Nottingham Uni Halfway There Party

Posted on: 10 March 2010

Last week I was asked to come to Nottingham and photograph an event. Despite not being payed, I saw it as a good experience to take some photos and improve as a photographer. The event was a success, and despite a few issues I ended up with some good photos of the night.

Here's a photo I like, part of a series of 4 (turns out it's hard to get 13 tipsy people to coordinate together for a group photo). In some ways I was glad I wasn't payed, as it gave me a chance to experiment a bit with my gear and test out a few things, without the worry of ruining photos. I also needed the practise.

I utilised bounce flash for the event, bouncing off the light coloured fabric ceiling. It worked pretty well most of the time, with some pleasing results. I was hoping to use my 35mm prime lens for the event, but in the end I thought the fixed focal length would restrict me too much. I ended up taking most pictures at the wide (18mm) end of my kit lens, so my estimations were about right.

One of the biggest camera issues I faced was focussing. The D40 seems to struggle a little with focusing in low light, especially without the focus-assist light (which is disabled when using a flash). Some of the pictures came out too soft, and this is something I will have to look into for next time.

Overall it was a very positive experience, and a fun evening in general. I hope to do a few more of these sorts of events in the future, as I feel I still have a lot to learn. Oh and thanks to my sister Hannah for getting me the gig :)

If you're on Facebook, the entire album can be viewed here.