a number of people have asked me to see the photos i took while shooting at the national youth worker’s convention in nashville. i’ll only post a few of my favorites below, but if you want to see the majority of them you can visit my flickr account at <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/stilllife-photo/sets/72157610295422674/”<Flickr set></a>
another great night of worship, and of photography! I found myself getting to meet a lot of great people and got some more awesome shots. as i sit at the hotel room desk typing away this morning with my cup of milk and a couple donuts, i’m about to start processing the 1,300 images i shot yesterday.
throughout the day there was an older fellow in front of me with his camera. he was clicking away, especially when the bands were on stage. not a lot to do with the speakers or guest artists (drama, comedy)…pretty much just the bands. matt wertz (
“Everything in Between” (Matt Wertz)and his band came on stage for a mini-concert at the end of last night’s session and the man with the camera went back to the shutter button clicking away. I noticed his professionalism and his unique perspective that most “amateurs” don’t have. as the band played on we found ourselves crossing paths time and time again. we finally stopped for long enough to introduce ourselves. i shared that my name is rob and that i was shooting for youth specialties. he shared that he was there shooting up-and-coming bands, and that he shoots for cnn.
my first thought was, what the heck is cnn doing at a youth workers convention, especially photographing bands?!? that thought passed quickly, and i realized this was another opportunity to share my gifts with someone who understands the profession and to network. the man had only one camera, and a small lens on that camera. not that the wide-angle lens was bad, but it is a limiting factor. he couldn’t get the same shots i could, and he certainly wasn’t moving around like i did. i gave him my card and told him to check out some of the photos online.
i don’t know what will come of it, but it was another opportunity to network. who knows, maybe some of my work from this week will make it out nationally in a manner other than in a youth specialties publication. guess we’ll wait and see.
this is the fourth consecutive national youth worker’s convention i’ve been to. each has been unique and cool in it’s own way, this one not being any exception. ive been brought on with youth specialties to do some publicity photography for them in nashville this week. with the “all-access” pass i’ve been given i spend a good amount of time backstage during the general sessions and have had a unique opportunity to meet with a number of influential people including, in the last two days:
francis chan
david crowder
the guys from mercy me
joe castillo, the sand artist
amena brown
tony campolo
lincoln brewster
marquis laughlin
it’s helped me realize they’re just normal people, to remember they aren’t that different from anyone else. i overheard some comments while backstage that made them “real” people again. it’s been a great couple days, and we’ve still got 2.5 days left!
had an awesome day yesterday. started shooting during around 1pm and finished around 10:30pm. i took over 850 photos yesterday and have it wittled down slightly to about 575. a lot of great shots during the busy day. i didn’t get in to the room until late last night so i didn’t get anything posted. i’ll process some more today and hope to get some up later.
i started shooting earlier today and have another 300 or so to go through. i promise i’ll get some up soon. keep checking back.
it’s the day before the BIG stuff begins here at the conference, so there wasn’t a ton to shoot or too many people. meeting with the vp of marketing of ys yesterday helped clarify a few things for me. he said they had about 5,000 people registered for the event. the first general session is today too, so there should be a lot more photos to post. here’s some basics from yesterday including a few detail pictures, the johnny parks band from belfast, ireland and the robbie seay band.
i’m in nashville getting ready for the national youth worker’s convention. it always a highlight of the year, but this year is different. i submitted a proposal to youth specialties, the company that puts this thing on, about bringing me on board to be the event photographer. they agreed to the deal and now i’m here.
i’ve brought both of my cameras, my lenses, my strobes…almost everything i have minus my BIG lights…i don’t figure i’ll need those with the lenses, plus david crowder probably doesn’t want huge flashes of light in his eyes during worship. probably would detract from everyone’s worship experience anyway.
so, as i was saying, now i’m here. i’ve got all the equipment with me i need. i’ve been inside the venue and checked with some people about what they want, who i need to see to get permission to get on stage, etc. while i’m excited, i’m also just a touch nervous about providing what they want. it’s a pretty bid deal here. while i don’t expect this to lead to anything, it certainly could. photographing a MAJOR event like this, with over 3,000 people in attendance, for the company i’m contracted with, and the artists, individuals i’ll be shooting….you never know where it could lead.
i guess i’ll learn to sit back and leave that in god’s hands. i’ll do what i’ve trained to do for at least 8 years of my life and pray for the best. it’s a neat opportunity anyway. i need to make sure i can publish photos to my blog, but if i can i certainly intend to. check back here for a few select photos each day. hopefully i’ll have time to get to them. until the next time, wish me well. 
