I had the opportunity to interview and photograph PJ Morton, solo artist and member of Maroon 5, at the historic Howard Theatre. This was cool on so many levels. DC being my family’s hometown, my parents have talked about the glory days of the Howard. Just walking into such a legendary place for music history was exciting to me.
Since I was doing the interview earlier in the day, I arrived when PJ and his band were doing soundcheck. This was a great opportunity to see what the layout was for shooting the show. The tables were right up against the stage, which was going to make it hard to get some straight on shots. I was excited to get some photos and video during soundcheck. It gave me a chance to try out my ideas for a new project. I asked PJ during the interview if he minded that I took video and he was cool with it. Straight to YouTube.
When I came back for the show that night, I was also able to shoot the opening acts, Aaron Camper and Denise Richard. This gave me a chance to practice shots similar lighting to what PJ was going to have. Denise Richard moved around alot, which keeps the shoot interesting. I also discovered the “action burst” setting on my cell phone. Most of my shots were from the sides of the stage. It was a bit difficult to get good shots of PJ at the beginning since he’s behind the piano. Later in the set, he does get up and engage the crowd. By the end of the show, I was crouching down in between tables to get some good shots from different angles.