As always, I had my trusty Canon 5D Mark IV slung over my shoulder, paired with my go-to workhorse: the 24-70mm lens. Versatile enough to dance between wide crowd energy and tight performer focus without missing a beat. Nothing fancy. Nothing overthought. Just what works when instinct hits—and the stage starts breathing fire.

I wasn’t there to shoot.

Or was I?

Let’s just start there. Hardwired, a Metallica tribute band I’ve come to know and support, was taking the stage at Fake Fest—an event packed with enough amps, attitude, and throwback adrenaline to fuel a decade of chaos. I went to cheer them on. That was the plan.

But you know me. Plans break.

Somewhere between the rumble of the first riff and the crowd roaring like a beast with a thousand voices, I reached for my camera. No client. No checklist. Just instinct—that gut-pull that says, “Catch this. Don’t let it vanish.”

What followed was a night that felt like time travel and thunder all at once. Tribute bands poured their hearts into legendary sets, but for me, the lens kept drifting back to Hardwired. The lights weren’t always kind. The smoke wasn’t always placed. But the energy? The devotion?

Undeniable.

These images? They’re not clean. They’re not staged.

They’re loud, emotional, and beautifully imperfect.

Just like the music.

The Top 5

I could’ve posted them all. Believe me—I was tempted. But there’s something about restraint. About choosing the frames that hit the hardest. The ones that hold sound even when you’re staring at silence.

So here they are—my top five from that night with Hardwired at Fake Fest. No fancy edits. No fluff. Just moments frozen in sweat, smoke, and sound.

Each one says something.

Each one still echoes.

And if you’re hungry for more, the full set lives over on [Facebook].

The post I Was Just There to Support Hardwired… Until the Shutter Clicked appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

We prioritize and we move accordingly. That being said, I am making time today to get together a little post to share a recent event I was given the opportunity to cover with you all. While I’m not sharing with you the images from the job in specific I was hired to cover, I’m here now sharing with you the perk of the job that came after. Yes, the job was to cover one thing, but afterward came the fun, live music. 

It was so much fun working the MAS Miami event, even more so walking around after the fact, checking out all the live performances. I didn’t need much, just the vibe and my go-to lens, the 24-70mm. It was quick and easy but most of all, I had a great time. When it’s your passion, it’s not a job nor will it ever really be. So here I am setting aside a little time to share with you a collection taken from one of my latest ventures, MAS Miami 5. Here is my top 5 with a little more to see on my Facebook page. Let me know what you think. 

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MasMiami5 was an event presented by the full cast of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz at the intersection of music, art, and sports to get a taste of Miami’s diverse culture. During this 5th year’s MAS, there was a buy-in domino tournament, Zoo Miami’s own Ron Magill, as he unretired his “Sex and the Animals” presentation, a live art installation featuring some of Miami’s most talented artists, and a live art auction, with proceeds from the auction going to the Ron Magill Conservation Endowment and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.

There were even performances but some great bands such as Les Greene And The Swayzees, whose fun Motown influence turned rock and roll into rock and soul, and the LeBatard Show’s very own Mike Ryan, whose DJ sets always swing between fun, funny and funky. The best part for me closing out the night was the one and only G Love and needless to say I have been a big fan of the man behind hip-hop blues fusion ever since I heard “Slipped Away” in 1997. Supported by South Florida’s very own Juke, G. Love did not disappoint. 

Now while I have been caught up with a few projects in these last few months, I didn’t want any more time to slip away (see what I did there?). Before I share with you this particular night and better yet, G Love. You know how I do. I share with you my final selection of images in an album on my Facebook page. Then, I will bring you my favorites here. I’m hoping that if you haven’t taken a listen to G. Love, this post inspires you to give him a try and let me also suggest that you attend the next MAS MIAMI so you can know what a great night of music, arts, and sports is all about.

The post A little bit of Philly, G Love at Mas Miami 5 appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

Based in South Florida, not only do they make it their mission to expose us all to a new cultural experience, but they are also solely run on a donation basis. They have gallery nights, visit schools and also host events at other art centers in our area. No, they don’t get paid to put together these events, nor do they charge for admittance to their exhibitions, they do this because they love what they do and even more so they love the experience that it brings to us both young and old. 

