How long have you been into photography?

 I have loved photography since I was in 3rd grade. My friend's mom was a photographer and came to my classroom and taught us how to make cameras out of 5 gallon ice cream buckets (cardboard) and then taught us how to develop the negatives. I was hooked. :)

 Why band/concert photography?

 I actually do a lot of photography other than bands, although most of what everyone sees is band/concert related. I chose that to be my main thing because I started promoting bands when I was 13. Then, when I was 15, my uncle (who is a professional photographer in Hollywood) gave me my camera as a Christmas present. He saw the photos I took in Yosemite with my dad with a point and shoot camera when I was in 6th grade and thought I have a very natural eye for photos. He swore to me that I'd make money off my photos at some point and I laughed at him, but he was right. So, naturally, I decided to put promoting and photography together. :)

Gotten any photos published in magazines and/or websites besides your own?

 I have had my stuff published in quite a few magazines, fanzines, a TON of websites... not to mention that I have had some in CDs, tour programs and whatnot. Also, I do a bunch of band photo shoots for the 8x10 promo glossies that get sent out to record labels, press, etc.

 That is an UNDERSTATEMENT to the max. People tend to think that because I am a girl, I would have it so much easier since guys generally like chics. Talk about a misconception!!! I have to prove myself ALL the time because if the guys/band/tour manager doesn't know me, they sometimes will think I don't know anything about the band/music I am covering or guys/bands/tour managers/roadies/fans will think I may be a "groupie" just because I AM a girl and hanging around bands all the time. Very rarely do those people even THINK that these bands are actually my FRIENDS as well. It really, really disappoints me. Especially when rumors get spread around for no reason. I hate having to prove myself, but then again, I am the type of person that if you tell me "oh, don't get into that profession/hobby/whatever because it will be tough as a girl" - which was actually told to me by several people when I decided to go to recording engineer school - I am the type that WILL do it BECAUSE no other girls do it.

 You've photographed your share of bands. Any interesting stories?

 Oh jeez, we'd be here for the next WEEK if I were to type up any of that! hahaha You can take what I wrote above a bit for some "interesting" stories. If you need something more, message me back and I'll type you at least something tomorrow, okay?

Favorite artist you've worked with?

 I have a lot of favourite artists to work with, so I will just name you some of them: Kreator, Opeth, Into Eternity, Vader, Suidakra, Morgana Lefay, Tad Morose, Immortal, Hypocrisy, In Flames, Exodus, Decapitated, Angel Dust, Metal Church, Nevermore... there really are a million of them, but these are my best ones off the top of my head.

 Describe an average shoot for you. How much of it is pre-visualized? What kind of technique(s) is involved?

 I'm not sure if you are talking about concert photography or band photo shoots, but either way, I visualize pretty much everything. Actually, in reality, I cannot walk by ANY landscape, area, flower, person, etc without thinking "hey, that would make a killer photo or background for a photo". So my mind CANNOT think of anything without thinking of it in terms of a photo. Even at shows I DON'T do photos at (which is rare, but has been known to happen, haha), all night I'm thinking "Damn, that would be a GREAT photo! Look at that pose! Look at the lights!", etc.

 Technique-wise... I generally try to not get crushed when I have no photo pit. HAHA I guess I do have things I look for though when I photographing. I am very particular to getting photos of drummers or band members flipping their hair or headbanging, just because very few people can get that kind of photo. It makes me all the more determined to TRY to get that photo. The other stuff I do is probably too hard to try to type out into an answer, but those are the basics.

 I see you also like photographing landscapes/scenery. Do you approach this any differently than when you're photographing a band? How so?

I don't tend to approach it any differently, just because everything I see is like a photo, regardless of if it's a tree or a waterfall or a person. I see it as a whole, or sometimes I will even see just a very tiny part of the grand scheme I am looking at. Like a flower next to a waterfall or the hands of a guitarist/bassist all contorted into weird positions doing tapping or arpeggios. Stuff like that.

What kind of equipment are you using?

 I have a few things I use. My 35mm cameras - I have a Canon AV-1 and an AE-1 (I like old-school) with a 35-135mm lens and a 28-90 lens. I also have a Minolta DiMage Z1 digital camera that I tend to use more right now since I cannot afford to develop film at the moment.

What are your thoughts on film based versus digital cameras?

 I like both, but because I cannot afford a $3000 digital camera, I tend to like film a bit more. The reason being is because my 35mm will take a picture EXACTLY when I want it to and in the field of concert photography, timing is everything. I do love the quality of the digital photos, although sometimes the photos lose a bit of their "character". I also REALLY REALLY love black and white photography. A picture can be COMPLETELY different that way.

What advice about making it in this field would you give to amateur photographers such as myself?

 I would say stick to it if it's really what you want to do. There is going to be a LOT of tough stuff to go through, especially as a woman, so you have to be sure that you really want to put your time and energy into it. Even I get to the point sometimes where I want to quit or ask myself why I keep doing it when I get treated really badly, but in the end, I keep going. Just be sure to never compromise yourself for the sake of others.