Libby Wendt is the photographer responsible for these spectacular photos from the recent MSG tour (below) and she also took the photos for the Be Aware Of Scorpions cover-art.
Libby has a knack for capturing colours in a way that wouldn't be out of place in the Star Wars Trilogy special-effects department.
So, I went along with Libby on one of her photo sessions in the hope that I might pick up some hints on how not to chop people's heads off.

Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions of these stunning photos

Hi Libby - you take some amazing photos - how did you first start in the photography business? Has it been a hobby since you got your first camera? Tell us how you got into it.... Well, my best friend took a basic photography class up at the junior college and needed a subject to photograph for an assignment. She asked me, and I agreed. Then she took me into the lab and let me watch the whole process of developing and printing and that was all it took - I was hooked. Watching the image appear in the tray was so amazing, the moment you could capture, create and hold forever, it just grabbed me and I had to become a part of that process. I signed up for and took every photo class I could at the college. It became my passion.

Did one commission lead to another, or did you have to barge your way in with a batttttttering ram? My sports photos got noticed and I was hired by a football magazine to shoot Pee Wee football through pro football and that was also a great experience. I'm a bit more on the quiet side than the battttttering ram side, which sometimes makes it harder for me. I think you need to be outgoing and have lots of outward confidence to push your way to the top in the photography world. I think the romantic idea of someone important spotting your image and it catapulting you into photo superstardom is just that, a romantic idea, but it is one I hold very close to my heart. I'll always be a believer in magic moments. Well hey, I spotted ya, didn't I - that could be the start of it!

When you're photographing at gigs, there is often a rule that photo-passes are for the first three songs only, and then you can't take any more. Has that happened to you, and if so, how does it feel not being able to capture the special moments when the band are really into it, or during the encore when the whole house is going wild, or the moment when a crazed fan jumps onto the stage and holds up his BMMC poster and everyone in the arena cheeeeeers and appppplauds and holds up their own BMMC posters? Hey, it COULD happen! I have come across that "first three songs only" rule, but thankfully, I have been asked by the band to shoot. I'm not there shooting for a publication, so I get a bit more pull/help from the manager or the band to keep me shooting through the whole show. Also, that rule is usually there to keep the photographer from being distracting, popping off with the flash too much and all. I never shoot a show with flash, always push and use available light. I also shoot with a 300mm telephoto, she's my favorite lens, and so I am usually back and away, out of view of most watching the show. That's me, and that's my style. The light is everything to me; it's the emotion and the beauty that envelops the artist. But I am sorry and ashamed to say I have missed catching that BMMC poster, something I definitely need to have in my portfolio! I'm sure it'll happen one day!

As someone who has never got past Page 2 of her sixty-four-page camera instruction manual, I would guess that the procedure for filming 'still life' situations is very different to filming concerts or rodeos or whatever? What are the differences? What are the similarities?

Yes, there are differences and similarities. The depth of field you choose determines what you will emphasize, what will be sharp and what will fall off in softness. For example, if I'm shooting the Grand Canyon, I want everything sharp and in focus, so I would shoot at a higher F-stop, i.e. F16 or F22. Too, my shutter speed can be slow, not much movement going on there. If I am shooting a rodeo, I go to a lower F-stop, maybe F4 or F5.6, as I want my subject in focus but not the stands, fences, crowds, etc., and I want a higher shutter speed to be able to stop and catch the movement. You can lose a great moment if it blends in with everything else. In shooting concerts, and with available light at those shows, I am usually forced to shoot wide open, or at F2. This is only a very small depth of field area but you need all the light you can let in for those situations. But this gives you beautiful effects in the blur of motion or light beyond or in front of the subject. Same with say shooting a single rose, open up that aperture, let her be your focus and her leaves a soft cloud beyond her.

What I find with a digital camera, is you lose a valuable half-a-second between when you hit the right button (sorry, getting a HMK reference into every interview is part of my contract) and getting the actual shot. Therefore, whatever you think you've taken a photo of ..... you haven't. The bassplayer has somersaulted ten yards out of vision by the time the shutter shuts, and all you've got is a blurred photo of the drummer's elbow amidst a load of blurred drumkit. How can we stop this from happening? Digital cameras capture the image on a chip, or the CCD. All kinds of processes occur when the image hits this chip, but then the image gets written to the disc. The "buffer", which is actually RAM storage, temporarily holds the image before it is written to the card or disc in your camera. Most of the newer digital cameras have pretty large buffers that can store the images and not affect your being able to continue to shoot and shoot what you want when you want! Then, the way you are saving the image, i.e. .jpeg, raw, etc, will also determine how fast and how many can be written to the buffer. So as you can see, a tiny buffer will make you wait. a bigger one gives you much more shooting satisfaction. Wow, can we relate that to other things?? Maybe YOU can dear. Dairve would still be struggling to get his lens cap off.

