Penang Dragon Boat Festival (Day 1)

Awesome....

It was my first day on the job as a press photographer. Got myself that ultra cool press pass too. All Access baby!

I spent the whole day at the Teluk Bahang dam shooting the event. I got involved because the company my brother is working for needed a full-fledged photographer. Maybe the fact that I was willing to work for free played a part too. The company was hired to shoot a promotional video that will be shown in the Berlin festival. So man, if my pics do get used.....that'll be real sweet.

Getting the press pass was like I mentioned before, an All Access backstage pass. I managed to get onto a police boat and ride alongside some of the dragon boats. I also got to station myself on a floating pontoon at the finishline. That was pretty scary. I feared more for my equipment than me getting wet.

Two press guys got a taste of the dam water. One was a genius videographer who wanted to get not alongside or close to the action...he wanted to be IN the action. So he got INTO a dragon boat, right in the middle of the rowers. Well, he and his thousands of dollars camera were soaked. The other guy was my colleage for the weekend. He tried to get onto a dragon boat from a police boat, slipped and fell. Found out this morning that he got pneumonia. :(

Overall, it was a very very satisfying shoot. Altough I was baked like a lobster and tired out of my mind, I think I got some pretty decent shots. I'll be going back into action today for another long day's work. I may be involved on Sunday too.