Seattle Photographer

The Azadeh Ensemble , made up of Sahba Motallebi, 2nd from left, then Sepideh Raissadat, Laya Etemadi, Bahareh Moghtadaei right and joining them as guest artist on left, Negar Booban, in performance at Town Hall in Seattle, on Friday Feb. 5th, 2010.

On Friday evening, Town Hall Seattle presented the Azadeh Ensemble, four outstanding virtuoso Iranian women musicians who formed in summer, 2009 in response to the political events in Iran, and the prominent role women have played within it, in their Northwest debut on Friday. In Farsi, the language of Iran, Azadeh means liberated. Azadeh Ensemble is one of the few all-female ensembles playing classical Persian music. Their exciting interpretations combine centuries of musical history with modern concerns of individual freedoms and the female voice.


Their vivid repertoire draws from classical Persian music, speaking especially to the concerns of individual freedoms and the female voice. As a women’s group, the Azadeh Ensemble is truly a rarity in Persian music, bringing these traditional forms into a dynamic contemporary context. Heading the ensemble, all of whom were born and trained in Iran but now live in the US, is the remarkable tar (a lutelike instrument) player Sahba Motallebi celebrated for the vigor and clarity of her playing on this stringed instrument, joined by the gifted vocalist Sepideh Raissadat, virtuoso kamanche (a Persian fiddle) and viola player Laya Etemadi, and Bahareh Moghtadaei on the tombak (drum). In the secod portion of their performance they were joined by joined by guest artist Negar Booban, of the Teharan Conservatory of Music, on the oud.


Not being familiar with Persian music it was enchanting and exotic: it was delightful and uplifting and also spiritful. At times I heard strains of the some traditional American blues and at other time their music brought to mind some old Irish folk tunes between the strings and drums. But most of the time it was as graceful and transporting as it was unfamiliar.Knowing their story and how they came to play together was inspiring. It is hard to believe that they can never play in thier home country together like this. I feel sorrow for them and even more for their fellow countrymen. I hope one day they may go and perform such as concert in their homeland.
As Motallebi said before a recent performance, “”[We] will be there as Persian women musicians who suffered a lot for the art and music in Iran. We have so many things to say and feelings to share for our women who want freedom … Our concert will be dedicated to [them].”
Read more about them: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
All photographs on this website are Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.
Photographs by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers music performances, and creates portrait photography for publication and a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, wedding photographers with an artistic photojournalist style

Kurt Elling

Kurt Elling won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album tonight at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for “Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman” He is always wonderful to see live and this album is a fine example of his music. I photographed him last spring at the Bellevue Jazz Festival, the most recent time he was in Seattle.

Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle wedding photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, wedding photographers with an artistic photojournalist style.

I was in San Francisco recently for a wedding and from my hotel, and I noticed that they have set up an ice skating rink next to the “Vaillancourt Fountain” at Justin Herman Plaza (created by Quebec-born sculptor Armand Vaillancourt) not far from the Ferry Building on Market.
on The Embarcadero at Market Street.

It was full of skaters that sunny but cool Sunday afternoon. Its funny, I never would have thought that ice skating was something people did outside in San Francisco on a sunny afternoon. Photograph by Daniel Sheehan, a Seattle photographer who specializes in people and portraits and travels everywhere to shoot weddings in a photojournalist style. Daniel was named among the best wedding photographers by the Wedding Photojournalists Association.

All photographs on this website are by Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.

Jurgen Moltmann

Jürgen Moltmann, a German Protestant theologian, was in Seattle for a talk, not long ago and I was assigned by Seattle Pacific University to photograph him for their alumni publication Response. He was very interesting to photograph and I enjoyed hearing him speak about his book Theology of Hope.

His liberation theology is also interesting as it includes an understanding of both the oppressed and the oppressor as needing reconciliation. “Oppression has two sides: on one side there is the master, on the other side the slave… Oppression destroys humanity on both sides.”

Photograph by Daniel Sheehan, a Seattle photographer who specializes in people and portraits and travels everywhere to shoot weddings in a photojournalist style that is real, straightforward, subtle and unobtrusive. Daniel was named among the best wedding photographers by the Wedding Photojournalists Association.

All photographs on this website are by Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.

