Political plunder
Hi All…
Things have been fairly busy in this neck of the woods. In case you have been hiding under a rock or were lucky enough to be in a completely different part of the country, we have had a by-election.
Justine Keay shot for The Australian. Canon 5D mk4 Sigma Art 24mm iso 100 1/400 f4
Brett Whiteley shot for The Australian. Canon 5D mk4 Canon 100mm f2.8 macro iso 100 1/200 f4
And Braddon being a marginal electorate saw lots of “action” from the political heavy hitters…the Prime Minister and would-be Prime Minister became regular visitors.
Brett Whiteley and Tony Abbott shot for The Mercury. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 24-70mm f2.8 zoom @ 24mm iso 400 1/40 f4.5
At one point in the campaign, I had three different news organisations chasing my services. Everything happens at the drop of a hat. There is usually very little advance warning (they say for security reasons, but I reckon they just love jerking the media around…lol).
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull shot for The Mercury. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 70-200mm f2.8 zoom @ 150mm iso 800 1/80 f5.6
Opposition leader Bill Shorten and Justine Keay shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 24-70mm f2.8 zoom @ 31mm iso 800 1/100 f5
For those of you who haven’t witnessed one of these “events” first hand, it is quite something to behold…and it becomes fairly obvious where the term “media circus”, comes from. These things can get pretty feral. Everyone is after “the shot” (or piece of footage in the case of TV) and what usually happens is that the bulk of the shots or vision are spoiled by other journalists, cameramen, sound recordists or government minders…it’s crazy.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 70-200mm zoom @ 175mm iso 800 1/125 f2.8
As an example, at the election night function for the winning Labor candidate Justine Keay, I counted at least 5 stills photographers and 6 TV cameramen (not to mention all the journos trying to capture the same on their phones).
Justine Keay shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 14mm f2.8 iso 1600 1/125 f3.2
Election night shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 14mm f2.8 iso 1600 1/60 f3.2
I think there is a special skill to negotiating these events…it’s almost a genre of its own…and there are some very talented shooters that spend most of their time in this field.
Election night shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 24-70mm f2.8 zoom @ 55mm iso 1600 1/80 f3.5
I don’t put myself in this category…but I do alright…I’ve learnt to hold my own.
Justine Keay shot for AAP. Canon 5Dmk4 Canon 14mm f2.8 iso 1600 1/125 f3.2
Until next time....