Hello !
Last night was Assunta's Prom Night. And what a night it was, what a Prom! In the last 2 years, I've been to 3 proms, and this was the best yet. The atmosphere was great, all the guests were bonding like they've known each other for a long time although the true fact is they don't, the organizers were having fun, what more could I have asked for? A wider lens - though that was impossible to get at the last minute !
I arrived at the hotel at 5pm, and head to the ballroom straightaway with my camera bag, tripod, and the most important thing I had with me - a water bottle! I knew I didn't have a lot of time to play with the settings, before the guests arrived. So I took out my camera and start shooting. Funny thing, ISO was bumped up to 3200 for the first shot and several ones later. They were testing the lights (which you will find very cool - I did too!) I setup my tripod too, but I found out minutes later that the room was too small, and with all the different lights flashing, it wasn't ideal to shoot long exposures. But I did try some and they came out pretty good, so I'll post the pictures later!
At about 6pm, some guests arrived, or rather, some committee members. Needless to say, the girls wore very pretty (and EXPENSIVE) dresses, while the guys were looking good in their tuxes. I on the other hand, wore a shirt and a tie. Yeah, I don't own a tux. But, who cares! That was one way to differentiate me and the guests really, at least for the organizers!
I took some photos of the guests who arrived early, and I must say, a lot of them were some of the nicest people (of my age) I've ever met! I met this college guy who brought his girl for the prom, and he was very nice! We talked a bit about college courses, and he was helpful and encouraged me to take green technology. His girl was very nice too, and they're a great couple, totally a good match!
At around 8pm, the doors were open and the guests went in! A few other photographers and I stood in front of the doors and took some shots of the guests in their classy clothes! OH, remember when I said the guests were some of the nicest people I've ever met? That includes one of the photographers who were there too, I manage to talk to him, and we shared our views on photography a little bit, and worked together throughout the night. Later on, the guests took their seats, and the night truly begins! Didn't really concentrate during the speech, have never been a fan of those. The performances were good, the dance performance was nothing normal, pretty spectacular, definitely not a cliche'.
Throughout the night, the guests were served with some great food (which I got a taste of, thankfully!). There was also games. One of them was something like opening a milk box without using straws, and drink it. Unfortunately, one of the guests spilled his/her milk box and the milk went flying across the tables and onto my camera + lens + flash. Thankfully, the D700 stood out like a champ, it still worked perfectly (though now it has that strawberry smell!), so did the SB-600. The lens however, which was attached, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 was okay. BUT, about half an hour later, onto the last shot I took with it, it had some troubles focusing, even in brightly lit situations. I have not had another chance to test that out, will do so soon.
To sum up the prom in one sentence, I would say, it was the best prom I've ever been to so far, and the only time I truly enjoyed taking photos of an event and knowing that it was for free, I had absolute no regrets doing so, and it was a night to remember!
So, I made new friends, found out what its like to shoot an event with a manual-focus lens, enhance my creativity and experience in event photography, and enjoyed what was truly a memorable event. The only downfall was I didn't get the names of the new people I met! But, with the growth rate of social networking, I'll find them somewhere soon.
Look out for my next post, as the Prom photos will be up! I will try my best, but it should be up on the blog by the weekend :)
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