Armidale Secondary College - Formal
14/11/25
Having a reputation as a photographer can land you in some unusual places, and despite only occasionally doing event photography, and even less portrait photography, one of my previous photography students put me forward as the photographer for Armidale Secondary College’s Year 12 formal. It should have been a simple shoot: a bunch of well-dressed students arriving on the steps of the New England Conservatorium of Music to have their photos taken before heading off to the main formal event. But of course, nothing is ever simple, and a rather large storm hit just as the photography was supposed to begin.
The storm certainly added some drama, which I appreciated, but it also ruined my plans to leverage the stairs leading up to the main entrance, not to mention robbing me of most of my light. We decided instead to shoot in a covered archway, which had an interesting backlight behind it, at least for the portraits, with the rest of the atmosphere captured in black and white (which I’m largely happy with). Is this an event I’ll be invited back to cover again? Who can say, but it was certainly an experience I feel lucky to have had. Sometimes it’s nice to get out there and do something completely outside your wheelhouse.
