how to win friends and influence people

Originally uploaded by Scootie.

Friday night was my first ever gig as an 'official' photographer for In The Mix (ITM) at their Inthemix.05 party featuring Canadian DJ Tiga and a bunch of big name locals such as Ajax, Dave Pham and Mike Callander. The ITM website runs on contributions, so I signed up as a photo contributor, because in theory I might get into some gigs for free. and here we are :) The Tiga gig was kind of on our list as a 'maybe' anyway, but it wasn't looking likely until I get the regular weekly contributor email stating that their selected photog pulled out, so I replied that I was interested, and asked if a fellow photog (Joe) could join me.
Sara and Jay from inthemix were happy for us to do the gig, and arrangements were made. The only tricky part is that you have to be there for the whole gig, from 10pm onwards, and you have to make sure you get the stuff they want.
So we get there a few minutes before 10 to meet up with Jay, get our AAA passes and our instructions: Ajax, Tiga, whatever other DJs you happen to get, the staff, and punters punters punters, lots of punters. Later modified to: lots of hotties too :)
So we oblige him, getting what I think is a whole lot of really good shots. Joey's working the 10d and his A510, and I've got the 5d going strong, using the new 50mm for the DJ and arty work, and running the flashgun hot, thanks to the new diffuser.
I have to say, it was kind of a drag sometimes, but having full backstage access is really nice, having the security guards and bar staff smile and nod hello when they see you, and being able to push your way through the crowd a lot easier because of the camera on your shoulder more than makes up for it.
One thing that really makes up for it is the amount of times I was stopped by incredibly beautiful girls and asked to take their photo. Some were very keen to know who I was taking photos for and when they would go up on the site, but some were just interested in getting their photo taken regardless of what it was for, and one pair was actually keen to pose in 'whatever way I wanted' but I was too dumbstruck to push the envelope too much :)
Overall it was a pretty good night, although after walking out of the gig into the rain at 6:30am I was knackered :)