So... what do you get people to say to put them at ease? Cheese? Sausages? Porridge? Ferrero Rochers? You are too great!!! Sausages??? I like to try and talk to people a bit before I start shooting, you know, find out a little bit about them, so maybe I can bring something up while shooting that they told me about that was either funny for them to tell me, or meaningful to them. It will usually and hopefully bring out the emotion again. When I shot for the papers of course that was not possible, I had to bide my time and wait, which is pretty much what I do for shooting concerts as well. I try to watch for the moment when the artist seems to get lost in his/her music, when they are not thinking about performing, but releasing the beauty without thought of the mechanics of it.

Some photographers like to work in black and white. Why? Do you use black and white? Tell us about how you use colours to re-create the atmosphere of the scene (does that make sense? It sounded right in my head but ...) Oh my gosh I absolutely love black and white. I feel you can capture so much more emotion in black and white than color. You have to be good to do that, really good. It also seems to give it a different time period, or makes it timeless, if that makes sense. Technically too it can be more difficult. Ever had to use a gray card and have your instructor tell you that every shade of gray on that card has to be in your finished photo?? Whew. the pressure!! But lordie, what beauty. Some of the concerts I do, I definitely see the shots better in black and white than the color I shot it in. But there is so much beauty when the lights at a show are constantly changing and immersing the artist in all these different hues and saturations. Both mediums have their beauty and I hope I see the best in both

I once took a photo of Barry Sparks where the dry ice and the red stage lighting made it look like his arse was on fire. When you see a chance to take a photo that has unexpected special effects, does it make you go all oooohooohhhhhooooohhhhhhhhy? How do you feel if that happens and you haven't got your camera with ya? Oh yes, I definitely get excited when something wonderful like that happens. I usually try and keep my calm while I am shooting, but a tense sigh usually comes out or a quick look on the LCD monitor to see if what I thought I just got, I did in fact get. Then there is an excited squeal, well or a few of them, and a bit of hopping. I really have a hard time containing myself when I see something good, I get pretty excited. You could ask Chris Logan - he's seen me get a bit weird over photos. Yeh, I get a bit weird when I look at his photos too....

What are the best photos you've ever taken? Definitely some of my best are concert shots, the lighting is sometimes so unbelievably beautiful. I also like some that I have taken of children; they are always so beautiful and pure in their emotion.

Any embarrassing moments when you've been taking photos? Or have you taken any embarrassing photos, hahaha? Nooo, I mean things like lampshades growing out of people's heads? Or someone standing in front of a sign that says 'Keep Off The Grass' and all you can see is the fella you're taking the photo of, and the word 'Ass' - or anything like that? Embarrassing, well, I guess we've all done that - hands in a precarious place, people bent over in strange ways. Yes I've done it - not proud of it, but sure gave me a good laugh when checking them out. A lot of times in concerts, players do some strange things with their faces - unusual contortions and such that aren't too becoming. I don't hold on to those. But talking of embarrassing moments, in my dispatching job at the PD, I did mis-type a sentence in the remarks section for a call that startled my officers. Someone called in about a suspect taking their glass balls from their patio. I mistakenly typed "ass balls" and got a lot of questions and ribbing for that one!! All in a fun day at the PD!!!

What's your favourite subject to photograph? Oh there are so many, couldn't narrow it down to just one, too much beauty in everything - but I can narrow it to a few I do best - musicians, sports and children.

Who has been your favourite person/band to photograph? That's hard too - some are so willing and those are great, but sometimes the unwilling give me even better shots as they loosen up to the prospect of having fun with it. I'd have to say Chris Logan is a favorite, as he is such a natural beauty, Celeste Prince, who is also so beautiful to photograph. Performing, it has to be Jay Buchanan first and foremost - such an emotional and intense performer - beautiful and sensual as well. And Rick Kurek, also a beautiful man with lots of emotion when playing. Brother was always fun to shoot because when they are having fun on stage it becomes infectious and everyone wants to have fun. Pat Travers was a great experience to photograph, a great, great man. George Lynch also, so sensual and amazing when he gets into his playing, which is some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard. And last but not least, Michael Schenker - absolutely the best guitarist I have ever heard. Simply a virtuoso player that technically I believe can't be beat. I have the utmost respect for Michael as a musician and believe he is one of the greatest guitarists ever. He also was extremely kind to me and always put up with my requests of him for photos, so thank you Michael.

