2017 Millenium Plus Homes 2nd Annual Raindrop Gala

Fundraiser parties are not all created equal and I was excited to be asked to photograph the annual Rain Drop Gala in only its second year. A virtual who’s who of the charitable scene in Calgary came out to experience the lavish service and décor in the Enmax Conservatory on the city zoo grounds.

Considering there were other volunteer photographers attending that night of dubious taste, it reinforced my standard of “dressing to impress” at these things. I’d learned that photographing these events with a touch of class always helped put my subjects in the mood to smile, creating a great inroad to capturing several VIP guests at their best, much to the pleasure of the event host. Turns out, they had feared their VIP guests’ had been overlooked and was greatly pleased with the results.

Taking creative shots with some guests I knew prior to the event, helped increase other guests’ comfort level with me. Before long, it was as though I had a “license to spill,” gaining confidence in the knowledge that guests felt safe around me.

The work I donated that year to the event hosts made a great first impression, by simply over-delivering on my offer to cover their party, which put me in their good books for the next year. Even though I wasn’t able to attend the next year I still gained priceless recognition and all the new contacts I could handle from the tags my photos got on social media. Over-delivering on the hosts’ expectations, I designed and overlaid each photo with a commemorative banner at the foot of each photo delivered, which thrilled the hosts and publicized my business logo, which was included in the design to complement the overall look of the footer since these shots would no doubt be used by the hosts’ in their future promotions.