Joy Chambers spends her days immersed in wills, trusts and tax law. She spends her nights surrounded by the cool sounds of live jazz music.

As a hobby, the Alexandria attorney photographs performers at clubs throughout Washington, D.C., and New York City.

"I always loved jazz - I really gave thought to what could make me more a part of the jazz scene," said Chambers. "So, I went out and bought a camera and just did it. That was four years ago."

Since then, Chambers has photographed dozens of performances. She's also had the opportunity to meet the musicians she shoots.

Performers appreciate her interest and the photos she gives them. "They always need current pictures - they change sidemen so much," she said. Chambers even joins the musicians for parties after the show. "It's great. You're kind of part of the family."

Among her favorite jazz performers and photo subjects are Oliver Lake, pianist Cecil Taylor and singer Sunny Sumpter, Chambers said. In the Washington area, she likes to shoot at Blues Alley, One Step Down and The 219. She also makes regular trips to New York City to shoot concerts there.

Capturing a live jazz performance on film is very challenging, according to Chambers. "It's so hard because you're shooting in the dark. I don't use flash" she said.

Studying a concert with a camera is also enlightening, Chambers added. "Using the camera makes you realize the visuals of jazz. Before that, I had just listened."

The final act of developing the pictures is as much a task as taking them. "It's a lot of trouble to do these things in the darkroom. Each of these jazz prints can take a while. I can't mass produce them," said Chambers, who develops her prints in a darkroom she put in the basement of her house.

"It's like Ansel Adams said, "The negative is the score but the print is the performance."

Chambers' own photographic performances have gone over well with the jazz community. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine and in assorted clubs and coffeehouses in D.C. and New York. She said musicians often call, asking her to come and shoot their show.

A lawyer for more than 20 years, Chambers one day decided she had to find a vent for her creative stream. She had experimented with various artistic outlets, like painting and piano, but combining photography with her love of jazz was the best choice for her.

"The funny thing is I have no interest in shooting anything else. I basically shoot the people whose music I like," said Chambers.

Jazz photography offers a wonderful break from the straight and narrow duties of her legal practice according to Chambers.

"It helps me feel better about my whole life that I'm able to explore parts of my personality that my law practice doesn't allow me to," she said. "The kind of law that I practice doesn't allow me to be too creative."

Chambers said she finds photography inspiring both personally and professionally. "It reinvigorates me in terms of the law. It makes the tax codes more interesting and also the personalities of my clients," she said.

"I've never not enjoyed the legal practice, but I think it's easy to feel trapped by it. It takes so much energy and thought."

Chambers shoots concerts at least three or four times a month at various venues. There she joins jazz photographers like Lee Tanner and Jeff Wilderman, who shoot for magazines like Jazz Times. Chambers said she is working with Tanner on arranging a possible museum show of their photography.

In addition to her practice, Chambers teaches a course titled "Law and Psychiatry" at her alma mater, The George Washington University Law School.