Sweater Project

That being photography. It got upgraded from hobby to second profession last Friday when a friend of mine gave me a semi-panicked call at work. She’s the personal assistant to a local businessman who was planning the surprise birthday party for his wife. They’re a very organized and stylish couple and the birthday was being held at a local fine restaurant. The guests had been invited, the place had been booked, menu arranged, everything was in place.

Until the photographer who’d been booked flaked. My friend called me up to ask if I could find a stand-in on short notice. I e-mailed one of my co-workers who does professional engagements, but by the close of business I hadn’t gotten a reply from him, so I said I’d step up and do the job.

To make a long evening short, the shoot went well. The party-goers were a fun bunch and the staff of the restaurant were more than accommodating. They even let me sample a chocolate truffle left over after plating the desserts. I ate half of it and blurted out “Oh my fucking god” before I thought. Luckily, the hostess nodded vigorously and said “Yeah, like that.”

Dessert plates:

The clients were very happy with the photos and I handed out a couple of cards at the event.

I wasn’t actually all that satisfied with the shots I took. I need to learn how to use my speedlight better in close-packed interiors. There were too many pictures that had noticeable glare from the flash, or where the foreground subjects were over-illuminated and the background subjects were too dark. But at least I learned what the problems in the photos were, so I can start learning to correct them.

So it was a fun, educational, and profitable evening. I’m very stoked.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.