# The Job from HELL



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

So I have a friend approach me to photograph his daughter's graduation reception. Normally I am just a portrait photog, but what the hell I'll try event photography. We discuss the when and where and of course the $$ (I gave him a friend discount). The reception was to be held outside.....in my mind I'm thinking Hell yeah!! He wanted candid type photographs (his words:"just walk around taking pics of everybody") and he wanted just a couple of portraits.....again I'm thinking Hell yeah!! 

My plan: Take 1 off cam flash. capture some photos and do some really nice portraits. I would have loved to have taken my laptop and other lighting, but no electric. oh well, at least i have the good ol' sun as my main light  and this 1 flash as my fill.

easy right? wrong!!

here's where it all went to hell:

The reception was being held inside. inside?:stun: what the hell happened to outside? "oh sh#t!!!" i'm thinking to myself. if i had known this i would have brought more stuff to do a better job.
to make matters worse.......the place was lit with fluorescent lights. mixing off cam flash with fluorescent lights!!!!! "F@#K ME!!!" i'm screaming inside my head. wb nightmare

now the job was for 1 hour worth of pic snapping. well people didn't start showing up until my hour was almost up. he was getting upset because this moment was special to him and people weren't there to share in it. had this been any other client i would have said "time is up. sorry no one showed" but this is a friend so now i extend my time limit. the guests that arrived early were drunk on moonshine by the time the other guests got there. nice! now i have to worry about my stuff gettin f'd up

the whole time i am taking pics and dodging drunks, i am worried about wb and colors in the post work and wondering how well it will all turn out. i am way out of my element on this. i want to do a good job because alot of people took my biz cards. if he tells them "hey this guy does terrible work" then sell the sh#thouse cause i've lost my a$$.

i just got back and took a look at some of the pics and i have alot of post work to do...mostly wb issues :sad anim:

one good thing did come out of it.......a city official was there and wants to use my services for their events. 

lesson learned:
no more photography jobs from friends


----------



## JIP (May 4, 2008)

Well the main lesson you should have learned is that as a profesional photographer you should be prepared for every potential situation.  If you hve an outside shoot planned you should be ready for the skies to open up and make it necesarry for you to move inside.  If you have in inside shoot you should be prepred for the building to burn down and make it necesarry for you to go outside.  One of the things that makes you a "professional" is having a big bag of triks that will make you ready for any possibility.


----------



## JimmyO (May 4, 2008)

Dang!
Did they enjoy the shoots?


----------



## Snyder (May 4, 2008)

why didnt you just custom wb your camera to the availible lighting?


----------



## JIP (May 4, 2008)

Snyder said:


> why didnt you just custom wb your camera to the availible lighting?


Read my post....


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

JIP said:


> Well the main lesson you should have learned is that as a profesional photographer you should be prepared for every potential situation.  If you hve an outside shoot planned you should be ready for the skies to open up and make it necesarry for you to move inside.  If you have in inside shoot you should be prepred for the building to burn down and make it necesarry for you to go outside.  One of the things that makes you a "professional" is having a big bag of triks that will make you ready for any possibility.




as i stated before, i do portrait photography not event photography. in the studio i can control everything. this was my first event shoot and i will be more than prepared the next time.


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

JimmyO said:


> Dang!
> Did they enjoy the shoots?




i think they may have enjoyed the moonshine a bit more tho.....lol :mrgreen:

nah we all had fun and i learned a great deal so it wasn't all bad


----------



## kellylindseyphotography (May 4, 2008)

yup, gonna need to see the pics now...


----------



## Rhys (May 4, 2008)

It wasn't the job from hell. It was the job that may well have opened you up to other photographic opportunities and possibilities.


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

kellylindseyphotography said:


> yup, gonna need to see the pics now...



i don't post client photos on the web without discussing it with them first. if they give the ok then i will post a few.


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

Rhys said:


> It wasn't the job from hell. It was the job that may well have opened you up to other photographic opportunities and possibilities.



i hope so. it could very well put me on the map here 

even though i was less than fully prepared for the event, i enjoyed it. it was full of challenges.


