It's Almost Christmas

It's been a while since I last posted, and my foray in to micro stock has produced some sales. I will be buidling up my collection over the next few months and making the most of the Cyprus weather.

Recently I have beed asked to photograph a few events, two theatre productions and 10km 'run & ramble.'

I am not afraid to admit that I was flying by the seat of my pants on the first theatre production, a Stars in Their Eyes style singing contest. With a seat set aside for me off stage right, I had a clear view. The only problem was the lighting. The acts weren't illuminated as much as I had hoped so had to rely on flash photography. My problem was I was using a borrowed Speedlite 580 EX II and had barely a chance to learn how to use it. The result was I ended up using high ISO which made the images poor.

Luckily, Adobe Photoshop was able to do all of the hard work for me and the resulting images were acceptable and the theatre was delighted. So much so they asked me back. Again I borrowed the flash but got it earlier and spent a good few hours learning how to use it. This learning experience, a kind of critical reflection, meant that I could use a lower ISO and faster speed by using the Manual mode on my camera. The stage lighting was much better and I was able to take a number of shots without the flash. The images from this production were a major improvement over the last set and a personal triumph for me.

Prior planning prevents poor performance, however when you rely on other people as part of your plans and they don't deliver, then what can you do. Asked to photograph a 10km charity race event, I was in touch with the orgainser who promised me a map of the route. Unfortunately, the map never materialised despite my e-mails and I only got to see the route the day of the event. The photos went well, no flash this time, but waiting for the last finisher in the hail wasn't my idea of fun. They liked the photos, incidentally, this was the first time they had a photographer cover the event and have asked me to cover their next race at the luxurious Aphrodite Hills Resort.

Planning for shoots is so important, I can't stress that enough. Spare batteries, fully charged, for the camera, new batteries in the flash with a spare set too and a backup flash card. Just need a second body now and I will be more confident that I am reducing my risks when covering such events.