Last week-end (April 5 & 6) I had the pleasure of photographing 89 performing groups in the Southeast Color Guard Circuit championships at Vanderbilt University. These groups included winter guard and indoor percussion performances with ages ranging from middle school thru college. Each performance was between 4 and 8 minutes. Needless to say that after 5.5 hours of continuous shooting on Friday evening and nearly 13 hours on Saturday I was pretty wiped out. Here are a few of my "essentials" that will help in marathon shooting sessions.
Good, supportive shoes - standing on gym floors for this length of time is hard on the feet. I wear some lightweight hiking boots, but am thinking about getting some of those clunky, black work type shoes with good support. Water and snacks - staying hydrated is a key to avoiding fatique and some energy bars (clif bars are my favorites) help me avoid the energy valleys. Something to sit on - one of those small folding stools would be great if you can't get somewhere to sit during breaks. Dress in layers - I've had to photograph in high school gyms that were 80+ degrees as well as outdoor soccer games in snow flurries and it is much better to be over prepared! Monopod and battery grip - I can't imagine shooting several hours with a 70-200 lens all hand held, or having to shoot mostly vertical shots with my elbow raised in order to get to the shutter release. ThinkTank belt system - I hardly ever carry a camera around my neck as it puts too much strain on my neck so I'll put my second body with a short lens in a bag on my modular hip belt system. I also carry spare batteries and compact flash cards with me in a bag on the belt as I always seem to need fresh batteries or a new card when I'm farthest from my camera bag. I also tend to take more equipment than I need as you never know when you'll be called upon to take some shots of an important presentation and need your flash or could get some cool "portfolio" shots if you have a super-wide angle at your disposal.
This is meant to be an exhaustive check list, but just some of the things I find important when doing a long photo shoot. Hope it helps!
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