different things and see what works and what doesn't as well as just judge my improvement over time as a photographer.

  At least, that's what I was telling my self last weekend. I had just gotten back from an exhausting trip home to New Orleans. My entire family was sick and pretty much the only things keeping me standing were Dayquil and an endless supply of cough drops. Needless to say, I wasn't as excited about a 45 minute drive each way late at night, dealing with weekend parking in a busy neighborhood and shooting a non-paid gig as I normally would have been, especially since it is a regular show, one I have shot before and will again. I also knew that one of my favorite people to hang out with at these shows, fellow photographer Deborah Divis of Fantasies' Muse,  was out of town for the holiday and wouldn't be there. But, it was a birthday show for a really good friend of mine, an amazing performer and simply one of the most awesome people I know, and somewhere in the myriad of things I read on photography and life in general, I remembered reading something about the difference between a pro and a wanna be is that the pro always shows up.

   The hobbyist shoots when it's convenient but stays home when things aren't going their way. The Pro is the one that soldiers on when it isn't easy, and still gets the shot. It's like pro sports. Sure, some are born with natural talent, but in general if you look into the story of any pro player, you'll find that what got them to the big game wasn't the talent they were born with, it was years of slugging it out, day in and day out on the practice field. Practicing until they couldn't keep going anymore. Same for musicians, painters, pretty much any artistic discipline. You stick with it and make yourself do it, even when it's hard, and trust the universe to reward persistent efforts aimed towards improvement. So I sucked it up, packed the camera bag, made sure my partner was really cool with staying home alone with the sick kid (pushing myself is one thing, leaving her on the hook is different, but I have the most awesome and supportive woman ever) and headed down to the show. 

   Wound up really glad I did. The acts were excellent, as always. If anything, even better because there was a quite a bit of over the top sacrilegious humor that I really appreciated. A friend from Trapeze that I didn't expect to see showed up to see the show as well as a few other cool people I hadn't seen in a while, so I had a good time catching up with them and hanging out. Overall, the shots I took at this show were the best set I have captured so far from this crew/venue. Part of it is me getting better, but part of it is also the club. I have ranted about the Brass Rail's lighting before, but I have to say it has been getting better, and this show was the best lit one I have seen at the rail. You can see the full gallery of the show here. 

    But what really made the night for me was a single act from a performer I hadn't seen before.  Pink Boom Box is mostly neo-burlesque with a more circusy flair. Which is awesome. But I am still a fan of the classics. Some of the artists do more classic routines at times, but generally it's pools of blood on stage, gas masks, aerial and fire dance, etc. In the generally poor light the club has used in the past. This time the stars aligned. Beautiful performer with a classic burlesque look in a classic style costume doing a classic routine, set up perfectly where the new brighter club lights were focused so that not only was she well lit but the background was also lit with some great color. She gave the audience some pinup poses throughout the routine and held them just long enough for the shutter to work. Actually, about the only thing I can say that I would have liked to see was more of her eyes, but I was down low and not the only audience, so I guess I can't have it all. I have lots of great shots of beautiful performers, but this series I got was the first time I felt like everything came together and I was able to get a really old school set of burlesque shots to throw into my portfolio. 

  So, some of my favorite burlesque shots ever from a night where the whiney voice in my head was yelling at me to stay in and not bother. I am learning to listen to my instincts and rely on my inner voice a lot more than I used to, but it's also just as important to learn when to tell it to shut up and let you do what you need to do. Pros show up and shoot. Persistence and a constant drive for improvement will be rewarded in the long run. Coming into what I hope will be a growth year for me in lots of areas, including my photography, so it's good to be reminded that continually putting in the effort and the work can lead to a happy ending. Happy New Year Everyone!