First official event as a photographer

[MissionMan]

Alright, so I did my first official event which was a charity event for Cancer called Across the Bay for Cancer. The guys kitesurfed across from Rosebud to Port Melbourne and raised about $20k for the cancer council. It was obviously not a paid event but I did get a rashie and a yellow wrist band if that counts


I did the previous year but it was more of an informal capacity because I live across the road from the beach and I came down to take some pictures at the request of one of the organisers. This year, I was asked to do the entire event from start to finish so I drove up to Rosebud for the start and then drove back for the finish.


I have to say, as a first timer on an event, I suddenly started to realise what photographers talk about when it comes to the public and being in the way. For a lot of the organised photos (i.e. I had got the group together for a photo), friends and family rushed to position themselves in the middle while I was organising things and I suddenly found myself in a position where I battled to get a decent photo and I had to get people to move aside so I could actually get the photo without 10 family members pointing cameras in front of me or in view. I have a new found respect for any event photographers like wedding photographers, because I can now understand how difficult and annoying it can be.


All in all, I took about 800 photos for the event and was left with about 450 that I published. Post processing was done at speed so I didn’t spend that much time on each photo. (the event happened Saturday)

The full event photos are here, but here are a couple of the shots from the event:

http://atholhill.smugmug.com/Sports/...r-Cancer-2014/

[CandidTown]

Some great shots in there MissionMan.
Enjoyed looking at them. Looks like they had a great day. And you captured it well.

Hope you enjoyed the experience as well.

[MissionMan]

Thanks. I have to say that being unpaid has some perks to it. I.e. If you want to relax, talk to people for a while, etc you're not permanently on the job so you can appreciate the event a little more without feeling pressured to always get the shot.

[Warbler]

"Copyright 2012 Athol Hill, All rights reserved" Time to update your copyright. Nice images by the way. They'll be happy with those. They'll always expect them for free though.

[MissionMan]

"Copyright 2012 Athol Hill, All rights reserved" Time to update your copyright. Nice images by the way. They'll be happy with those. They'll always expect them for free though.

Thanks. Just changed in Lightroom. I'm not too worried about the expecting them for free. It's for a good cause, raises funds and it helps promote kitesurfing so the outcomes are all honourable. The one thing I did realise is that if I was planning to move to professional photography, these kinds of events could actually give you exposure to a fairly wide audience.

[CandidTown]

You're a good photographer. People should be happy to pay for your work.
Charity/free work is good, tho, because you can get valuable experience with little stress and pressure.
But even when you shoot for charity, you should try to get a mention on their website, a link back to your page and a big 'thank you' because you just donated about $500 worth of work to their cause.
This will help you get paying clients if you do decide to pursue photography more seriously.

[Fedgrub]

Nice work on these! Surf photos aren't easy and props for doing it for a good cause!