330.414.4651
mail Mara@MaraRobinson.com

Music • Words • Pictures

I’ve been in the music scene for half my life, and something came alive when I started doing rock photography. It’s extremely technical and challenging. It’s like trying to hit the tiny bullseye on a moving target in the dark with a blowdart, while people are bumping into you, and there is almost never a clear shot. Even when you do get a moment, there’s a good chance the picture’s still gonna suck.
It’s tough as hell, and I love it.

During the span of time between college and now, I’d spent 10 years as a marketing communications specialist (writer/editor/creative strategist…) for a range of local/national/international accounts, working on a huge variety of projects from press releases and magazine articles, catalogs and novels, to branding, identity, product design and full-scale ad campaigns… In 2005 I went freelance. Four amazing years later, the economy got a bit dodgy.

So in 2009, I found myself with the opportunity to learn a new skill. I’d heard that rock photography is one of the hardest kinds, and since bands are the people I know, and they always need good pictures, I wanted to give it a shot. Friends and bandmates (mostly musicians in The Davenport Collective) were incredibly gracious/willing/beautiful/encouraging supermodels. From the beginning, I wanted full manual control over my images, and began shooting raw and developing editing/processing techniques. I studied at least eight hours a day for a month before I selected my camera and lenses (I’m still studying every day). Before I knew it, I was being hired to photograph events, music festivals, weddings, private parties, products…

I adore candid, unobtrusive observation, honest moments, and available light (I never use flash at a concert) but a professional lighting setup and scene design is equally fun when appropriate. Of course, you can always have the best of both worlds. I’m available for business or personal shoots, short-term or long-term assignments, and in-studio or on-location sessions. I also do custom prints, canvases and image licensing…
When the day is done, I’m often playing keys and singing with Voxcaster (Davenport’s newest supergroup). Our new album is being mixed right now, and we leave on tour in a few weeks.