Orange Blossom Award: The Man Behind Tampa Bay’s Most-Seen Moments

Chaz Dykes and his wife, Lauren Dykes, at Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay — celebrating the community they help uplift year-round.

by Avery Anderson

In nearly every corner of Tampa Bay theatre, from splashy musicals to the smallest black box, there’s one person quietly shaping how audiences see the work — long after the curtain falls.

He’s not onstage. He’s not giving notes. He’s usually somewhere in the dark, kneeling in an aisle, dodging a lighting cue, or hanging off the edge of the stage like a friendly gargoyle with a camera.

Today’s Orange Blossom Award goes to Chaz Dykes, the production photographer whose images have become so synonymous with our region’s theatre scene that you’ve probably admired his work without ever realizing it.

And that’s exactly the point.

Chaz doesn’t chase the spotlight. He chases the moment — the real one, the unrepeatable one — the moment a show becomes memory.

Eight O’Clock Theatre’s marketing director Nathan Daugherty puts it this way:
“Chaz is fabulous at what he does, and puts our productions in such a fantastic light. His photographic artistry has helped us sell tickets, raise awareness of our theater, and give the actors something worth cherishing after their final performance.”

And that’s the quiet superpower of Chaz Dykes.

While most of us are sprinting to load-ins, fretting over marketing copy, or praying the fog machine behaves, Chaz is working a full-time job — yes, a full full-time job — as a videographer for HGTV's 100 Day Dream Home, all while juggling freelance gigs for Music News Tampa Bay, shooting for mad Theatre of Tampa, Carrollwood Cultural Center, American Stage, The Studio@620, and somehow still appearing — cheerfully! — whenever the community calls.

Several shows shot by Chaz D Photography over the last few years include *Ragtime* at American Stage, *American Idiot* at mad Theatre of Tampa, *Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol* at American Stage, and *Kinky Boots* at Eight O’Clock Theatre.

And I mean literally calls.
If you’ve worked in Tampa Bay theatre long enough, chances are you have Chaz’s number saved under “Oh thank God.”
He has been supporting The Arts Passport since day one, often showing up at events simply because he cares about the arts ecosystem being stronger, kinder, and better documented.

But this year brought one especially full-circle moment:
Chaz photographed the promotional and production images for Amityville ’74, the show in which his son, Donovan Dykes, made his stage debut.
The proud-dad energy was off the charts. The photos? Even better.

The cast of *Amityville ’74*, photographed by Chaz Dykes — a milestone moment that included his son, Donovan, making his stage debut.

In a field that can feel thankless, frantic, and a little bit like herding cats through a light plot, Chaz has become one of the region’s most consistent, generous, community-rooted forces — not because he has to, but because he chooses to.

And that’s why today, we honor him.

Photography shapes the history of our stages.
Chaz Dykes has made sure that history looks damn good.

Congratulations to today’s Orange Blossom Award honoree: Chaz Dykes — Tampa Bay’s quiet hero behind the lens.

What Are the Orange Blossom Awards?

A month-long series from The Arts Passport celebrating the people and organizations whose quiet, steady work strengthens Tampa Bay’s arts ecosystem. No applications. No campaigning. Just community-driven recognition, released daily in December.