Opportunity Lost

I went to the Walking with Dinosaurs event at the Mellon Arena here in Pittsburgh today as a Photographer on behalf of Lux Magazine, a small locally distributed mag. I would like to say that the show was incredible. The dinosaurs moved independently, with the exception of the smaller ones that had human actors dressed in an awesomely looking suit.

But this post is not about the show. Its about the photos I took there. When I arrived at the check in, I was presented with a bunch of rules I had to follow. Don't disturb the paitrons. Don't use flash. Don't move about the arena. Don't take photos after the first act. Don't leave the sight of security. There where three photographers at the event. Plus the local news channel. They all new each other. I was the odd one out. at about 6:30 pm, we headed out to the desginated area for photos. It was about halfway up the stands, a good 50 or so feet away from the stage. Not to mention it was al of us cramped in this little corner at the top of a row of seats. I immediatly broke out the D80 and equiped my telescopic lens thinking I want to get some shots that look like it was right ontop of the action. This may have been my first mistake. I then adjusted my Fstop for some quick shots, knowing this would produce a dark image. Of course I tried adjusting the white balance to compensate for this. the show starts. I start snapping images. Lowered my Fstop a little, and ended up with blurry shots... 460 shots later and the first half is over, time to pack up and head out. Locked my camera up with security and enjoyed the rest of the show. We then left, and returned home.

Once home I imported the images and found that out of all 460 I only had 1 usable image, and t was of the actor, not a dinosuar. What a dissapointment. I should call the beautiful and talented Beth Hensel that hooked me up with this deal. But I won't its 12 am now and I have 1 usable image. I feel like I blew it big time. Perhaps making something from nothing is harder than I thought it would be. I knew it would be hard, but imagined that after 2 months of owning and using a camera I should be able to use it right. Perhaps I need to rethink my strategy. Never fear though. I will not give up.