NDP National Convention

This summer, the National NDP Convention was held in Halifax. Being the shooter that weekend, I was fortunate enough to cover it. It was a two day extravaganza of everything NDP. It was certainly exciting and a valuable experience as a shooter.

I was working with Lane Farguson, one of the most knowledgeable and professional reporters I’ve met. He taught me how to shoot efficiently, handle scrums and, since he was always impeccably well dressed, that you should be appropriately dressed for every situation. One of the main stories we were looking for was the potential name change of the Party; they proposed dropping the New from the NDP. Unfortunately, the vote did not occur. Whether this is because time ran out or they simply decided not to vote, i am uncertain. Nevertheless, Lane knew exactly what he wanted and we strove on.

At an event of this magnitude, a multitude of clips and scrums are standard fare. There were no particular issues regarding the clips except there were several different types of light throughout the complex. However, with the use of the sun gun and frequent white balances, this inconvenience was overcome without difficulty. The scrums were held in a specially designed area, which was lit with a backdrop and audio mixer.

The highlight for me was the scrum with NDP leader Jack Layton. The room was full of other media outlets and I felt I was a part of a special and select group; I definitely gained confidence. I believe some of my shots ran nationally and Lane was pleased with the results. And although Lane has now moved on to another job and city, the lessons I learned that weekend will remain with me evermore.