In this blog post, I will be talking about my first experience of event photography at Glastonbury Abbey Medieval Fayre 2017.
My Journey Begins
This was the day my photographic journey began. I was volunteering at the Abbey, assisting with the set up of the event as my partner worked there at the time as an event assistant. After the final preparations had taken place, she gave me her camera and asked me to take photos, in an attempt to keep me busy. With no experience of using a DLSR camera (Nikon), or of any previous event photography, I set out to see what I could do.
After the first few hours of walking around the event and figuring out the camera, I finally got into the swing of things. I started to love the challenge of capturing the moments of action and everything of interest at the Fayre. With jousting, archery, axe throwing and sword fighting to name just a few activities, there was plenty capture and awaken my creativity!
As the day went on I could feel my confidence growing, I was asking knights to pose for photos, (see below) and going way beyond my comfort zone. This is something I would never had done before. I remember someone said something along the lines of " they all dress up to show off and want their pictures taken". This helped me think differently and I have carried this mentality forward with me to all of the events and occasions that I have been lucky enough to have captured since.
The Outcome
Overall I am very pleased with the photographs I captured that day, having had no previous experience. I know some of the images are not my best, but knowing what I know now, I would have done things differently. At the end of the day, we all have to start somewhere and the only way to learn and improve, is to go out and practice.
Having said this, a couple of my photos were used by the Abbey in press releases following the event and in future advertising material. Not bad for a first time!
About the Fayre
The Medieval Fayre takes place inside the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. It is a full day of events and activities, taking visitors way back in time to Medieval Britain. It has re-enactors, re-creating battles and everyday life. As well as this visitors will be able to watch fire eating, jousting and enjoy medieval music.
More information can be found here. https://www.glastonburyabbey.com
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