My thoughts after YX09:

The days after a major event are usually the most stressful for me, with many people asking for pictures for various publications. But this year was worse. Not only do I have more photos to sieve through, most of them were irrelevant, and I often have to apologize to the reporters for not having "that shot". This really calls for a re-think on what have gone wrong.

This time round, SYD shooters as a whole lacks a sense of what to shoot. True enough, we need those cool shots to impress during slideshows, but equally (if not more) importantly, we need reportage shots for the papers! Just to give everyone an idea of what were the more popular demands:

All of which require more than 1 shot, as I have to submit for different papers. Obviously I had a hard time finding suitable pictures... It shows that we need to communicate more with the reporters. The pictures I see often lacks depth and meaning.

A 3 day event can be tiring, but this is what SYD is all about. We take pride in our work, and don't give up just because we are tired. Although there are much more photogs on site, I'm sure Huiching has made clear when is your turn to shoot, and everyone should stick to it. Seeing other members shooting doesn't mean you can slack off.

Wanhui photos are mediocre at best. Underexposure and white balance issues aside, we have acts that were pretty much uncovered. This is unacceptable.

I don't deny that shooting in the auditorium can be very challenging. I will be conducting lessons on how to survive in the audi, probably during Peixun Ying in June.

From the next event onwards, we will have pre-shoot briefings to ensure everyone is clear of their responsibilities, and know what to shoot. More lessons to improve thinking and shooting skills will also be required. I will also try to do a debrief on one of these days, should my schedule permits. If we continue to deliver this kind of standard, it won't be long before the reporters have to send in professional photogs to take over our job.