Independence Day
13th June 2011
Today is Independence Day in the Philippines. The majority of the crew on board are from the Philippines and they’d organized a huge celebration on back deck with free drinks, food and music. The party started at 23.00. Only problem for us was, it was formal night!
Slipping out of bed at 8.30 I headed up to Pool Decks to start shooting. Not many people wanted their photo taken, especially the younger guests. Severe hangovers, no make up and flashing lights don't mix too well! Having said that, I was still stacking up the shots which was surprising.
There are two girls who always dress up during the evening and make their way around the studios. The sisters, from America, always arrive at the studios in the most stunning outfits, anything from stunning dresses to ball gowns with tiaras to tuxedos. I feel sorry for whoever is paying the bill but they certainly look the part!! Stu and I had been trying to guess their ages. One in particular looked about 15 but I was dubious as to whether or not she was. She looks younger. I thought she was about 14. She spotted me, came over and gave me a cuddle. She’d lost her grandmother and had been looking for quite some time. What shocked me the most was that she was getting to such a state about it, at one point she was about to cry.
Leaving my job I walked around the decks with her, trying to find her Nan. While walking around I was asking a mix of questions: some about her grandma to get a better idea as to where she had been and could be. The others were to try and calm her down a bit. Nan had to be around here somewhere!
I felt sorry for her but didn’t think it was the behaviour of a 14 year old. When I asked her how old she was, she obviously saw just how amazed I was… she was 12! At 12 my mother would never have let me out the house wearing a face full of makeup, false nails and skimpy, clingy clothes. I’m 24 and still get the “put some clothes on talk” if I’m wearing a low cut top! To be honest, when I was 12 I was still wearing Wellington boots, old jeans and polo shirts (like a farmer) running around the fields with my dog!!
Just before the Walk for Wishes was about to start she spotted her Nan and ran over for a big cuddle. That brought out just how young she really was. She’s a lovely girl but just seems to be trying to grow up too quickly.
Leaving my job I walked around the decks with her, trying to find her Nan. While walking around I was asking a mix of questions: some about her grandma to get a better idea as to where she had been and could be. The others were to try and calm her down a bit. Nan had to be around here somewhere!
I felt sorry for her but didn’t think it was the behaviour of a 14 year old. When I asked her how old she was, she obviously saw just how amazed I was… she was 12! At 12 my mother would never have let me out the house wearing a face full of makeup, false nails and skimpy, clingy clothes. I’m 24 and still get the “put some clothes on talk” if I’m wearing a low cut top! To be honest, when I was 12 I was still wearing Wellington boots, old jeans and polo shirts (like a farmer) running around the fields with my dog!!
Just before the Walk for Wishes was about to start she spotted her Nan and ran over for a big cuddle. That brought out just how young she really was. She’s a lovely girl but just seems to be trying to grow up too quickly.
An hour after I started my shift Fabio came up to start shooting Walk for Wishes. Walk for Wishes is a mile long walk (5 laps around the pool deck). The crew sell Make A Wish t-shirts for $20 a go and they literally sell like hot cakes. The shirts fly off the shelves.
The walk is led by Captain Flemming and other senior officers. The money raised the Make a Whish t-shirts goes to charity, Make a Wish, which supports terminally ill children. So many people took part that there wasn’t a break in between the front and back of the pack. It was a continuous ring of white shirts… a great chance for us to get shots.
The walk is led by Captain Flemming and other senior officers. The money raised the Make a Whish t-shirts goes to charity, Make a Wish, which supports terminally ill children. So many people took part that there wasn’t a break in between the front and back of the pack. It was a continuous ring of white shirts… a great chance for us to get shots.
Regina was working on the pool decks and got dragged in to do the walk, just as my shift was ending too. I had a couple of minutes left so I joined her for two laps before heading down to the staff mess.
After a quick break and we were all on for set up. Once again I was shooting what was originally Luci’s studio Centrum 3. I think my favourite is probably Centrum 1 out of all the studios. We finished set up at 15.15.
At 17.00h we were all in our tuxedos and sitting in the office for a meeting. Ritesh gave us a talking to about getting double shots. Fabio apparently had 112 double shots out of 380 odd. I had 23 out of 78. One thing that got me was that if there’s a group of people you are supposed to get more than one shot. You’re also supposed to reshoot if you think one of the people in the frame blinked. So now I’m not sure what the hell to make of it all. Do I just take one photo of a group and let them get reprints? That’s of course if someone from the group doesn’t buy it first. I was also told Luci used to get about 300 shots on her Centrum. I didn’t even make it to 200 and I needed to do better. I love the whole name and shame approach they take on the ship. You can really get humiliated in front of your work mates if they fancy took them... which is does and often too!
