Lifesearch raises money for Brathay charity

2011-10-04T03:37:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, 29th of September, it was Lifesearch's ever popular Charity Night at the Vineyard in Highbury and Islington, London.
I have photographed many of Lifesearch's events over the years and always start the night full of anticipation.

I arrived well in time for the event to start. This puts me and the client at ease and gives me enough time to take in my surroundings, look at the running order of the evening, the location of various aspects of the event, acquaint myself with the people I need to focus on and find a safe place to put my camera bag.
Once all this is analysed and assessed, I can relax a little before the guests arrive.

As it was a scarily warm evening, my camera settings for outside/daylight and inside/artificial light had to constantly be adapted.
Should I use flash, no flash, up the ISO setting, the aperture, the speed. How do the pictures look ? Did I miss a 'moment' ?
A host of technical aspects go before taking any shots. Shooting digital of course has its advantage, as I can test my settings before actually forgetting about them to observe, aim and shoot !

At first people are apprehensive, they sometimes pose stiffly or plainly flee when they see me coming. However, after a few drinks, some successful bets on 'The Races', a rowdy auctioning off of fictional horses, people forget about me entirely and I get swallowed up in the crowd.

My style has always been to capture unforced, natural moments and document the night as if I was invisible. At those times I truly enjoy my job, and after dealing with all the technicalities, catching THE moments can give me a real buzz.
Being "The Photographer" creates a certain distance between the crowd and me, a distance that, through empirical observation, gets shorter as the night grows longer.
I recognise when it's time to go, when guests grab my camera and start taking MY picture :-0

Here are the best bits !

Looking hard to find beauty

Lifesearch raises money for Brathay charity