Enough elements together in one photo can tell the story

It was dark and cold in early March, and I was happy to have an indoor assignment that included music and happy people to photograph.

Madcats nightclub in Palatine hadn't been open long, and my assignment was to photograph the events on a normal Tuesday evening, their Open Mic night.

I walked in early with two cameras and two lenses, a wide-angle zoom and a short telephoto. Those lenses would cover everything I would see in a tight, full venue like a 20-foot-wide bar.

The regular emcee, Rob Rosenberg, aka "The Ambassador of Good Will," was onstage working with the sound engineer getting ready for the list of patrons to take the stage. Rob can be seen in the background of the photo.

I squeezed through the chairs and made pictures of Rob and the crowd drinking and socializing, and then I saw Randy Rock with his guitar near the front door. I saw the neon "OPEN" sign in the window and immediately envisioned my picture. I hurried outside on the icy sidewalk and used the wide-angle lens set at 35 mm to include the window frame, the OPEN sign and almost the entire interior of the bar.

The light on musician Randy Rock as he tuned his guitar in a red jacket with the purple stage lights behind him gave the photo life. All the colorful elements and the depth of the photo tell enough of the story to draw interest for readers.