When you’re a professional wedding and family photographer, you spend a lot of time photographing other people having fun, but don’t always capture images of your own fun times. You’ve got to set the camera down sometime! That was the plan when I headed to the Camp Wakka Chikka music festival Labor Day weekend: just some real R&R with family, music, food, and dancing. Still, being a photographer, I always have to have at least one camera and lens in my bag as insurance against those “I can’t believe I missed that shot!!” moments. Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for my camera battery) there were many of those moments at Camp Wakka Chikka, and I had a BLAST documenting this rockin’ family-friendly festival in the mountains.
Little known Lisa fact: In the 15 years before I started Lisa Richmond Photography, I was a recording engineer. My Emeryville, CA studio, Dance Home Sound, was perfectly located to bring a diverse, exciting group of Bay Area artists through my doors. I loved it! But even before that, I worked as a band manager as I paved my way through a photojournalism degree. My professional photography career actually started back then as I danced in the front row or crouched behind the speakers, taking high energy photos of the band for concert promotions. Being front stage at Camp Wakka Chikka – with the pulsing energy of El Metate, The Motet, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe backed by some incredible stage lighting – tapped into this original love of mine, and before I knew it my camera was once again a living part of me.
I like to think that my two professions draw from the same well of inspiration and experience. Both music and photography exist to evoke an emotion, it’s just that sound is the vehicle for one and an image is the vehicle for the other. Preserving live moments in their truest form possible has always been my passion. Interestingly enough, both require a good deal of technology. But it’s in the manipulation of this technology to create an authentic experience where the real artistry comes in.
I’m already looking forward to the next Camp Wakka Chikka campfest! Special thanks to my old friend Jason for organizing such an amazing, family-friendly music festival at his Sierra Valley Lodge. It was great to be able to share the experience with my husband and 11-year-old daughter in a fun and safe environment. And although my camera battery fizzed out juuuuussst at the beginning of Karl Denson’s set on Saturday night, we’ve already made plans to see him again this fall in Roanoke, VA with our other daughter, Jaz(an alto sax player). And you better believe I’ll have an extra battery in my bag!
Singing songs and chasing the light,
Lisa
and the one Saturday evening capture I got of Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe- about two minutes into their set before my camera battery died. Their set, by the way was soooo good!