I am often called upon to make large group portraits an it is always a challenge to make them look great with everybody in the picture looking good with their eyes open and a good expression. It is a challenge just arranging every body and then getting their attention. Since I try to do one everytime I shoot a wedding, I have developed a skill at large group portraits. I usually have a lot of fun and the people do too. And then everyone gets a great picture with all of their co workers or friends or family. This was a san Francisco Wedding at a restaurant and we moved some tables and chairs and got everyone in the photo. Photograph by wedding photographers Daniel Sheehan, a Seattle photographer who specializes in people and portraits and travels everywhere to shoot weddings in a photojournalist style that is real, straightforward, subtle and unobtrusive. Daniel was named among the best Seattle wedding photographers by the Wedding Photojournalists Association.

All photographs on this website are by Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for per

Emperor Akihito of Japan

I was going through some old files and I came across some photos I forgot I had taken. In 1994 on a news assignment, I photographed Emperor Akihito of Japan who was on a visit to New York. It was at a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of New York and all of the New York social and political elites came out to meet him. It was an interesting evening to witness. Here the Emperor was applauding a toast New York Governor Mario Coumo has made I believe. Akihito is the current Emperor of Japan, and the 125th Emperor according to Japan’s traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989, and is the 20th most senior monarch or lifelong leader. He is the world’s only reigning monarch whose title is customarily translated into English as “Emperor”.. Photographs on this website by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission before using. In addition to editorial and corporate assignments, Daniel is also a wedding photographer and was named the best wedding photographers in Seattle by the Wedding Photojournalists Association.

Photographs on this website by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission before using.

:Nota Bene Cellars is releasing their 2007 vintage wines and I recently photographed the entire lineup of bottles for them. They were especially interested is showing off their new label design and their large format bottles. The photos will be used on their website when it gets updated very soon. They had started out with just three different wines when I first photographed their wine a few years ago. It is good to see them growing bigger  and bigger. Their wines are some of my favorite Washington State wine. Daniel Sheehan also runs a wedding photographer business named “A Beautiful Day Photography.” Explore the candid wedding photography there and see why he was named the best wedding photographers in Seattle by the WPJA. Go to Seattle Wedding Photography at A Beautiful Day Photography.

The Charles Lloyd New Quartet with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers, & Eric Harland playing at Town Hall.

All Photographs on this website Daniel Sheehan © 2009. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission before using.

It was a beautiful new group Charles Lloyd brought to town earlier this month. I have been meaning to post some photos from this performance and here they are. If you missed the show it was a wonderful performance. Charles is one of my all time favorite musicians. And so is Jason Moran. I was happy to get the chance to hear Eric Harland and Reuben Rogers play as well.

These cats were very intense and yet the music was very spiritual.

“Since the 1960s, tenor saxophonist and flautist Charles Lloyd’s life has alternated between periods of musical and personal exploration. After spending a decade or so working as a sideman in different blues and jazz groups, Lloyd hit a goldmine of critical acclaim and popular support in with his quartet’s groundbreaking performance at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival (no small feat in a period when jazz’s audiences were largely moving in new directions). This particular group was notable not just for Lloyd’s debut as a fresh and exciting leader, but also because two of its members, Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette, were themselves only a few years away from exploding as widely innovative and influential jazz musicians….

Lloyd’s New Quartet is fortified with relatively young but well-established jazz musicians who are fully capable of sharing Lloyd’s pursuits. A leader in his own right, Jason Moran (piano) brings the group a unique, mature second lead voice. He’s one of those pianists who sometimes convince you that you’re listening to 80 years of jazz piano history rolled into one set of fingers. His heavy left hand will dabble in vintage 1920s stride playing right before flowing through a sequence that breaks into advanced Andrew Hill territory, while his frank, direct solos often develop in unpredictable turns that take full advantage his repertoire’s diverse influences.

On stage, when Lloyd himself isn’t soloing, he doesn’t just stand there; he frequently can’t resist dancing to the pulsing, breathing rhythms provided by his fellow musicians. Reuben Rogers (bass) and Eric Harland (drums/percussion) form a reliable, gregarious backbone that’s perfect for bringing the exotic structures in Lloyd’s compositions to life. Whether the tune is funky, swinging, Latin, or has no definable rhythm at all, the team decorates it with outbursts that always feel natural and appropriate….” – Nathan Bluford from the Earshot Jazz program guide. Jazz Photography by editorial photographer and photojournalist Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, a wedding photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.

We are going to try and take a little time off but we will be back soon. Daniel, Jana, Ema and Claire, wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We were lucky to get our picture taken by a photographer’s photographer Michael Craft. Photos for this holiday’s posting are from the Studio of Michael Craft. Editorial Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who specializes in people, portraits, and places. Seattle editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan shoots assignments in a photojournalistic style that is real, straightforward, subtle and unobtrusive.