Who is it your ambition to photograph? (How many times in this interview will I use the word 'photograph'?) Oh man!!! That list is long!! If only Rolling Stone would pick me up I'd be in heaven! Lenny Kravitz, Sammy Hagar, Sheryl Crow, Janet Jackson, Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Dishwalla, Pat Benetar, Heart, Aerosmith, Robert Plant, Sting, Toby Keith, Shania Twain, George Strait, Dwight Yoakum.. I could go on a long time!

Has the rodeo always been an interest? In some of those rodeo photos it looks like you must be standing right in front of those huuuuuge snorting beasts? Tell us what it feels like to film stuff like that. I love shooting rodeos. I have horses of my own and my daughter competes in the gymkhanas around here. Actually I have had horses all my life. In rodeos, it's truly man against the animal, and the man has to be strong. Not much protection for him out there and that animal gets to do what he thinks he needs to do to get that man/woman off!!! There is so much great physical action in rodeos to catch and I enjoy feeling those intense moments of making it or falling with the riders. And the animals are as much the stars as the riders, which really excites me. Some of them are very well known on the rodeo circuits. I am usually enough of a distance away that I could hop up on a fence if that bull starts coming my way, I shoot with that 300mm telephoto, remember! How does it compare to filming rockstars. Huge snorting beasts .... and .... rockstars... ? Hmm... maybe it's the same. Oh yes, definite comparisons there, depending on when you catch them during the day. Yehh.... around 10.00am on the tourbus sounds about right ....

Fin Costello once told me that you can have the best equipment in the world and it doesn't make you a great photographer - and by the same argument you can have a little box-brownie camera and take a fantastic shot. Would you agree with that? What is it that makes someone
sooooo damn good at taking photos, and other people so head-choppy-offy? I would have to agree with Mr. Costello, the best equipment can't make you the best. Well. let me say this, you could take a bad shot, off center, head/arms cut off, whatever, but the quality would be AWESOME! I bought my daughter a Fuji digital to start with and that little inexpensive camera has taken some beauties, so I don't think you have to have the most expensive camera to take great shots. It's in what you see in your heart that moves you to hit that shutter release at the exact moment of union of heart and vision, that moment that you will freeze in time to share and re-experience. And hopefully it grabs your heart each and every time you look at it. I need those moments; they are what I crave every time I pick up the camera. I believe if you are trying to create what is beautiful in your mind - of what you are seeing, that will come through in your photos, as long as you are being true to the beauty, not thinking about impressing who you are shooting, does that make sense? For me, I think catching the sensual moments are very important, no matter what the genre of music. You can see those moments in everyone, men & women performers and it is what touches people (I believe) in a photo. Just for an example - when I was shooting Michael Schenker this last tour, there was a point during his solo in one song that he got absolutely lost in his playing, it was as though his soul was flying and it became almost sensual - at least to me. And there was so much beauty just flying all about him, it was amazing to me. Those are the moments I look for. Same with George Lynch, he is so amazing and so sensual but not in an overt way, it is in a way that I think women get into it more because it's not so "in your face sex." And Jay Buchanan - that man is sensual from start to finish, absolutely beautiful.

OK, here's the amps'n'valves question - except in your case it's a lenses'n'filters question. What would be your choice of weapons? My first and always choice of equipment is Nikon. I've shot with Nikon cameras since I started shooting in college. I feel they can't be beat for quality and durability. I am currently using the Nikon D1x digital which is their fastest 35mm format digital. It uses all my Nikon lenses and I can push with this one to 3200 and though there is still grain and some banding, they have improved it quite a bit. I am sure I have put over 40,000 shots through this camera that I've only had 2 years now and it works wonderfully. Just a joy. I'm really wanting to try the new D2h - could sure use it for the sports photos, so I'm trying to save up the money for that little beauty.

What is your advice to people trying to take the perfect photo? See with your heart, shoot what moves you and believe in your ability to see that beauty. You'll be right on the mark. That's a great philosophy. Let's hope we can learn to do it without chopping people's heads off!