I’ve been working with them ever since I began my Through The Eyes of a Queen and while I don’t typically share my images from their events, I wanted to share this particular set so that I too can share music in another form. I also wanted to let any locals know that such events exist and if you would like to experience art in many forms, definitely look into them and stop by. 

Now that my intro is done, let me give you my top 5 favorite images. I have a few more that I selected for my Facebook album though I kept it to a small few. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy partaking in these events. 

The post Music In Many Forms appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

It’s my third time going out to capture Hellzapoppin and every time I see them perform they always have something to surprise me. It was an amazing performance with feats even I hadn’t seen. It was particularly a foggy performance and there was the occasional  difficulty grabbing a specific shot I wanted from time to time but all in all, I had a blast that night. I took Beast out with his usual attire, the 24-700 mm zoom and let me tell you how grateful I was that I chose that route. My work area was about the size of a folding chair along the stage and I didn’t want to get in the audience’s way (No, I’m not that “get in everyone’s view kind of photographer. After all, you’re paying to watch the show, not the back of my head and my lens.). That lens was perfect as it let me get close yet still get a great angle for these photos. 

I didn’t focus so much on the actual feats being performed as I’m sure there are plenty of those around. After all, that’s not my style. I capture moments, emotion, that FEEL. That being said there was quite a few shots to say the least. I’ve been limiting my shares to about 40 images at m most but I just couldn’t help myself this time around. So if you check out my Facebook, you have almost the full set there. I’m saving a few for Instagram and you’ll just have to follow me there for those goods. Yes, I’m making you work for it. 

Anyways, yes I did have a big set this time around. It was so hard choosing. the ones I’m sharing with you now out of them. Yet, one does what one must; right? Well, here they are though I would love it if. you checked them out on Facebook as well. You don’t want to miss anything. 

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Now, here’s where the challenges and goals statement comes from so allow me to step away from the actual event for just a quick moment. You see, I’m a right handed person who is left-eye dominant. In other words, I’m cross dominant. Most people have one side of their body that’s stronger than the other. If you’re right-handed, chances are you do everything with your right hand — writing, brushing your teeth, eating, etc. That also means you likely have stronger sight in your right eye, stronger hearing in your right ear, and would react more with your right foot. When we write, hit, kick, or turn our head to hear, we’re typically doing it all with the same side. Not me. My brain tends to prefer my left eye when focusing which means when I’m shooting, whether its a camera or even a gun lets say, I’m using my left eye to aim. It can sometimes be awkward positioning wise and so, my goal is to strengthen my right eye.

Here is where that ties in to this set. I decided what better time than now to start exercising that lovely right eye of mine. So here I am photographing basically a sports event, catching myself constantly switching over to my left eye. Yes, I probably should have started easy with still objects, but I love a challenge. So there I was, absolutely loving being around the sound of sport bikes, hearing the clutch engage and the wheels come up, feeling the adrenaline of the riders as they performed their stunts and wowed the crowd time and time again. It brought back a lot of fond memories for me all while challenging present day me. Several times throughout the show I would get frustrated that I was missing shots or that they were out of focus. I even missed the money shot when Jason Britton aimed his bike as well as his skid in my direction. While that slightly disappointed me, all in all I am quite pleased with how the set turned out.

I upload my top 20 here with the full set up on my Facebook page. I will say that there are some out of focus ones. I’m sharing them with you regardless of the fact that they are not tack-sharp because I want to not only show you the good, you get to see my learning material as well. Let me know what you think.

The post From Left to Right appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

I had the extreme pleasure to be invited out to photograph another amazing  gallery event brought together by Compositum Musicae Novae. It was a night of music, art, dance and theater.  By far my favorite event of theirs that I’ve been to. Not only was it held at the beautiful Pinecrest Gardens, it was from start to finish a wonderful and beautiful performance by all participants. From the jazz trio, the harps, the play and the dance as well as the displayed art, I came away cultured and soothed. As for the photos, I will let them speak for themselves. 

