CLIENT SHOOTS: Mayor's Charity Golf Tournament

About a week ago I had the opportunity to shoot for the local Mayor's Charity Golf Tournament up at the Nottawasaga Inn Resort Golf Club in Alliston, Ontario. It was very last minute and I wasn't sure if it was something I'd be able to do, with what was going on in my family life at the time. But in the end I did take on the job as it would be a good experience for me and when I told my Uncle Pete about it when I was visiting him in the hospital, I think he agreed. :)

So I ventured into the unknown, having never shot an event such as this before. Most of the events I've shot have been family type events and people aren't on the move as they are in a golf tournament.

Mayor of New Tecumseth & Staff

My task.... drive around in a golf cart and get group shots of each foursome, as well as a few candid shots and have the group shots printed (approx 144 prints) in time for dinner. Time would be tight, but I always like a good challenge. Had there been a bit more notice, I would have been able to arrange for an assistant to accompany me to help take shots. But that would have been the ideal situationand not nearly as 'interesting' ;)

I ended up 'losing' a few of the groups and spent a bit of time trying to find them on the course. That ate up valuable time.

Not Quite Lined Up

I kept my client informed as to my progress and that it would be tight to meet the deadline. Once I had all of the shots I headed to the Inn to prepare the shots for printing and provide my client with some digital files for the slide show during dinner. Then off to the local Staples to get the prints done. It should have been quite simple, as I had contacted the Staples twice to ensure they would be able to accommodate my requirement and was told it would not be a problem to have my prints in an hour.

So.....2 hours later.....after they had problems with one of their computers and then took forever to cut the photos, I finally got the prints in my hand. Of course, I was freaking out in my head as I stood in the Staples for the entire 2 hours, praying things would speed up. I was also reminding myself how I hate it when items such as this are out of my control and thought that I should have done the printing myself. But realistically, in the timeline initially specified, it would have been impossible to print that many prints on my printer in time. And even though the quality of the print would have been much better, the cost would have been significantly higher.

When I returned to the Inn, my clients were very understanding, as apparently it was quite a challenge for them last year too, and they had decided to use the group photos as Thank You cards and would mail them to each participant instead of hand them out at the dinner. Thank God! I felt extremely bad as I hate being late.

All of The Golf Carts Line Up Was A Pretty Spectacular Sight

It was, however, a totally fun time, despite the horrible mid-day lighting, the frantic driving around the golf course, the even more frantic getting prints done and being totally exhausted at the end. The amount I learned was enormous, and if I am able to secure the job for next year, I now have the knowledge to suggest and quote on various options for shooting, printing and photo usage that I would not be able to had I not lived this experience.

I was definitely in my happy place :)

Thanks for reading!

-- Lisa P.