At 17.00h we were all in our tuxedos and sitting in the office for a meeting. Ritesh gave us a talking to about getting double shots. Fabio apparently had 112 double shots out of 380 odd. I had 23 out of 78. One thing that got me was that if there’s a group of people you are supposed to get more than one shot. You’re also supposed to reshoot if you think one of the people in the frame blinked. So now I’m not sure what the hell to make of it all. Do I just take one photo of a group and let them get reprints? That’s of course if someone from the group doesn’t buy it first. I was also told Luci used to get about 300 shots on her Centrum. I didn’t even make it to 200 and I needed to do better. I love the whole name and shame approach they take on the ship. You can really get humiliated in front of your work mates if they fancy took them... which is does and often too!
In the studio I did my best to get as many photos as I possibly could. I didn’t get 300 photos, I did get over 200 though. In Ressi I didn’t do the best either. I was concentrating more on getting group/table shots. Most of the people I asked for couple shots didn’t want one but were more than happy to get a group picture.
Popping into the lab afterwards I had to speak to Ritesh about my images. Everything was wrong with my Ressi shots. At one point he even said “the first photo is over exposes but the next aren’t”. I had to explain that I took the image at 1/60 (the shutter speed we use in ressi) but there was too much light coming through the window so I upped the shutter speed to 1/200 (as we are told to if there is too much light). He just stared at me blankly, confused.
Next my cropping was bad. I’d left too much space on the side for group shots, exposing too much table. What else was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to crop in too closely and cut peoples arms off. As for exposing the table… it’s a bit hard when you’re trying to get 10 people into a horizontal shot.
Next my cropping was bad. I’d left too much space on the side for group shots, exposing too much table. What else was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to crop in too closely and cut peoples arms off. As for exposing the table… it’s a bit hard when you’re trying to get 10 people into a horizontal shot.
We finally finished at 01.00. I was completely shattered to say the least. A group of the photogs headed to back deck for the Philippines’ Independencne Day party. While popping in and out of cabins, talking to people, Stu called me in to check a photo he was editing in Photoshop.
Laying in bed, reading and relaxing, Luci was woken up by the music coming from one of the photographer's cabins. Never wake Luci up, she turns into a pitbull! Annoyed beyond belief, Luci told me she was going to call security.
Book in hand, I stuck my head into the cabin with the music playing to give them a heads up that Luci would be calling security if they didn't turn the voulme down. The last thing anyone wants is to get their collars felt by security. On top of that, this sort of thing breaks the team up, causes bad feelings. Living and working in such proximities it hard enough without ill feelings.
Going back into Stu’s cabin I asked if I could come in for a bit and read my book until Luci had either calmed down or gone to sleep. Stu was still editing his photos. I was reading and trying stay awake. I failed miserably and fell asleep. Stu woke me up and couple of times but it didn't take long for me to drop back off again and finally let me to sleep.
Stu headed off to back deck to enjoy what was left of the Independence Day party and woke me up when he got back to the cabin. He was about to leave me sleeping in his bed and sleep on the floor! Grabbing my stuff, knowing Luci would be asleep, I sneaked back into my cabin and climbed into bed. Work was only 6 hours away and I desperately needed some shut eye.
Laying in bed, reading and relaxing, Luci was woken up by the music coming from one of the photographer's cabins. Never wake Luci up, she turns into a pitbull! Annoyed beyond belief, Luci told me she was going to call security.
Book in hand, I stuck my head into the cabin with the music playing to give them a heads up that Luci would be calling security if they didn't turn the voulme down. The last thing anyone wants is to get their collars felt by security. On top of that, this sort of thing breaks the team up, causes bad feelings. Living and working in such proximities it hard enough without ill feelings.
Going back into Stu’s cabin I asked if I could come in for a bit and read my book until Luci had either calmed down or gone to sleep. Stu was still editing his photos. I was reading and trying stay awake. I failed miserably and fell asleep. Stu woke me up and couple of times but it didn't take long for me to drop back off again and finally let me to sleep.
Stu headed off to back deck to enjoy what was left of the Independence Day party and woke me up when he got back to the cabin. He was about to leave me sleeping in his bed and sleep on the floor! Grabbing my stuff, knowing Luci would be asleep, I sneaked back into my cabin and climbed into bed. Work was only 6 hours away and I desperately needed some shut eye.
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