Still very much in the early stages of setting up my business, I was offered the chance to take some photographs at a wedding. Without the responsibility of being the main photographer and having a Bride and Groom that were patient and not at all demanding, it should have been relatively stress free. But let's not forget that we create our own stress ;-)
I'd had very little notice of the event so no time to practice, but plenty to get my gear sorted. I'd loaded, recharged, formatted, packed and done pretty much everything I could do the night before. Things seemed to be going well on the day apart from my flashgun playing up. I knew the batteries had plenty of juice, I had put new ones in the night before, but I hadn't tested it :-(
After about an hour (and thankfully the ceremony), a loud popping sound made the guests turn to face me and signalled the end of my flashgun. Luckily whatever had decided to explode did so within the flash and there were no injuries. Having been forced to think and act fast I've learned so much from the experience and am very grateful. When I left my head was swimming with ideas of what I would do differently (or better) next time.
I had intended to upgrade my flash so while this wasn't the end of the world the timing wasn't great. I would have also liked it to remain as a back-up (although now it has been exposed as an unreliable one!). With the delivery of a new flash and lens this week, not only was I back in the world of lighting, I was now entering the magical world of Macro.
I had decided to purchase a 100mm Macro lens for portraiture and product shots. It also coincided with my evening class looking at macro photography so I was really excited. I mounted the lens on my 400D, formatted a card and charged my spare battery. Though I'm now using a Canon 5D mkII, I prefer to learn with 400D because it's familiar and has been good to me. I also don't want to look like I'm being flashy when I role up to class.
The camera and lens were a bit of a snug fit in my smaller bag and, not wanting to damage my new piece of equipment, I made a last second decision to put it in my larger bag and left the house. That is to say my larger bag that didn't contain a formatted memory card and a charged battery. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I screamed in my head as not to disturb the other students photographing interesting flowers, delicate pieces of jewellery and electronic boards.
Some of the other guys in the class were kind enough to let me take some photos with their cameras and stay involved in the class. I have definitely learned some important lessons in the last couple of weeks and the plans for my business are getting stronger. I'm taking more time to practice my skills and preparing for the unexpected. In recognition of my frustrations my first macro shot is the green skinned symbol of rage that is the Hulk.
Expect more Macro pics to follow :-)
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