Life does have its weird way of coming back around. Back in the early nineties, the band I was playing in had no interest in playing at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ. For whatever the reason back then, it had no appeal to us. And now I am there on a regular basis.
About 18 months ago I picked up a gig with the music review site, Speak into My GoodEye, and this started a regular weekly adventure for me shooting bands every Monday night at the Wonder Bar. The Wonder Bar is one of the premiere music venues in Asbury Park, offering some great local music as well as national touring acts coming through. Recently, sound man extraordinaire Billy Colledge from Asbury Audio installed a new smoke machine and I came across a set a shots that perfectly emulate its nature.
I love smoke. It makes everything look so much better, giving depth and personality to the photos. Tough when it hides the drummers, but so cool under the stage lights. And for those on stage right, we are almost guaranteed of a good photo. Red lights still kill, but black and white is beautiful.
The following shots depict the beginning of the waft of smoke and finally overtaking the stage and creating some striking images as a result:
Just Before:
and here it comes
My two favorite images from the whole sequence
I often find it is the simple things that excite me, but there is nothing simple about capturing images conditions. The musician in the photo is Andrew Milea, front man for Wild Americans. He has a great look and a super groove. If you are local, stop by on a Monday night and check out the tunes. And keep your eyes peeled for some other great shows that go down at the venue.
Thanks for stopping by!
Phil
Twilight and Dusk 
The smoke does give the images more personality and it looks better overall when you add the filters or effects.