Great time for a great cause. I was asked to take pictures of the Maricopa Relay for Life walk. Relay for Life is an event where teams walk all through the night and raise money to fight cancer. I have partipated in the event a few years ago and was happy to help for such a good cause. It was also a good challenge as had not been to the new park yet. As I walked around I found the perfect spot to get some great overhead shots of the entire park. Unfortunately, it was on the top of the waterslide that was locked up and in the Rec Center. After asking around and using good manners, myself and one other photographer were given permission to go up during the illuminati ceremony. That is when they shut off all the lights in the park and everything is illuminated by candles while the participants silently walk around the track. It was awesome to be up there during that time.

Once I got my shots I hustled down to make another shot I had envisioned since getting the assignment. Just a simple shot of a child lit by candlelight. I got it just as they turned back the lights. It turned out to be one of my favorite shots of the night.

After that there was one more shot I had envisioned that turned out to be harder than I thought. I wanted to do a light painting in front of this big wooden "Cure" sign that was lit up with Luminaria bags. The problem was that there was a lot of distracting elements around it including a lightpost that spilled a ton of light right were I didn't want it. For my first time trying lightpainting, I think I did a pretty good job. I found it would be easier to just write the letters in the sky above the letters, then cut them out, and moved them to where it fit into the picture.

ISO 100, 28mm, f22, 8 sec. 10 picture layered photo.

Here is a gallery of the rest of the photos from the night. Again, I had a great night and learned a lot. I had been in a photo slump the last two weeks, but have quite a few shoots lined up in the next few weeks. Thanks for reading and check back again next week!