One day my dear friend Isabelle got an e-mail from "Ozzy Man Reviews" crew. They were interested if she can take photos for one fundraiser event for a recent bushfire tragedy that struck Australia on a massive scale. I showed interest that I would like to be the second shooter and help her by assisting with the event.
You know that things are serious when you have the whole crew.
WHO IS OZZY MAN?
"Ozzy Man Reviews" is a Youtube comedy channel that gives commentary to some of the trending Youtube videos. I like how he hides some social comments in some of his videos - it´s a smart way and I really dig it. We can safely say that Ozzy Man is an influencer with 8.9 followers on Facebook, 3.7 million on Youtube and 1.4 million on Instagram. In his commentary, he uses lots of Ozzy slang and cursing. He is relatable for Australian people and fun to watch as foreign people too.
I truly have to mention that Ozzy Man (Ethan Marrell) is one of the kindest celebrities - taking time to interact with fans and guests. Meeting him behind the stage, seeing on the stage and interacting with many quests, I can fairly say he keeps it real. That is one thing I value in people highly and it made work so much more pleasurable. And all the profits from the show will go to one family who has lost their home in bushfires. I was glad that I was included in this fundraising event.
EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY
Event photography is all about timing and thinking on your feet. No retakes and gotta have a hunch what might happen next, of course you gotta know your camera so you can adjust your settings quickly when needed. It was a pretty cool feeling when my press photography experience kicked in and I started going around - hunting the best angle, beautiful light solutions and genuine expressions from people.
As always, here are few notes from the shoot:
Good about this session
interacting with guests
moved around
use of existing light while shooting
Not so good about this session
not many wide-angle shots
only two-three angles of the performer on stage
For the next session
speedlight flash with me
communicate video crew so I can take more angles without interfering their job
more wide-angle shots
CONCLUSION
Really glad that I have obtained my previous skillset from press-photography and using it now as a second nature. It was good to meet all these people. I really enjoyed talking with Ozzy Man's mom. She was taking care of everybody and supporting her son since he started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 17.
I always looked at ways how I could help to deal with bushfires. I even thought about volunteering as a firefighter but my current visa has limitations here and it takes about quite a few months of training. That was my little part - capturing other people's joy, little bit meet and greet and show through photos of a good cause.
I truly love my job.
