A low light Christmas, at the North Pole

I had the opportunity to photograph Northwest North Pole Adventures (Spokane Fantasy Flight) this December. A few of my friends who are highly experienced in shooting low light images also shot this event, which was a superb event for homeless or underprivileged children.

An extensive amount of planning goes into this event, and the 2010 event was administered by Steve Paul, CEO of Northwest North Pole Adventures . A total of 64 children made the “trip,” to the North Pole, courtesy of Alaska Airlines. This is a marathon day for us photogs, and doing the treadmill for an hour every day sis nothing to prevent the pain in the quads the next day. The only way to shoot this event was to get down to the level of the children, and it was very well worth the experience…and the minor pain for a day afterward. I shot about 1200 images (CR2), and after editing I sent 197 image files (JPEG) to use for the children and for any purpose determined by Steve.

The event organizers are top notch people, and all of their efforts this Christmas season was evident. For those of you who have never heard of the Spokane Fantasy Flight, drop in on their website and see what good people can accomplish (with a lot of work).

So, not all of my low light imaging has to be done outside, but inside the large hanger at GEG which literally became the North Pole. Some tripod use was required, and a ton of direct flash photography for the activities of the children. ISO’s ranging from 100 to 1600, and two camera bodies (11 X 18mm, and 18 X 200mm).

This event was a tad unusual for all of us shooters, as we were all dressed as elves for the entire marathon day. I distinctly had the feeling of wearing PJ’s for the entire day, and this actually added to the importance of why we were shooting pictures at GEG and then on the other side of the runway at the North Pole.

Take a look at some of the videos from North Pole events of the past, so you can see the looks in the children’s eyes when they get on the aircraft for the short flight to the North Pole. Here are a few links to some short videos:

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Event review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZZuaCZrZo

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Elf Tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruxCq2ljt84

2009 Spokane Fantasy Flight - Donors & Sponsors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvcaLt7SZN4


Merry Christmas everyone,

From JOMO the Camera Elf at the North Pole.