I was asked to shoot at The Apothecary Cabaret located underneath the Haunt in the heart of West Hackney. I had not shot in that place before so I immediately set about finding internal pictures of the area so I could see before arriving where I could stand without getting in the way.

And as usual, I got there about 20 minutes early so after meeting the contact, Poppy, to discuss the shoot then I wandered back up to the bar to sit on a sofa and enjoy an expensive glass of cola. I went through my usual routine of checking the camera and been reset since the last outing and check all SD cards had been cleared. The stage area was dark so I would have to wait until a performer was standing directly in front of the main spotlight, even then I was expecting high ISO levels.

The Master of Ceremonies was Driscoll Bleak, a compare I had not seen perform before but had the right mix of vaudeville and insane creepiness to make the number of cabaret virgins in the audience huddle together for protection. It was also his birthday so was forced to sample various objects and had to guess if they were cake or not.. most were not.

As feared the lighting was low so I had to wait for the right moment to capture each performer at the best time. And then there is, of course, the guest inanimate object that is the bane of any photographer in a live situation. The pillar in the odd position...

I clocked that one as soon as I walked in the room. About two thirds across the stage there is a large pillar, OK I know it is there to make sure we are not covered in screaming drinkers from above as the ground floor collapses on top of us but still, like microphone stands they do tend to get in the way of the performance.

To this end, I decided to stand to one side with my back to the bar and take shots from there. I would not be in the way of the paying public and could see the majority of the stage anyway.

After the show I said hello to those I knew of the performers and audience members and also had some of the birthday cake... which made me late to catch my train but that gave me time to look through the shots and start the culling process.

Shot delivered next day as usual...yay me!