So, as you know from my last blog, San Diego Event Photography. You know I had the opportunity to photograph the National MS Society: Walk MS 2014 event. The second part of the Walk was at LEGOLAND, in Carlsbad, CA. As a San Diego event photographer, this was another opportunity to donate my skills, as a photographer and volunteer, for a good cause.
I arrived on location, early as always and decided to take a walk and check out the area for potential spots to shoot and of course the food area and restrooms. Besides being prepared, one of the reasons, I arrive early is to get shots of people setting up. Why, because they are the Worker Bee’s, if you will, the ones that work hard and keep thing running smoothly. Volunteers are an import part of the equation, if you will and I feel that without the support of volunteers many non-profit organizations would cease to exist. Now, I know that most volunteers cannot afford to donate tens of thousands of dollars, but just spending a few hours a week is important and I wanted to take this moment to recognize them.
Ok, now back to my story, as I said in the previous blog there were two photography positions and I was selected as the “General Photographer”, which was dedicated to pretty much shooting everyone and everything. It can get hectic, because events like these tend to cover a large area and as you know, you cannot be in two places at once. Well, I started to notice that there appeared to only be one Team Photographer. This is the person that photographs the various teams and poses them, with their signs on the stage. At first, I thought that they were running late, but when I was approached to fill in, I jumped at the chance. I know that working with people can be difficult, but nothing curbs your fear like jumping into a situation, that you normally won’t do and making it work. At first it was a little intimidating, because many of the teams had 20+ people that you have never met and now you have to pose and direct them. But, after a while everything fell into place, I became more comfortable and everything turned out great. Later on, I looked through my photography packet and noticed the shot list, oops. I forgot about that one, since I was instructed to shoot everything; but after going through the list, line, by line I hit all my target shots and life was good.
I hope I have not bored you too much. I had fun writing this one. I trust I have given you some valuable tips to think about, before planning your next shoot. It’s not all bad, just be clear and informative, it will save you a lot of headaches. Remember nothing is set in stone and there is not perfect formula, so go out and have some fun.
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