Ok. My first event was a bit rough, but not horrible! I was nervous, a hair stressed, but thankfully it was a church event and one of my sisters was there for moral support! For my final in my Commercial Photography class I had to photograph an event. The event I had planned to do fell through so after talking with my instructor, I contacted my pastor about photographing the church Christmas party at a local event center. My pastor agreed, my instructor helped me figure out the shot list (a list of required items and moments to photograph), and I was ready…or at least I thought I was!
The day of the event came, I got to the event location early to figure out my camera settings, walked in and quickly realized that it was going to be an adventure! A few of the requirements for this final were that I needed detail shots which included pictures of the decorations and sign that said what the event was…and those did not exist. There were no Christmas decorations anywhere in the event room!
Long story short, there was a bit of a mis-communication between the pastor and the event center, they each thought the other was decorating the place. So we problem solved, found a mini Christmas tree with lights (some would call it a shrub) and the event center had touches of red on the dining tables, and then we just made it work!
Honestly, it was a good first experience! They played a game where three teams worked to decorate someone using Christmas decorations, which was a bit ironic considering everything! Also, most people came in Christmas colors, so everything worked together to make it look like a Christmas party!
The last piece that makes me laugh now was the portraits that I did for people at this event as part of my final. The plan was to have people pose next to a Christmas tree. So that tiny little bush covered in Christmas lights was put on a table and I had to have people stand in front of it or beside it all the while avoiding full body shots!
In the end, you can be prepared and get your camera settings perfect, but there will always be something unexpected that you can’t control. You have to adapt and be flexible, focus on what you can do and work with instead of stressing out about things you have no control over.