On April 11, 2008 a dream concert shoot finally happened: I photographed B.B. King, the king of the blues! Over the years I have been blessed to photograph so many of my favorite bands and become known for my Denver concert photography. But not all of the performers bear the mantle of honest to goodness legendary status. I had always hoped for the opportunity to document in my own style, this amazing patriarch of the blues. Hope isn’t always enough to make your dreams come true. So when I heard the king was coming, I had to make something happen. He wasn’t getting any younger! I had by now made some connections in the industry so I reached out and one thing led to another which led to getting B.B’s manager’s phone number. Somewhat to my surprise, permission was granted and just myself and one other photographer were in the photo “pit” on that night at the Buell Theater.

This was a pivotal night for me for another reason. It was my first time shooting something that truly mattered with a digital camera. I was a die-hard film fan. I still love it and miss it being the mainstream medium of the day. But that night, I was advised our time shooting King may be quite short as old school bluesmen usually let their band warm up the crowd for a tune or two. Not knowing what kind of light we were going to have or how much time, I decided to pull out my new digital camera as with that, I could change my ISO setting in nearly an instant. I was very pleased with the results and during the course of just one song I made several shots that rank among my favorites. This shot here is one of them, capturing that great joy B.B. King always exhibits when he gets to play the blues for a live audience. The detail, colors and latitude of digital capture had finally come around to my exacting standards.