New Jersey Stage November 2014 | Page 36

machinery and talking about light and shadow, shutter speeds, and apertures. It was fun for me to be the boss. I’d be grilling him, ‘No, no that’s not the right aperature’ or ask ‘Which way do you go in this exposure?’ We wanted to have a little section in the book with those shots. Jon gives me a hard time because his section is kind of small, but there is a section of personal photos that he’s taken. Some were taken when we were together and some when he took a vacation with his family. There are pictures of his kids. He keeps his private life away from the public eye and to put these shots in a very public way was very cool. It gives a good look at his life. Was there ever a time when you watched a major event on TV and said to yourself, ‘I wish I was there, shooting that?’ Oh God no! To be honest, this is a gig that I’ve dreamed about for years. I feel like my whole career has led up to this point. I used to tell my New Jersey Stage friends that one day I was going to be traveling the world on a private jet with a big rock and roll band. I didn’t know who it was going to be, but I’d tell that to my friends. They’d say, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ I’ll never forget the first show. I started out traveling on my own to the shows. I was just an independent contractor and then they put me on a tour bus for a little while. Then they moved me to the private jet where I was literally sitting next to the band every day. I’ll never forget the first time I got on the plane and looked around, and it hit me - I’m actually doing this! I kind of privately gave myself a little pat on the back, like this is what you’ve been working towards. Now, of course, I have to top it! I have to come up with my next big one. I’d love to do another tour, but there aren’t too many bands at this level. I just love touring, it combines all of my loves — journalism, travel, and music. It’s everything I love to do at one time. November 2014 pg 36