MONA FOMA 2012 (best)

The chef stirring at the Really Big Paella cooking demo. It was aptly named. I like that only the paella is in focus and it isn't a perspective trick that makes this dish look huge.

Senyawa (Indonesia). The instrument was created by the band - part string, part bamboo, part plucking, part bowed. The singer's vocal range goes from soft melodic to psychotic screaming. Together the band created intense and passionate music. Few of the shots capture both the singer's energy and the instrument player's focus.

Dresden Dolls - I love the way the light and shadows work on this one. Brian Viglione has one of the most expressive faces I've ever seen in a musical performance.

The Dresden Dolls featuring Brian Ritchie (of the Violent Femmes) for a cover of The Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right (To Party)". I love the way Brian Viglione's arms fill the frame perfectly, and the way Brian Ritchie's face is half in shadow.

The Dresden Dolls. This shot is my best capture of just how much fun these two have playing together. The energy and the enjoyment without taking themselves too seriously. It seemed that at every chance he got, Brian's mission was to make Amanda laugh and flub her lines. At times it worked. Here she just seemed entertained by his antics.

The Dresden Dolls. Sometimes a shot just comes together, and this may be one of my proudest so far. Brian is perfectly in focus, clearly intent on the guitar in the foreground. The other half of the frame is Amanda, displayed on the huge screen at the back of the stage, mirroring Brian's motions unintentionally. And the electric guitar comes right up to her hand to give it that extra touch of symmetry. If her face had just been a little better lit and in focus this would have probably been the best shot I could have hoped for.

The Dresden Dolls. Seriously, Brian has the most expressive and photogenic face. Amanda has a very expressive face as well, but my timing with shots didn't work out nearly as well with pictures of her.

The Dresden Dolls. Due to the low light, the depth of field on this shot is so low that only Amanda Palmer's face is in focus. Even her hand on the mic is a little hazy. The look on her face, the touch of rouge on the cheek, the dark hair that is highlighted just enough by the blue lights to not blend into the black background, the warm flesh tones that just pop out from the dark. This shot is almost seductive. And I like that the side-shot of Amanda on the screen in the background breaks up the background just enough to keep it interesting.

The Dresden Dolls. This shot is brighter than the sister shot, and Amanda jumps out a bit more even with the brighter background. Her face is a bit more detailed in this one.

This was graffiti on the installation surrounding Nell's cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock N Roll)". I love the playful, light-hearted, and non-vulgar nature of the graffiti, as well as the way it is accented by the headphones (hinting at music) and the pink beanbags (for a splash of color).

Michaela Davies' "While Rome Burns" This shot encompasses everything you need to know about the performance without being too direct or obvious about it. The projection of lines is the seismic data used as the trigger for the music. The silhouettes show that it is a string quartet. The subtle line shadows show the electrodes which are confirmed by the woman's arm in the lower right corner and on the screen in the upper left. The only aspect that didn't come out here that did in other shots is a little blur in the shadows of the bows to capture just how fast and twitchy the movements were.

Bagpipe band marching back and forth playing. This is one of my first experiments with motion blur and I'm happy with the result. The drummers in the foreground and the audience in the back appear a bit out of focus, but that is entirely from me moving the camera and nothing to do with depth of field. All static shots had the fore and background in razor sharp detail. The only thing here in complete focus is the band itself.

Violent Femmes Supergroup. Amanda Palmer, in the role of Gordon Gano, on "Kiss Off." "I take one, one, one cause you left me." You could tell through the whole performance, but to me especially on the counting in "Kiss Off," that Amanda was enjoying the chance to do this gig as much as everyone in the audience was enjoying watching it.

Violent Femmes Supergroup. Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls with Brian Ritchie of the Femmes. Viglione seems amused, Palmer immersed, and Ritchie bemused.

Violent Femmes Supergroup. "Please Do Not Go" with The Dresden Dolls and Brian Ritchie all repeating the chorus. I like the lighting in this shot, as well as the frozen action and the fact that Ritchie and Palmer are both on one foot, off balance.

Violent Femmes Supergroup. Amanda Palmer as Gordon Gano on "Please Do Not Go." She seemed to lose herself for a few repetitions of the chorus here, eyes closed, emotion on her face, before she snapped back a little and commanded the crowd to get involved.

The view from backstage at the Faux Mo afterparty for The Dresden Dolls' 4th performance in 3 days. The stage was in the alley behind the Grand Poobah club, lit up with all colors, set off by graffiti.

The Dresden Dolls - FauxMo afterparty. I like this shot for the bright colors, the graffiti, the blinding lights, and just how electric it all feels. That all speaks to the feeling of the performance - electric, energetic, a little clandestine.

Me and Amanda Palmer. I look pretty terrible, she looks a little drunk. Her excuse can be that she seemed to be at every performance over 3 days of the festival and had to be running on little sleep. My excuse is that I haven't shaved in 3 weeks (since leaving on the Overland Track). Either way, I have documentation of a faux-kiss from AFP!