Musicians have become one of my favorite subjects to photograph. I love capturing the essence and emotion in musicans regardless of what genre they perform in. These people are definitely a different breed of artist. What I love about photographing performing musicians is that you are essentially experiencing two forms of art--auditory and visual. A good performer will do more than just play great music, they will express themselves through their movements, performing a visual show as well. As bands grow, they often integrate motion graphics and videos in their stage setup making the visual impact so much stronger in their performance. Incubus happens to be one of my favorite groups from my youth that still creates great music. Not every band has longevity and sometimes we grow out of our favorite teenage bands. Sometimes, though, our favorite musicians grow with us and we appreciate them in our later years as well. I am always stoked to be able to photograph musicians I love, so this show was especially fun to shoot.

The Austin360 Amphitheater located in Austin, TX sits on-site of the Circuit of The Americas racetrack where the annual F-1 races are held as well as other races. The music venue presents two major challenges; it can be very hot in the summer and it also has a really high stage (about five feet) making it a bit difficult to shoot above the monitors and other photographers. This being my second show at this venue, I looked through the last images I made here to try and gauge my focal distance better (as I planned to rent some equipment for the show in hopes of making sharper images). I decided to go with a 20mm for wider shots and a 35mm for something a little tighter but still capturing the overall stage with the performer instead of my usual tighter shots. Photographing live performances presents other challenges like time limits. Often, we do not get to photograph the entire show from the pit so you gotta be fast. Even with these challenges, I always make time to appreciate the show from the pit with my eyes as well as my camera. Not everyone gets to view the show from that perspective so I am always thankful for these opportunities. I love sharing these images with other photographers but also with the musicians' fans, helping them either relive the experience or give them a taste of what they missed.

These photos and a few others from the show are live on Awake & Moving's blog, awakeandmoving.com. Enjoy!