P!nk Photography

Shoot ing rock stars and comics brings with it a unique set of challenges- like getting a goo d shot in a dark room without a flash, avoiding the obvious, and navigatin g the mosh pit. Dan Dion knows how it’s done, and how it’s not.
Dan Dion isn’t a rock star, but he may as well be. He gets unlimited access to sold-out shows. He hobnobs with the rich and famous. Just last week, Lucinda Williams gave him a hug.

The strikingly down-to earth 28-year old photographer has pursued his passion for live music and comedy, and success has trailed along like some coincidental byproduct. For six years, Dion has held the enviable post of house photographer at San Francisco’s most legendary venues- the Fillmore, Warfield, Punch Line Comedy Club—where he shoots both live performances and backstage portraits of the hundreds of performers who pass through.

During live music performances, Dion gracefully wrangles with a moving subject and a rambunctious crowd. Setting down an apple box to rise above the crowd, he compensates for the house’s strict “no flash” rule with fast film and fast lenses- Canon EOS 1N an A2e with 300mm/2.8, 85mm/ 1.2 and 80-200 2.8 lenses.
With constantly changing light, a dark background, and lights in his face, even the most poised person could lose their cool. “You have to learn what meters well, and trust yourself when your meter isn’t reading correctly,” Dion says, noting how dark hair often disappears and how the rock stars’ ubiquitous black leather jackets reflect light like crazy. “Everything varies so much, you just have to be ready for the fact that a lot of your film isn’t going to come out.” Add slam dancing, crowd surfing, and the potential danger of whacking someone’s girlfriend in the head with a monopod, and it’s enough to make anyone nervous.

While the odds say things should get less hectic after the show, they don’t. To prepare for backstage portraits, Dion carefully sets up the shot using a Polaroid back on his Hasselblad. When his subject arrives, he shoots using a Hasselblad CM50mm, 80mm, and 150mm. With managers breathing down his neck and antsy subjects, he says the key is speed. “The last thing they want after a two-hour set is to sit in front of strobes for 15 minutes,” he says.

Surprisingly, Dion bubbles over when talking about his working shooting comedians. “ I just have such a respect for comedy, and I think my subjects can see that,” he says. As the sole photographer at the Punch Line, he often gives his portfolio- filled with portraits of Tommy Smothers, Damon Wayans, Tracy Ullman, and Chris Rock among others- to potential subjects in the green room. “It establishes credibility; the more people they see you’ve shot, the more they trust. If Tommy Smothers will have me in his home, they know there is something there.”

In this star-obsessed culture, his celebrity portraits draw the most fascination. But he has also been involved with QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) photography used for CD-ROMs and the Web, using immersive imagery technology that gives 360-degree views of a particular room so viewers can literally get a tour by zooming in and out of pictures.

Despite his diverse interests, Dan Dion remains level-headed, looking to the zany photographer David LaChappelle for a shared philosophy: “I’m not interested in being a famous photographer, I’m interested in making famous photographs.”