It was difficult for me to trim this set down to manageable album on Facebook and even more difficult to select my favorites from this post. Between the lighting, the expressionisms and all around vibe of the night, I was quite fond of several photos. Nonetheless, I had to save the bulk of them for CMN though I am taking a few to share because one should always share things that make them feel good. This set does just that. 

Of course none of this evening would have been possible for me without the Compositum and so I will tell you to visit their website to see what they are all about and what they have planned gallery wise next. Feel free to click here to give them a quick peak and you know I also have to point you to my Facebook page for a few more images I’ve selected to share.

Thank you for your time and now back to work for this one. I have a special set to work on that I have to keep under wraps for now. Don’t worry though, I still have quite a few more things to share in the meanwhile. 

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So I did this thing ten days ago. I finally was able to attend a Hellzapoppin’ show as they were in town and performing at the very cute Kelsey Theater in Lake Park, Florida. It was a bit of a drive but let me tell you it was incredibly worth it. They were phenomenal and have a brand new fan with me. For those of you unaware of what Hellzapoppin’ is, Hellzapoppin is a world renown theatrical ROCK-N-ROLL circus stunt-show and side show. It’s the largest and among the last of the authentic traveling freak show..” 

The showmanship alone was excellent not to mention the feats these amazing artists were performing. To think that this was just a smaller touring group. I won’t even begin to imagine how insane a full group would be. These guys were great. Even after the show when you got to meet and greet the performers, they were so friendly and down to earth. I am also thankful I got to me the infamous Mr. Buggles before he passed away.

Of course I brought my eye extension named Beast and he and I could not get enough. And while I was unfortunately squeezed in the narrowest of views amongst an insanely packed house, I am still absolutely in love with not just my images, but the experience in itself. It was difficult for me to choose my favorites this time around. That being the case, I am posting a larger than usual album for you all to browse through and I encourage you to check out not just Hellzapoppin but the full set of my images on my Facebook page. There are just so many.

I couldn’t get enough behind that lens and I am looking forward to the next time I get to catch them perform.

Until next time, 

The Queen

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That was exactly how I spent St. Patrick’s Day evening, immersed in art of varying forms.    

I was recently contacted by Compositum Music Novae to photograph one of their events held at Coral Gables Museum. “Compositum Musicae Novae is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization of classically trained composers, musicians, dancers, visual artists and literary artists-dedicated to producing, performing, and exposing the public to new artistic expressions in music, dance and the visual and literary arts.” I had the pleasure of working with them December of 2013, back when I first began shooting and was both excited and flattered to hear from them again. Even more exciting was they had another event they were wanting to have me come out and shoot. What a beautiful location too. That’s one thing I love about going to the different gigs. I love visiting new places I had never been and the museum was no exception. I made it a point to get there just a tad early to not only grab a few shots of the hall they were hosting the exhibition at, but to also take a quick walk around seeing what I could before it was time to get to work.

Then it was show time. Their evening began with a beautiful piece composed of an acoustic guitar playing along a digitally composed track and instantly I was impressed. It really takes a certain level of skill to play along with digitally synthesized sound effects and interact with it so-to-speak. The night progressed on to poetry and even some interpretive dance. It really was a lovely time and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If I had to say one thing it would be that due to the event also being video recorded by the organization, I had to take extra care to walk around the room quietly as to not interfere with their recording. Not really the easiest of tasks when you are wearing wooden heeled boots walking on hardwood flooring. I’ll know more for next time.

Nonetheless, this was a great night and I absolutely loved the shots that resulted from it. The lighting, the textures, it was all eye candy for me in that regard. I look forward to my next event with them and for now leave you with my favorite images from the evening posted below. You can also check out the set on Facebook as well.

The post “Color”, an event presented by Compositum Musicae Novae! appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

But I digress. While performing in a parking lot limited a lot of my composition options while shooting, I was able to grab a few shots here and there.  As for my post work on this set, trying to work around the fact that they performed in a parking lot with no stage and tent poles was not necessarily fun. I cropped and twisted images, played with  some presets, etc.  I  managed on working some magic and was able to get together a few of my favorites to share with you here. There are a few more on my Facebook page as always and of course you are welcome to go see them HERE.  And as always, please feel free to comment, share etc..

With Love,

The Queen

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