----------



## JIP (May 4, 2008)

That One Guy said:


> as i stated before, i do portrait photography not event photography. in the studio i can control everything. this was my first event shoot and i will be more than prepared the next time.


 
Well hopefully this will be a good learning experience for you.  Go out and buy a big big bag that will hold everything you need plus backps and more for the extenuating circumstances.  But I guess this is only if you plan to do more location work.


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

though it may seem as if i am bitching here, i'm not. i was actually trying to be somewhat humorous. granted this wasn't as easy as my usual studio controlled environment, it was still enjoyable nonetheless. moments of it left me scrambling and feeling like a newbie again. it got my brain clicking. 

yes JIP i wasn't fully prepared. me doing that event would be the same as if i threw a PJ or an event photog into my studio and said "now produce quality portraits in a timely manner and btw you need to learn lighting ratios and styles on the fly while the customer is in front of you and you only have 1 hour". we all have our specialties and portraits is mine. 

i am considering taking on event photography as a service. it is a challenge. it's always changing and so you must change on the fly.


----------



## That One Guy (May 4, 2008)

JIP said:


> Well hopefully this will be a good learning experience for you.  Go out and buy a big big bag that will hold everything you need plus backps and more for the extenuating circumstances.  But I guess this is only if you plan to do more location work.




i'm gonna buy that bag JIP  i am gonna give the event photog service a try. i appreciate your comments and suggestions


----------



## DeadEye (May 4, 2008)

Put a few gel strips  in the bag and save you a ton of work on the WB. I keep em in the bottom of the bag along with a Big Metz 60ct-4 in the truck. Worst case is break out the metz and overpower the weird mixed lighting by 2 stops.


----------



## Christie Photo (May 5, 2008)

That One Guy said:


> ...i am worried about wb and colors in the post work and wondering how well it will all turn out.



I hear black and white is trendy.  lmao:  Sorry...  couldn't resist.)

-Pete


----------



## Margie28 (May 5, 2008)

Hi,

I take photos at events and I can imagine all that you've been through.

It is always a challenge and each event is different, that's why prepairing and taking all the needed equipment with you, is so important.

You got a wonderful chance to provide event services.

I always have to do lot of editing, specially if there was hardly lightsource during the event, but each event was an awesome learning experience. 

Margie


----------



## That One Guy (May 5, 2008)

DeadEye said:


> Put a few gel strips  in the bag and save you a ton of work on the WB. I keep em in the bottom of the bag along with a Big Metz 60ct-4 in the truck. Worst case is break out the metz and overpower the weird mixed lighting by 2 stops.



hmmm good idea.....thanks


----------



## That One Guy (May 5, 2008)

Christie Photo said:


> I hear black and white is trendy.  lmao:  Sorry...  couldn't resist.)
> 
> -Pete




ha ha


----------



## That One Guy (May 5, 2008)

Margie28 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I take photos at events and I can imagine all that you've been through.
> 
> ...



thanks


----------



## hedonia (May 5, 2008)

In future, there are two easy easy things you can do to make your pp much easier. First, use gels (as suggested by someone else). You can even get away with just packing two: green to match florescent and orange to match tungsten. Make your life a lot easier. Second, did you shoot RAW? When you have conflicting light temps, its still a huge pain to correct WB, but with RAW you can change it a lot easier. I always shoot RAW + JPEG when I do events, so that I can save time if the JPEG is right on, and have the RAW in case any major tweaking is necessary. 

For this particular event, since you gave out business cards for people to view the photos, be sure to post your very best work. If you took 100 pictures, and 50 are meh but acceptable, and 15 are amazing, I would say just post the amazing 15. Displaying work to strangers unfortunately seems to have the bad apple effect: one meh shot in a sea of great ones brings the final impression down. 

If you end up having major problems with the post, I'd say post a few shots in the PP forum. You'd be surprised how much things can be improved. And, like Christie said, there's always Black and White! =)


----------



## Village Idiot (May 6, 2008)

Or you could just overpower the ambient.


----------

