It is often the unplanned shots that are the most satisfying, and this was such a case. I had been walking the city shooting street photography and was ending my day with a quick pint in the Mezz, Dublin, a bar that is nearly pitch dark when you walk in, the sort of place where it takes a while for your eyes to adjust but it is a great place to listen to some live music.
I sat down to rest my legs and as the singer Niall Moore walked onto the stage it occurred to me there was an interesting mix of lighting going on, daylight from the doorway spilling up the hallway, red backlighting on the stage and a cold coloured spotlight. Seeing such different colour temperatures in one shot is rare.
Overall the scene was still very dark and before I knew it I had the camera out of the bag again and shooting with the camera set on top of a barrel to keep it steady enough for a longish exposure. I wanted to include some of the crowd too which was difficult as they kept moving around but eventually got a shot that was just right, leaving an opening between them to view the singer.
The various colour temperatures proved for an interesting portrait, one that I really like.