[LadyStardust]

Hi all,

A friend of mine from my City & Guilds Photography class has been asked to take the photographs for the Arthritus Research Campaign Noddy Appeal charity walk. This is a sponsored 5km walk in Battersea Park next Sunday 1st July. My friend has asked me to share the job with her (how exciting!). We are both new to photographing public events so I wondered if anyone had any top advice for us?

We are going to sit down and have a chat about our strategy this week. I guess we will be discussing things like which equipment to take, what type of photographs each will be taking (groups, individuals, action, posed, candid) etc.

We both have Canon 350Ds with plenty of CF memory cards. I am wondering if the standard kit lens would be the most flexible to use on the day? And I would think that tripods will be out of the question from a portability point of view.

Anyway, any suggestions would be most welcome!

Thanks (I'm getting slightly nervous now! )

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by LadyStardust

We are both new to photographing public events so I wondered if anyone had any top advice for us?

Don't know about "top advice" but I've done photos for charity walks and fun runs.

Best not to load yourself down too much (no, no tripods!) as you might want to get ahead of a group to turn and get shots (I'm assuming you're walking with them).

I found an angle finder useful for low angle shots (but by no means essential!).

A few shots of pre-start, start and post-start

Think about logos/banners as it's good to get them in as much as possible (so, if t-shirts with small lettering get a couple of close-ups)

Most important: enjoy yourselves! I'm sure you will - good luck!

[stepheno]

I might just check if you are stepping on the official photographers toes. Nobody minds a happy snapper but if two of you turn up with the "gear" it might just turn a few heads. otherwise agree with Mark - no tripod, go light, and the fastest lens you've got.

[cpd23]

I agree with what was stated above. I would also suggest getting shots of the sign up table, and do not forget the organizers pictures as they interact with the group. Most of the time they like to be the center of attention and could lead to more work later.

[LadyStardust]

Thanks very much for your advice and tips here. All good stuff, noted and taken on board for our strategy discussion later this week. I'm not quite sure what other photographers will be there, so yes, that's a good question to ask.

I like your point, Markulous, about enjoying ourselves. You're quite right. It's all too easy to get a bit overstressed and take it too seriously. If the weather is reasonable I'm sure it will be a great day. (Even if it's raining you can have fun in the mud! )

And... I can certainly do with the exercise so it won't do me any harm!

Thanks a lot.

[Dabhand16]

Two things occur to me - never having done this myself - you could overlap each other, that is one gets a position and taske some shots while the other one gets ahead of the group. After the first photographer completes the shoot from position 1 you then get ahead of position 2, then the person at P2 will jump ahead of P3 etc. You will need to know the route and see if this is viable. The other strategy is stick together, one has a long lens and the other a wide angle. Then you can get a variety of shots fromt the same positions.

Try to get a range of shots from the front, middle and back of the field and the support groups etc.

Don't forget some plastic bags for weatherproofing and good luck.

[LadyStardust]

Ooh I like those ideas, Graham. In fact, the mix of lenses makes total sense. I was wondering how we were going to get a mix of shots.

I agree with the plastic bags for weatherproofing. Certainly if this weekend has been anything to go by we'll need them.

Thanks!

[LadyStardust]

Hi all. I just wanted to let you know that the Charity Walk shoot went very well and was a great experience. It was a bit hairy at the beginning as it started to rain quite heavily just as Noddy, Big Ears and Tessie Bear made their grand entrance but it soon dried up and the sun came out. Our shower cap covers helped keep the cameras dry during that little episode.

The kids were fantastic and all wanted their photos taken! The parents were almost more of a problem as they kept thrusting little Jessie or wee Jim at our cameras and smiling inanely. We got it under control though.

An announcement was made on the tannoy at the start of the walk pointing out exactly who the "official" photographers were (me and my friend!- exciting moment) and parents were asked to notify us if they didn't want their children's pictures used for the charity's promotional purposes. No-one did this so we had free reign, which helped a lot.

9 of the key group and sponsor pictures were sent to the charity by email initially for the local papers and the other 230 were sent to them on CD later that week.

Thanks for all your advice though, I feel as if I've learnt a lot from this experience.

[Angela]

Congratulations! Really pleased it went so well for you. Are you allowed to share any of the photos with us?

[Dabhand16]

Good to hear the news that it all went well. The experience will ensure the next one goes better.

[LadyStardust]

Originally Posted by Angela

Congratulations! Really pleased it went so well for you. Are you allowed to share any of the photos with us?

Hi Angela. We can't share any pictures quite yet. I believe some of them will be appearing on a Noddy Walk/Arthritus charity website at some stage. I will drop a link here on this thread when that happens.