First XV: Wellington Jazz Festival (2009)
[#8 in a series of my favourite images, from my first 15 years as a professional photographer.]
I started this series with a photo of a saxophone, taken at the Wellington Jazz Festival - and here we are again, seven years later! This is the saxophone player from Cristian Cuturrufo's band - I believe it's Jimmy Coll, but I could be proven wrong on that.
This one's the polar opposite of that first image in a lot of ways, though; the original was blurry, slightly abstract, a little bit out of control, where this one is a clean, crisp silhouette, and, facing the opposite direction!
But, like the drummer against a blue background in 2006, sometimes it's the simple, clean, graphic compositions that work best.
I can't honestly say if this image was ever used anywhere during the festival that year, or for publicity on subsequent ones; but, I like it, and that's enough to earn it a spot on the list.
To me, it's the kind of image you don't expect to get at a live show - where the stage is covered with performers, amps, drum kits, microphones, and so on - but once in a while, if you keep your eyes open, things will line up just right...again, a bit of luck, combined with being ready for anything, will often add up to a great, unexpected, image.
Next week, another year - 2010!