Rahm Emanuel’s Address To Sarah Lawrence’s Class Of 2009
May 22, 2009
It all comes down to being at the right place at the right time. At my company, PNG Laboratories LLC, we create a software enabling anybody with a standard laptop and a video camera (or even a simple webcam) to stream any event in real-time to a worldwide audience. Our target market ranges from journalists to event planners, and more recently schools have been soliciting us to broadcast their graduation ceremonies. One of them, Sarah Lawrence College. This famous school happens to be located 5 minutes from my home, so I naturally proposed myself to help set it all up.
Rahm Emanuel, the current White House Chief of Staff and also ’81 alumnus of the college, was going to be the keynote speaker. This was a great opportunity for me to get some nice shots since I was going to be standing in a prime vantage point. I was graciously allowed to bring my camera to the event, so I started to prepare myself. Such an opportunity doesn’t happen often so I wasn’t going to mess up my chances to get sharp and well exposed photographs.
Shooting from about 25 meters, I had no choice but to use my 100-300mm telephoto lens. While it was happening outdoors, it was also under a tent. Hand holding the lens at 300mm was out of the question under such lighting conditions, so I had to bring my tripod. This is when I regretted not having a remote shutter release cable… having to manually press on the shutter button could cause some unwanted blur, so I would have to be extra careful with it. There was too little time for me to order one online and no local stores to pick one up. I would have to do without it. I started reading about guide number formulas to see if my flash would be of any use at such distance. At ISO 800, it apparently would… I felt reassured and started packing.
The day arrived. After I finished to set up and test all the PNG equipment, I was left with more than enough time to test my own. I was hoping to be able to shoot at 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 800. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could shoot at 1/90s, f/8, ISO 800. I was close enough to use the 5D instead of the 350D which was also giving me an advantage in term of noise and overall picture size/quality. At 300mm, the depth of field can be quite shallow and I’m glad I shot at f/8. I decided not to use the flash, which really wasn’t necessary. I was now all ready.
The commencement ceremonies started, and so did the live stream. Of course, I wasn’t there to take photographs so my main focus was really on making sure everything was going smoothly. However, it wasn’t an issue to also get some good shots of Rahm Emanuel. His speech was both funny and touching and definitely a great inspiration for all the new graduates. Actually, I recommend you to watch it. I took about 70 shots, most of them perfectly sharp. I also took advantage of the burst mode which I usually don’t use, which allowed me to better capture some moments, such as when Rahm Emanuel received his honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.
It was a very successful event for both my company and I, and I’m looking forward to many more.
Further reading:
Rahm Emanuel ’81: Commencement Keynote Address