Whoops. I missed one!

Whoops. I missed one!

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com

Jumping back on the wagon

So Day Three of the Photography Journal experiment simply bombed.

Perhaps it was the warm weather, or that it was my first and only day off for the entire week, or maybe it was the fact that my family were returning home after four days, and I just wanted to spend time with them. Whatever my excuse, I’m 100 per cent confident that nobody will lose any sleep over it.

Moving on to Day Four and it was an early start for me. At 7:30am I arrived at a fantastic building here in Copenhagen, called the Bella Sky. Used primarily as a hotel, the ground floor acts as a huge Conference Centre, and this week it’s being used by the sporting company Intersport. Their annual GTM was taking place, and I was on hand to capture the two-hour Nike presentation.

And it made me smile when I bumped in to more than one person I already knew, which is becoming a regular occurrence in this small city. I often see former clients in the supermarket or shopping in the high street mid-week. Copenhagen is such a small city, and word travel super fast (as I’ve found out the hard way recently, but more on that at a later date).

At 7:30 the rehearsals began, and one by one, Nike and Intersport officials took to the stage to discuss new products and how well things were going. Models soon appeared, and the whole thing quickly turned in to a fashion show. And of course, nothing rouses you more than a bit of skin on display in a dark room!

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When the show started for real, I made sure that I’d had plenty of water, as the whole thing was meant to last for about two hours. And with the weather still deliciously warm outside, liquids were an absolute must. So you can probably imagine my predicament when, around 60 minutes later, I was busting for a piss. With 15 minutes still to go, I found myself crossing my legs and swaying from side to side like a little school boy. And what happens when you get closer and closer to the end of the show? Well, your body realises that it’s almost time to let go, and of course you are literally on the verge of wetting yourself, Cue crowds of people queuing to leave the auditorium through the main door and you’ve got yourself a predicament.

As I stood there watching them with a mixture of envy and confusion, I realised that, in any situation where a photographer is involved, the toggie gets the short end of the stick when it comes to entering and leaving the event or photoshoot. How many of the presenters were free to come and go as they pleased to grab a coffee or toilet break? How many guests and VIPs at a wedding can just waltz off for a cigarette, whilst you man the fort? Can someone PLEASE invent a catheter for photographers?

I can’t complain, though. As soon as I found the toilet I was back to thinking how fortunate I am to have such a liberating job. As I joined the others for a delicious buffet and made small talk with strangers from Germany, I quickly remembered that this is a fine job to have.

And now I’m off to enjoy a pint of cider in the sunshine. Ta ta.

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