I was asked to photograph a small business forum. Pretty simple. Take pictures of the event, people interacting, networking and the guest speakers. I didn't realized when I agreed to do this event that Bobby Bowden would be one of the guest speakers. I'll go through the various setups after the jump.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I originally thought I would keep it simple and only use 1 or 2 lenses. Luckily I brought my whole gear bag. I was caught a little off guard when I was asked to shoot some head shots before the start of the event. I had brought lights & stands, but the area was going to fill up fast and I wouldn't have time to setup, breakdown and load everything back in the car.
I found a clear white wall as a background.
I had this very large window behind me and it worked perfectly as my light source.
I opted to use my 50 mm ƒ/1.8 (nifty fifty). I shot at ISO 400, 1/125 @ ƒ/4.0. I knew I would get some sharp images with this lens at those settings. These are some samples of those head shots.
This area was only for members of the press, VIPs & major sponsors of the event. When Bobby walked in, I very much felt like a member of the paparazzi. The images are nothing to write home about. They are what they are. However I was expected to capture images of VIPs and such interacting with Coach Bowden.
They brought Coach Boweden's book to have autographed. I considered picking one up and getting it signed as well. I always feel a bit weird doing this when I'm actually on a job assignment. I feel it may be a bit unprofessional. It may not be, it's just how I feel.
One of the request for this assignment was to capture images of people networking and to make sure that the images looked like there were a lot of people, which they were. I guess they were a bit concerned that it might be a low turnout. They wanted to use these images to help promote their next networking event and use images that show how successful this event looked.
As you can see this was a catered lunch, followed by guest speakers. Two of the speakers were economists discussing the current financial situation and future outlook.
There was a great video produced to introduce Bobby Bowden, as if he needed any introduction, the guy is a legend. I wanted some really close up images of Coach Bowden, that would capture his facial expressions as he gave an awesome motivational speech. I shot these all with a 70-200 ƒ/2.8.
It's unfortunate that the stage had lighting with gels. I tried to shoot around them when the other speakers walked the stage. Since Coach Bowden spoke at the podium, there was a red gelled light to the right that makes his skin look red on that side of his face. Shooting from the other side was better. I picked out one image and did a black & white conversion and really like the way it came out.
It was an incredible experience not only hearing Coach Bowden speak, but actually meeting the man. It's amazing the kind of doors that will open and access you can get with a camera in your hands. I'm truly grateful.
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