These days with the ubiquity of digital cameras, everyone is a photographer. Oftentimes, people will just click away and through a bit of skill and luck (mostly luck) they might come up with a few good pics.

Just right before the show, I walked over to the table where my friends were seated with the intent of handing my camera to anyone who happened to be free. So I handed it to Chris.

Ginette. March 1, 2008 8:59pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

Twenty minutes later when the show was over, I retrieved the camera from Chris and found that he changed all the settings. He put it in black and white mode, ISO 800 (for the grainy effect), set the exposure low (for a darker tone), and set the flash intensity to half. All in all, he took about 80 pics which really isn't that much when you think about it. For a twenty-minute show, on average, that comes to 4 pics a minute or one every 15 seconds.

Miguelito. March 1, 2008 8:59pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

So one might think, OK, he didn't that many pics so statistically speaking, the possiblity of getting some good shots is lower. True, there were a couple of bad shots. But there were quite a few really good ones. More than I expected!

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:00pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

The photos speak for themselves. Of course, I can't speak for Chris, but what I can say is that the composition of the photos reflect his eye for detail, focusing on what captures the essence of the moment.

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:01pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

I know what you're thinking. You think that the black-and-white look makes it seem like these are artsy fartsy. Partly true perhaps. Then again someone like me who looks at literally hundreds of photos a week, is not easily impressed.

I'm not saying that all the photos I publish on my website are top-notch. I do have standards of course, but my job here is also to document the history of the DC flamenco scene. So I'll publish a photo for historical purposes, even if it isn't all that great photographically speaking.

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:04pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

Let's not forget that credit also goes to the model: the very beautiful and photogenic Ginette Perea, one of my favorite local flamenco dancers if you haven't figured that out already. :-)

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:06pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:08pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

Ginette. March 1, 2008 9:08pm (photo by Chris Kobar)

My thanks to Chris and Ginette and all my friends who came to the show at Tapeo last night. I hope you enjoyed these pics.

It's almost 7:00am, and I should go to bed and try to get some sleep--I swear I must've been a vampire in another life. :-) Right about now two of my closest friends are at National Airport about to board a plane. They're leaving for a one week pleasure cruise visiting the warm and beautiful countries of Mexico and Belize--I'm so jealous! Anywayz I got to say goodbye and bon voyage to them last night. I'll survive for a week while they're gone, but still I'm gonna miss them.