ROBERT CRAY

Back in the late 1990's I was working artist check in for the San Diego Blues Fest. As all of the artists had checked in, I decided to enjoy the complete access my pass afforded me to every area of the festival, including backstage. While walking around, I noticed a barricaded area in front of the stage. It was completely empty, and it ran the entire width of the stage. Back then, I had no idea that was the "photo pit".

I pulled out my trusty Olympus 3.2 megapixel digital camera and fired off a shot, complete with flash, at Robert Cray, who was headlining the festival. He was not pleased. If looks could kill, they'd have been scraping me into a paper bag.

I've learned some things between then and this last time I photographed him...