As event photographers in Wisconsin, working in the Appleton (Fox Valley) and in Northern Wisconsin in the communities of Park Falls, Minocqua and the surrounding areas, we always love working to help our clients with a successful event.
In April we were excited to work once again with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley as they held their primary fundraising event of the year. This time called "Uplift," the event was held for the first time at the amazing Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin.
In previous years, the event was known as Vintage in the Valley and was held at the local convention center in downtown Appleton. The move to a new venue also brought along a slightly new format.
Prepping For the Event
Because of the move to the new venue for the event, we scheduled time before the night of the festivitites to tour the set up for the event at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center.
We're very familiar with the venue, of course, having seen several shows there over the years, most recently a performance by the amazing musical group Celtic Woman and a presentation and live interview with the legendary Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner.
This time, though, we were going "behind the curtain" to get a look at how the staff of the "PAC" was setting up the theater for fundraising event we were covering. As it turned out, the main stage would become the "dining room" for the night with the speakers on a riser at the front. Everything would be taking place where normally performers put on a show, but this time, the rows and rows of seats where the audience would usually take in the performance would be empty.
In addition to the main stage where most of the action would take place, after the program festivities would continue in another area adjacent to the theater proper that would become a high-end lounge/bar with music provided by a DJ. Also, the lobby was tastefully decorated for mingling before the event started, and PAC hosts and hostesses were on hand with refreshments and hors d'oeuvres.
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Planning Our Gear
Combining our experience shooting events like this for over 15 years, along with getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the venue setup before the event, meant that we could plan our gear and strategy for coverage.
We would be on site for event coverage for about 6 hours on a weekday evening. This means carrying assorted camera gear for quite a while, something that can be physically challenging. To lighten the load just a bit, Denise chose a small bodied camera over the full-sized Canon 1D series gear in our inventory, choosing to shoot with the venerable Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
For us, we've found the 5D Mark IV to be the best camera we have ever used, overall. While current mirrorless cameras offer stunning performance and have exceeded the Mark IV in most respects, the price to performance ratio still favors the older DSLR, in our opinion. We've owned the Mark IV ever since it was first released and have used it heavily for every photography and video client we have had since that time. It has paid for itself over and over again, and continues to perform at a high level. Even if you buy it today, either new or used, you are getting a camera the provides outstanding return on investment.
Things we like about the 5D Mark IV for event shooting are its light weight, good low-light performance, fast and reliable autofocus and great overall image quality. Its 30 megapixels sensor produces great detail, sharpness and color as well. Denise paired 5D Mark IV with one of Canon's best EF lenses, the 70-200mm F/2.8L II lens. While Canon has released new versions of this lens in both EF and RF mount, it is difficult to see what needed to be improved over the Mark II version of the lens. It's fast, sharp, offers great color and contrast and outstanding image stabilization. It's just a great lens.
If you'd like to get your own copy of this camera and lens combo, and support us a bit at with our affiliate link at the same time (which we appreciate), we recommend shopping at MPB.com.
Meanwhile, I picked the Canon EOS 1D X Mark II as my camera for the night, pairing it with the EF16-13 F/4 L lens, the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 Art lens and the Canon EF 135 F/2 L lens. I believe I used the Sigma a few times during the event, but mainly relied on the Canon zoom at the for pre-event shooting and then the legendary Canon 135L for the event itself.
The old Canon 135 L always seems like it will be a mismatch for event shooting. It does not have IS and it is not as fast as new 135 lenses having "only" a max aperture of F/2 -- but whatever perceived antiquity this vintage lens seems to have notwithstanding, this lens is on the money every time we have needed it at an event. I will never sell this lens and if something ever happens to our copy, we will be replacing it with another one immediately.
Mounted to the EOS 1D X Mark II this lens delivers clear images with great contrast in any light. The Mark II is a tremendous low-light performer with one of the best auto-focus system ever put in a DSLR, only overmatched in this regard by its replacement, the still expensive Canon 1D X Mark III. Paired with this camera, the 135 L delivers instantaneous and accurate autofocus in low light, and the F/2 aperture means keeping shutter speed event appropriate does not incur a noise penalty because the ISO stays low. In any case, the 1D X Mark II is great in low light anyway, with great low-noise characteristics at high ISOs. An ISO of 12500 or 16000 is quite useable on this camera.
For lighting, though, we didn't want to depend just on the lights of the venue, because in addition to shooting the presenters on stage, we would also be shooting a few portraits, group shots and the general activities of the attendees during the event. As in years past, we relied on Canon Speedlights mounted to the hot shoes of the cameras. In previous years we used the Canon 430EX II Speedlights, but this year we purchased two of the more powerful Canon 580EX II Speedlights that were available at a great price in like new condition at MPB.com. In addition to more power, these offered a bit more finesse and capability in setting power levels when shooting them in manual mode -- which is our preference when using flash. They worked great and we will probably be selling two of our 430EX II Speedlights in the near future.
Again, If you'd like to get these cameras and lenses for yourself, we recommend shopping at MPB.com.
We also did not shoot just bare flash for this event. We always use a modifier even when using the Speedlights on camera. Our modifier of choice for this task has been the Rogue Flashbender (Amazon affiliate link). We've used these for years and they work great. This year, though, we forgot to bring them with us, leaving them at a remote location and out of reach. As a result, we tried the Waka Flash Diffuser Reflector Kit. (Amazon affiliate link). Functionally, the Waka kit seemed similar in result to the Flashbender, at a fraction of the price, making it the budget conscious choice. But again, we've used the Flashbenders successfully for years and recommend them if you don't mind spending a few extra dollars.
Emily Deem Kicks Off the Program
The night started with emcee Emily Deem, host of "Good Day Wisconsin" on Green Bay's Fox 11 News, introducing the night's schedule. Emily has hosted the event several times in the past and we always enjoy meeting her and photographing her as she presents the program for the night.
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Right after Emily introduced the program for the night the attendees were served a gourmet meal, as is traditional for this event. As usual, it was fantastic meal, enjoyed by all.
After the meal came speeches by key personnel of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley including from Club CEO Greg Lemke-Rochon. Greg gave a typically emotional speech but cut it a bit short this year so that he could be joined on stage by two sisters from the Club who sat down to answer questions from Greg about what the Club has meant for them in their young lives. Also speaking at the event were key members of the Clubs' leadership group.
Following the presentations by the Clubs' leaders, Alara Rajek, this year's Youth of the Year for the Fox Valley Boys & Girls Clubs, spoke about her experience with the crowd hanging on her every word.
When the speeches wrapped up, it was time for the key fundraiser of the night in the form of the auction. After several very generous donations pledges, the crowd could bid on a variety of exclusive products and services including trips and artwork, with the proceeds going to fund the Club's operations.
Finally, the night wrapped up with drinks and conversation in the "bar" area that the PAC had setup.
Once again, this was a successful event for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley.
Here's a gallery of some of additional shots from the evening.
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