Perfectly Pampered Charity Event

So my best friends Ryan and Emma are getting married next year and I got a text message from Emma last week telling me that her makeup artist for the wedding, Jennifer Ireland, was holding a charity event in the The Windrose restaurant in Carrickfergus on the 26th of July and she had been looking for someone to come along and document the night with some pictures.  Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity and literally within 90 seconds of receiving the text from Emma I had contacted Jennifer on Facebook to see if she still needed someone to come along.  I gave her a link to my blog here and said if she wanted I could make the night.  The response came within minutes, and I was booked. 

It was funny because it only dawned on me a few hours later that this was the first time someone had asked me to shoot an event for them based on what they had seen on my blog.  It would have been so easy to have some sort of panic attack here, but I kept it under control and just made sure my camera battery was charged and I had all my lenses and memory cards in my bag before I left the house.  I once again have to hand a massive thank you to my friend Sparky who again loaned me his Canon 70-200mm 2.8 lens which turned into a lifesaver on the night. (Note to self: must start paying back favours before list gets to grocery shopping length!)

Anyway, when I arrived I got to speak to Jennifer for the first time and she was great.  Really friendly, knew what was going on and had obviously spent a lot of time planning the night because everything ran like clockwork.  I asked what she was looking for in my images and much to my relief it was the type of image I have been getting used to taking.  Candid style portraits with natural expressions.  'No problem', I said, 'and if you want anything specific just let me know'.

Panic attack number two that could have occurred was when I realised that I wasn't the only shooter there.  The Tatler had their man there, also the Telegraph (I think) and a local newspaper photographer.  I think there was someone from one of the Belfast glossy magazines there too, but I tried to pay no attention.  I just slipped my 450D out of the line of sight and fumbled around trying to fit the 70-200 to make it look like I do this type of thing all the time.  Silly really, because it doesn't matter what camera you have, or lens or the amount of experience, if you have a good eye and work on composition a good shot is still going to look like a good shot!

Philosophy aside, I captured quite a few images that night and it was a great experience to work to a scheduled event and document the night.  I met some great vendors there like Lulabelle's House, who had all beautifully designed re-styled furniture, and Curiosity Cured with vintage clothing and handmade jewellery and accessories.  It was a really relaxed atmosphere and everyone had a great night.

A massive thanks again to Jennifer for inviting me to take the pictures, and hopefully it shouldn't be too long before I'm shooting a wedding that she had done the makeup for!

Here's hoping...

Parades & Politics

Ok, so first of all I just called this post 'Parades & Politics' because they are the first two things that come into my head when I thnk of the 12th of July.  I'm probably the least politically minded person around, and any of my friends would agree with that.  I'm not a nihilist or anything, I just don't have any stong views either way.

Being off work today I thought I'd get out and take a few pictures of the parade through Belfast over along High Street.  I haven't taken that many shots recently, so I though this was a great opportunity to capture some more candid pictures and work on some post processing.  After shooting the wedding with Billy in May, he gave me some great advice on using Lightroom and giving the images a slightly more processed look without being too over the top.  On top of that I've started to catologue my images on Lightroom, because before that I had one folder with over 5000 pictuers in it and it was just a nightmare to find specific shoots.

Anyway, it was a great day today with no rain and a good bit of sun for the whole time I was shooting.  The last parade I shot was on St Patricks Day which was more 'floats' and dancers, also it's been more than ten years since I've been to a 12th parade so it was good fun as well.

I think my favourite shot today is the one at the very bottom of the two boys sitting in the door of the van.  It was driving past and had some of the participants of the parade who for whatever reason couldn't take part in the walk.  For me, the two kids look like they're having a serious conversation as any adults would.  Even the way they're sitting and looking at each other there is something more 'grown up' about the image.