Australian blues-rock singer KNiKi Beale (yes that is how she spells it) came to Hotel Bristol, Wellington New Zealand to sing at the weekly Capital blues evening. I've been photographing at such gigs since 2008 and am very familiar with the best shooting angles.
On this occasion KNiKi - who performs with husband Mike - is a very popular, high energy performer and had finished belting out a chorus. She turned away from the microphone to catch her breath while the band let rip. The stage lighting caught her face on throwing the background into deep shadow and providing a tailor-made opportunity for this monochrome image.
The conversion to monochrome was done in Photoshop.

[Jim P]

Nice. Her expression tells the story. The shadows work to bring out the smile.

[simone]

Good. Nominated.