As a fashion photographer, I get invites to pageants and fashion shows courtesy of designers I work with. In the recent years, I noticed the mushrooming of grand productions of pageants from the usual female beauty, male, and even gay pageants.
Back in the day, I used to shoot the main pageants but again quit because of physical exhaustion. Photographers stay in a boxed area where they elbow each other for a good shot of the pageant front runners and if they win, their photos may land on the front pages of newspapers and probably in news features of fashion glossies.
I kinda miss those days and occasionally, when a good friend or a client asks me to shoot, I do not act diva but simply request for a good vantage point and equipped with my neck and back pain inducing zoom lens, I can shoot from afar without stepping on somebody.
That ladies’ pageant was extremely memorable because I was seated in the VIP area during the finals night and whenever I needed to shoot ala sharp shooter, I would stand and crouch to the dismay of the person behind me. I got cursed several times for ruining their viewing pleasure and apologized that its not personal. Since then, when covering events, I bring my zoom lens and ask for an apple box and a good vantage point so I don’t bother anyone.
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