Laugh or Cry - the show must go on

[Geoff F]

Every year I take hundreds of shots of the local regatta, which I help to organise, but realised that I rarely photograph any of the people who run the events. So I have decided to try to remedy this shortage.

The Greasy Pole event was taking place on a dark overcast morning and I was having to shoot with high speed flash.

Then we had a heavy shower so I ran for shelter. But the children, in their wet suits, were made of stronger stuff and just kept on wanting to take part. So the event organiser just had to stand there and soak up the rain.

This is what I found when I returned 5 minutes later as the rain stopped. An expression which is somewhere between laughing and crying.



Nothing posed or thought about with this shot. Just a quick candid snap with the same settings that I was using for photographing the event action High speed flash at 1/1000 F5.6

And another quick 'off the cuff' shot before the rain - in happier circumstances.

[oldgreygary]

Three cheers for all those people who volunteer and give up there time to organise events. These photos nicely capture some of the mixture of emotions that you go through when your are involved in it.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Donald]

I think both the images and Gary's comment capture the ecstasy and the agony of volunteering. The fill-flash works particularly well for the second image.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Incidentally, on the following day this event was run by her mother so I took some more quick snaps. Also with the wrong settings because I was set up for the main event.



Definitely not a prizewinning shot, but from this angle I think the family resemblance is quite strong.