Saturday, June 8, 2013

Bringing back the eighties

 

During Brown's commencement weekend in May, I had the privilege of photographing  class of 1988's Funk Night 25th year reunion event! It was my first ever official photography job and the experience was nothing short of both exhausting and exhilarating.

To start with, it was my first time really using my off-camera flashgun. I had played with it a bit when I first got it, but seeing it truly in action was absolutely wonderful. I don't think I'll ever be able to use the flash on my Canon body ever again.


The co-chairs of the class board, who had hired me for the event, were kind and a lot of fun to be around. It was especially helpful to be working for such low-pressure clients on my first gig. I learned pretty quickly that there was nothing scary about approaching big groups of people and asking for a photograph--they absolutely loved it and were welcome to the idea of more pictures of themselves.

What made the experience even more amazing was that there was actually a real, professional photographer there on behalf of the Brown Alumni Magazine. We got to chatting as we passed each other from time to time during the event and I got a lot of good tips from him--most importantly, I learned that I still have a lot to learn. He was very approachable and we were even able to commiserate together on the soreness of our hands near the end of the night.

Finally, the event itself was simply a lot of fun. I had echoes of great eighties hits stuck in my head for the next week afterwards. As a college student and self-officiated "not-yet-a-real-person," it was amazing to see all these people who had already made it in the real world let loose, make continuous trips to the open bar, and really tear it up on the dance floor.

The outdoor tent for the initial reception was so beautiful, especially with the lamps, but unfortunately May 25 was also the coldest night in May--it hovered somewhere between 40 and 50 degrees all evening!

My beautiful, amazing flashgun capturing beautiful, amazing alumni.










There was a cha cha line, of course.

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