When You Have the Chance

There is one basic fact that no one understands about photography (including amateur photographers *coughmecoughcough*): your first shot is never your best. Case in point: it took me over 24 hours just to sort and choose the photos for this blog post. Out of the 200 pictures I snagged at McDaniel College Advocacy Team's Night of Nets, only 72 were usable. Out of those, I chose the final 20, a.k.a. the ones I'm posting here. I was there from 8:30 to 11:30 PM, so it took three hours to get 20 photos. But I'm not complaining, because Night of Nets is an amazing cause, and anytime Mara (leader of McDaniel Advocacy Team) asks me to do something, I will do it. I don't care what part of my schedule I have to rearrange. I don't care what I have to miss. If she needs me, I will there.

Simply put, Night of Nets is about malaria. The main purposes are to raise money for bed nets and raise awareness about malaria. Participants sleep outside in tents all night, make t-shirts, give donations to organizations that distribute malaria treatment to the most-affected locations, paint and draw malaria-related posters, and write postcards to spread awareness of malaria. Advocacy Team does this every year. Last year (my freshman year) I was a lot more involved. This year, I couldn't be as involved in preparation (thank you, Allies Affinity House and peer mentor job), but Mara asked me if I wouldn't mind coming out and taking some photos on the big night. And like I said, I can never say no to Mara.

The full photoset will be up on Flickr and Facebook by Monday, but I wanted to post a preview here first. I love these pictures, not because they're mind-blowingly good (they're not--I still have a lot to learn about night photography), but because I love Night of Nets and I love that Mara let me be a part of it again. I can't be in Advocacy Team this semester thanks to a class at the exact same time as the meetings, but that doesn't mean I can't stay involved. And believe me, I will do anything I can to stay involved in something as amazing as Advocacy Team.



The highlights of Night of Nets 2012: