The Photographers | The Parliament | Behind The Scene

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers | Behind The Scene | The Equipment

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers | Behind The Scene

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers | Behind The Scene

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | The Photographers | Behind The Scene

Just wanted to share with you what does it look like working at the Parliament House during Official Welcoming Ceremony of The President when they came to Malaysia for Official Visit. The picture above were taken during The Official Welcoming Ceremony of The Official State Visit of His Excellency Lee Myung-Bak President of The Republic of Korea to Malaysia at Parliament House Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 10th December 2010.

Normally during this welcoming ceremony, the photographers will arrive one hour earlier before the ceremony begin, for seasoned photographer, they already know the flow of this ceremony. The procedure is almost the same, the location is almost the same, the difference maybe in term of weather, sometimes, the ceremony took place during early morning, usually at 09:00 AM in the morning or if this ceremony took place in the afternoon, it will be somewhere around 02:00 PM or 03:00 PM.

If the event happen in the morning, then it will be a backlighting situation but if the event took place in the afternoon then it will be great. Sometimes shooting into the light can cause a problem for the camera meter especially to tho those who have less experience covering this event. That’s why it is good to arrive early, so we can take a couple of test shot before the actual ceremony begin.

Talking about the equipment, most seasoned photographer will use either 300mm or 400mm lens as their standard lens because we were position a bit far from where The President is standing especially during visiting President inspected a Guard of Honour at the Parliament House. We can use wide angle lens only for “established Shot” not for the main shot because if we use wide angle lens for this ceremony, the subject will look too small in the frame or in the picture when printed on the newspaper and we can hardly see the face of the president. That’s why using longer telephoto lens is a must, we want to get a close up view or  a tight shot of the president.

Another important equipment when using super telephoto lens like 300mm f2.8 or 400mm f2.8 is a monopod, it is a must because the lens is too heavy to handheld. Just to let you know also that our position is fixed, meaning we can’t simply move here and there. We cannot get close to the Guard of Honor if we don’t have a telephoto lens, that’s “our problem” if we don’t have the lens, either we have the lens or not, our position remain the same. It is a great advantage if we have two set of camera equipment here, one is fix with 70-200mm lens and the other with 300 or 400mm lens, we can use the short telephoto lens when the president being introduce to all cabinet minister and the ambassador because the distance is not that far.

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