After our last anniversary event, I quickly came to the realization that I had taken on about two jobs too many as I was running around like a headless chicken for most of the night (I had to perform in two numbers, and was in charge of all the media for the event). Live and learn, right? 😛 Luckily, things went a lot smoother for me at Utopia this year as I only had to concern myself with taking photos and videos for the event (much thx to Brian for his help with the vids).
This also gave me the chance to spend more time putting my new lens, the Canon 24-105L f4 through the paces. Event photography can be quite the challenge for your lens, as you’re attempting to lock onto fast moving subjects in a poorly lit room. Well, I’m happy to report that the hype is real my people, haha! I will admit that I had a lot of questions going into the night as this was my first event shooting with an “L” series lens, and questioned whether its performance would justify the price.
I was definitely happy with the speed of the autofocus, as some of my previous lenses would really go hunting for dancers in the dark before locking focus. Also, I find that the IQ (image quality) is generally much cleaner than the previous lenses that I’d been using for events. It may not be obviously visible when comparing images that have been down-sized for the web, but overall, the contrast, color and sharpness are definitely much improved when comparing the larger raw files. Last but not least, how can I not discuss the constant f4? Having a fixed aperture lens is literally a god-send, as I no longer needed to reset the exposure every time I changed the focal length!
Overall, Utopia was a great night full of amazing performances and social dancing. It was a pleasure seeing such a great turnout from the NY dance scene and to see so many friends and family under one roof! Also, the performance lineup was one of the most solid list of performers that I’ve seen in a long time! 🙂
I’ve included a few sample images in this post, but if you’d like to see all the images from the event, just click on the following link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.903654903038042.1073741838.632343580169177&type=3
*If the videos aren’t showing up on the e-mail or reader, please click on the following link and you’ll be directed to the full list of videos on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/theMapes24
Alex & Desiree
Mapes24 
I love reading about all the salsa! I’m just taking lessons myself in Miami!
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Glad you enjoyed the post Gabriela, and I hope you’ve been enjoying your salsa classes! The intrinsic value I’ve found through dance is something that simply cannot be defined by words, and I’m sure you’ll be feeling the same! 🙂
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