Jeff Day at the Ale Emporium

It had been 10 months since I last photographed a live music performance, so when I got the opportunity to capture local singer-guitarist Jeff Day perform at Ale Emporium in Castleton on June 25, I took it.

Jeff, who hails from Bedford, Ind., but now lives in the Indianapolis area, performs mostly as a solo artist, playing an array of tunes, much of which harken to the 1970s and '80s. He also does gigs as part of a combo. On this night, he was by himself. These pictures are from that set.

The shoot threw a challenging curve my way early on when the sun and pub awning played shadow games with the lighting on Jeff, who was staged outdoors about 20 or so feet from the pub's main entrance, singing to the crowd seated in the patio seats. I hesitated to shoot with that contrasty lighting ... until it hit him in an interesting way that some of the last pictures below will depict better than I can explain.

For a look at the full shoot, you can visit the gallery at my SmugMug site.