The Two Truths (aka Maati)

So, yes, Beltane 2008 has been and gone.
I would describe this year as being "two-steps up, one-step down".

I made a few mistakes which I regret (most of which I made the year before too);
1. Over-recruited - twelve photographers, including six newcomers.
2. Commitment was not prioritised enough; other members didn't take on enough of the workload.
3. Underprepared for rough weather; some members suffered water damage to their equipment.

The combination of the former two factors meant that I was overburden with workload that I could not keep up with, as a result of which holes kept appearing. One of those holes was the lack of weather preparation, whilst another was a slackness about inventory, both combining to produce what could have been a financial disaster.

Whilst it was not a complete disaster, the end result was that at least three photographers underacheived compared to their potential. The simple fact was that I could not provide them with the training, support, and practise that they needed to fulfill their potentials.

Unfortunately, the photographers who did the best were mostly those who had their skills perfected already and thus could have helped those newcomers. It's a pity that there wasn't very much in the way of skill exchange between members, and that is something which I will be addressing much more in the future.

The sad thing is that because of the over-recruitment we still had about as good results overall as the previous year --- except for the bits that suffered because of the downpour --- that was not something we could really avoid.

However, what went right was thus...
1. We made big leaps forwards with several of the performer groups (particularly Nightwatch and some of the elemental groups)
2. The guidance from the Blue Men and other groups was on the most part more positive and constructive for us.
3. Our group became more like a Beltane group ---
(a) we had our first Away Weekend, camping in a private patch of woodland near to Biggar
(b) we wore full facepaint & our new cloaks were far better than the ones we made last year
(c) the membership was less technically-orientated, with a wider spread of talents and ambitions
(d) we had our first "big bash" post-processing weekend, which was a partial success
(e) we went to the party afterwards!
(Albeit only two of us made it to the after-after-party, which was mostly because the rest of us were skeptical about the weather.)
4. I didn't break any lenses!

We are still in the process of sorting out all of our photographs from the night, however, all of them are online (mostly on flickr) - and - most of them are on an external hard-drive. Right now we just need to decide which will be going onto http://gallery.beltane.org, which we would have been doing last weekend if it were not for my falling ill.

The great thing is that (unlike last year) all of the photos on that hard-drive are processed & full-size, so therefore I do not need to continuously chase people to get hold of their images for publicity or prints, etc.

Next up --- Caledonian Challenge! We will be providing a team of photographers (and ushers) to cover the event, and will be raising money for next year's Beltane!

Please let me know if you want to get involved (even if you've never used a camera before!)