Preparing for an event

In preparations for a recent event that I was shooting, I realised that I use a very simple approach. I ask the same question over and over, "What if ...".

Here are some examples of the question, and how I answered it for this particular event.

What if my camera fails?

For this particular event, a friend was loaning me his 5D Mark II for some video work. I would have to compromise on the video footage, but I'd still be able to shoot.

What if I run out of batteries?

For my camera, I have two batteries. I made sure to charge both of them prior to the event, and tested them in the camera to ensure charge.

For my flash(es), I brought several sets of AA batteries, also recharged.

What if my battery backups fail?

For this scenario, I also packed both the camera battery charger and a fast charger for my AA batteries. I hope never to have to use this option, but it can be helpful if something goes less than perfect.

What if the lighting is bad?

Step one to this was to pack my 430EX and a few light modifiers. At an event, the lighting is never great for wandering around in a crowd. This setup allows for on-camera flash, and worked a treat.

Step two was to consider the speeches. Sometimes stage lighting is enough. I've spent enough time in venues not to trust this, so I packed another speedlight, two PocketWizards, a light stand and a Super Clamp. This allows me to add light to almost anything.

It saved me for this event, as the stage was poorly lit. I was able to place a flash in the balcony above the stage that spilled over onto the area where people were speaking. The PocketWizards allowed me to shoot from anywhere in the room, and to optionally add some additional light to the stage. I used camera modes to jump between white balance and other camera settings for different looks. This allowed me to easily swap between stage and crowd shots.

What if a memory card fails?

This one always worries me. I make sure to take multiple memory cards to an event, and rotate them so that the photos are shared between them. That way, if one does fail, I only lose some of the photos. Filling up one card and then having it fail with two other good cards in the bag would make me cry.

The other thing I do is to backup the images to my computer as soon as I return home. They are then backed up to a secondary storage device (an external USB hard drive) before I format the cards. I aim to have duplicate copies of the images where ever possible.

What if I miss the speeches?

Timing is critical at an event, and for this I couldn't plan too much in advance. I only found out that I was shooting the night before. I arranged to get access to the venue in advance, turned up early to ensure parking, and then tracked down the event co-ordinator.

She provided me with access to the balcony, as well as walking me through a running sheet of what was planned for when. As with most events, this didn't quite go to plan for timing, but it did go to order. This let me ensure I was at the right place at the right time.

After the event

All that is left now is to process the images. This particular event went well and resulted in some great shots. Once I've worked through the pictures, I'll post up some details on how some of them were captured.