Celebrate the Women in your Life....

Yesterday I was lucky enough to shoot the AWHL (Assaulted Women’s Helpline) annual Celebrate the Women in your life fundraiser.   I normally just Web-Admin for them but they asked me to take photos after seeing some of my portfolio.   It was a great experience!! I went in trying to figure out what equipment I may need to successfully shoot the event.  I went in with all my equipment plus a couple of borrowed pieces, and a full stock of recharged batteries for flashes and my

camera. In the end I used the following: 5dmk2 body, 2x580ex2 flashes, 20+ GB memory, Canon 70-200L IS F2.8, 24-105L IS and several batteries.   Notice I left out my usual prime 50mm.  that’s mainly because there was another photog doing portrait type shots so I felt I could get away with the more versatile 24-105.  Not the most ideal lens would be the 24-70 but I don’t own one of those given what type of work I usually do. 

The day was long as I was helping out with the setup of the event beginning at 10am! By the end, 12:30am the next day, I was sore and could really use a relaxing pub with a pint.    The photography part was particularly tiring since I was holding almost 5+ lbs of equipment most of the night (the body + 70-200 combination).  I didn’t mind since I was in the moment but afterwards…wow what a relief to pack that away.  Overall the images came out amazing.  I have yet to go through all of them and process but I have a great feeling I have a lot of wonderful shots.  The processing will hopefully be done by the end of this coming week so I’ll post an update ASAP. 

My only regret would be not getting a photo with the host of the evening, CP24’s Melissa Grelo.  She did a wonderful job and I’m sure she had a very long day as well since I was watching her while getting ready to head downtown at 7am. 

Lesson learned:  Try to avoid having paper cuts while shooting all night.  The next day my hands were mighty swollen.   

All in all, a wonderful night!  Thousands were raised for the helpline and everyone had a wonderful time!