I spent the last four months of 2018 working with Block.One - covering their global Hackathon competition. Block.One have a platform called EOSIO that Blockchain developers use to code with, enabling the Blockchain to be used for virtually any application. Cities I covered included London, San Francisco and Cape Town. These were typically three day events and 12 hour days with very early starts. I photographed many aspects, from standard corporate imagery of executives presenting, to contestants engaged in their 24 hour non-stop programming and of course detail and mood imagery. This was an extraordinary opportunity to be involved in and it gave me an insight into how the Blockchain is going to shape our digital future. I met and worked with some great people; the marketing team at Block.One and the video production team at Swanwood Productions. As it was a very large job to cover, around 500 contestants each event, I also worked with another excellent photographer, an old friend of mine Amanda Searle.
I used two cameras as always, with various lenses. The Fuji X-H1 being my main body and the evergreen Fuji X-T2 as the second. I also used a hand-made British version of the Holdfast Moneymaker. This is an all leather camera multi-camera harness which is designed to take the load onto your shoulders and away from your neck. The design is very simple and goes all the way back to ‘Wild West’ gun holsters. The version I used is available form ETSY from an artisan manufacturer based in the south of England, called Cloverlilly. At less than half the price of its American counterpart, it’s a no-brainer and works incredibly well.
In addition, as I was carrying a lot of kit abroad, I invested in the WANDRD PRVKE backpack, 31 litre version. It holds all my kit, two cameras, five lenses and associated bits with ease.
Thanks to Block.One and Swanwood Productions for the opportunity. Here’s to a successful 2019 for all.