It all began when Steffie and Helaine decided to go see Rick Springfield in concert on two consecutive nights this past summer. On July 31st he played Westbury Music Fair on Long Island, about 90 minutes away. On August 1st he was at Foxwoods, here in Connecticut, but still an hour away.
Helaine has been a fan of Rick’s for 32 years! After she took Steffie to see him in Las Vegas, where he was starring in EFX at the MGM Grand, Steffie was hooked too. He’s one year older than me and in good enough shape to take his shirt off on stage. I sometimes refuse to take my shirt off in the shower.
I don’t know the man – met him for thirty seconds in a group of people – but can sense that he still relishes the attention and adulation of his fans. Not everyone does. Enjoying your audience makes a long career much easier and a whole lot more fun.
I do know that he has no objection to photography at his concerts. So, I gave Steffie the briefest of lessons, preset the most critical of adjustments, and sent her on her way with my Fuji S602Z.
The Fuji S602Z is a great camera. There’s no doubt it’s the best I’ve ever owned. It’s fairly sensitive in low light, but more importantly for concert shooting, you can preset the shutter speed and then let the camera try and do the rest. And, if there’s not quite enough light, there’s always Photoshop.
I remember looking at the photos when Steffie and Helaine returned from Westbury. They were excellent. It was obvious that Steffie has a great eye for photography. I put them on my website, but never really mentioned them. Helaine, active on a Rick Springfield mailing list with over 2,000 members, never mentioned it there.
The next night, at Foxwoods, the lighting was better and the pictures were just as good. Again, silently, they went up on the website. They were available to see, but you had to be curious in the abstract, or someone had to tell you where to look, in order to find them.
In the meantime, Helaine had a few printed after Westbury and brought them to Foxwoods where I was able to get her and Steffie backstage to see Rick. He liked the pictures too.
Helaine sent links to the pictures to her friend Lisa in Mississippi. Lisa told Kym and from Kym the photos got to Rick.
Are you still following?
A few weeks ago Lisa sent Steffie an email with this:
OK, you may already know—you may already have one (?)—-I’ve been out of it with the Rick world, so everyone may have it by now—I don’t know. But ~ just in case you may not know yet: < Insert drumroll >
.
.
.
.
I see at least ***TWO*** Steffie Fox photos in the tourbook that I recognized, and you are right there in the photo credits!!!!!!! I grinned all over when I saw that 🙂
Not only didn’t Steffie know – we didn’t want her to know until the tourbook (and as we’d later find out the Rick Springfield 2004 Calendar) came out. It would be another Chanukah gift; finding out she had been professionally published.
A handwritten note arrived from Kym with copies of the calendar and tourbook. She too congratulated Steffie, telling her Rick made the final decision on which pictures would make print, and Steffie’s were there.
It wasn’t until Steffie returned from Florida, a few days ago, that we showed her the notes, email, tour book and calendar with her work and photo credit!
She was ecstatic, and why not? Her work is excellent by any standard of measurement.
Part of the job of father is to be proud. The father of a teenager sometimes finds that very difficult. The teenage years are difficult… not on the teen, on the father. But, I am very proud and hope that Steffie continues to pursue photography, something she definitely has an aptitude for.
If you’d like to see the pictures for yourself, here are the Westbury shots and these are the ones from Foxwoods.