The Roving Photographer

Please cover your ears while I let out a huge, anxious wail.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...rgh.

It was another twelve-hour workday, but being day one of the conference and my first day as the not-so-official photographer, I found it incredibly stressful. Boy had lent me his 50mm lens to use with my work's Canon Rebel--whom I named, quite originally, "Rebel"--but our plans for him to give me a crash course in photography never ended up materializing as I was much too tired to learn or absorb anything last night or in the wee hours of this morning. So he gave me a few fast rules regarding shutter speed and aperture (which quickly went out the window) and I was flung into the thick of a crowded conference, not knowing how possible it would be to take a well-lit or focussed picture.

"Quietly panic-stricken" would be a good way to describe me.

I tried my best to get shots of people listening to the presenters, though I feared distracting anyone in the huge ballroom with Rebel's clicks or my presence; I tried getting people at registration and then viewing our posters; I tried to capture mingling and speakers in the middle of their talks; I tried to get a family photo of a pediatric patient with his brother and parents. Oh, I tried a great many things, and the whole time I was thinking, "But this isn't good enough!"

I went into every plenary, concurrent session, and breakout group. I was there for coffee breaks and networking. I bumped into the same friendly faces throughout the day, and in my drawkwaness I found that I had already run out of things to say after the first time, so any follow-up sightings would consist of me worrying aloud about whether the photos would turn out or not.

In other words, I was a total whiny and unconfident mess. I hope I didn't annoy too many people.

Today ended with a wine and cheese event, which I also tried to shoot, but by the midway mark I was so exhausted that I just ate and shut myself off. Normally a bunch of us go out for dinner and drinks after but I knew I would be going straight to my room afterwards to shower and sleep. So here I am, post-Jeopardy and ready for bed. At bloody 8:38pm.

At least I'm in a king-sized bed with five pillows!