my journey into STAGE photography...

It began with an injury while performing during a ballet in 2012. I felt the muscle snap in my foot and did my best to finish the dance and make a graceful exit. After arranging to have my part covered for the rest of the show, I just found I couldn't leave. The closing act of Prokofiev's "The Firebird" was just too glorious to miss. I grabbed my new camera from my dance bag—Sony's very first mirrorless model— and stood on an ice pack in the wings to shoot the rest of the show.

Shooting that first time onstage, I realized that stage photography was a lot more difficult than taking landscape photos. For one thing, the subjects were always in motion and the lighting was always changing. Additionally, there was the contrast between the bright stage lights in the wings and the shadows it produced—sometimes right under the dancers' eyes. There were a lot of nuances that made it tricky.

I quickly realized I couldn't use "auto" mode and  signed up for classes in photography and Photoshop with Steve Gustafson at our local community college. Many in-person and online classes later, I felt like I had a handle on what was going on. Additionally, in 2017 I studied with Rachel Neville in New York City to learn studio lighting/photography and opened my own studio in East Ridge, Tennessee.. When Steve left to pursue other adventures, I took over his photography and Photoshop classes as an adjunct professor at Chattanooga State and added iPhone classes to the mix—because the best camera is the one you have with you—the phone in your pocket or purse.

Today, located in Cookeville, Tennessee, I still travel to Chattanooga to shoot for my long-time client and friends at Massari Wood Dance Center/Civic Ballet of Chattanooga in an ongoing relationship of twelve years. My niche is stage photography [not wedding, graduation or headshot photos]. If you're performing onstage, I would love to capture your energy and emotion to create memories for you to share. I've come to love the challenge of using light, color and contrast to create an image that captures the magic of each performance. 

I am also a dancer [ballet] and musician [cello] so I understand and truly appreciate the work that goes into every concert and performance. My goal is to record the beauty of your stage production without creating more stress for you or interference with audience enjoyment. I look forward to seeing you onstage and being behind the camera working for you!