Assignment: Blackberry

Research in Motion Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins holds up a prototype of the Blackberry 10 smartphone at the Blackberry World Event on May 1, 2012 in Orlando, Fla. Research in Motion is set to launch a new generation of BlackBerry 10 smartphones later this year while continuing to lose market share to Apple's iPhone and Android devices. REUTERS/David Manning (UNITED STATES)

Earlier this month, I covered the 2012 Blackberry World for Reuters News Service as it was held at Marriott's World Center in Orlando, Fla.

(Full Disclosure: I use the iPhone but I once owned a Blackberry)

I was sent to cover the keynote speech and presentation by CEO Thorsten Heins.  This was a real-time, send-as-it-happens event.  The good folks at Research in Motion had a giant press area, complete with hard wired ethernet and some seriously nice stage lighting.  No restrictions, could go anywhere.

With my limited wire service experience, I've learned that in live events, its a race.  Make good photos, move them, make more good photos.  Its about SPEED and QUALITY.  It doesn't matter if you're first if you photos are bad, likewise no one will see a fantastic shot if you don't file fast enough.

I started my day by making a basic shot out of signage for the advance story.  I knew that there was an initial story about the keynote that would go out shortly after it started.  Needed a few photos for that.

Then we moved on to the actual event, where I would shoot for 10 minutes, move photos, repeat.  I wanted to make the basic photos as well as anything I could to incorporate it with the giant photo screens.  The stage lights were balanced with the background, so it was all a matter of composition.

The big announcement of the show was the unveiling of the prototype of the next Blackberry smartphone.

Research in Motion Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins holds up a prototype of the Blackberry 10 smartphone at the Blackberry World Event on May 1, 2012 in Orlando, Fla. Research in Motion is set to launch a new generation of BlackBerry 10 smartphones later this year while continuing to lose market share to Apple's iPhone and Android devices. REUTERS/David Manning (UNITED STATES)

If you're ever wondering if you need the 300 for a stage event, the answer is yes.  You never know when someone is going to pull something out onstage and you need a nice tight detail of it. Bring the 300.

I tried the silhouette (from my press row seat) and I had it better - there just wasn't a memory card in the camera.  Somehow, the custom feature that allows my camera to photograph without a card in it was turned on.  I messed up and missed a shot I wanted.

I filed the rest of my photos and wandered around the trade show, photographing phones and trying to find anything interesting visually.  This one I made just for me and moved it.  I'm a sucker for great light so I waited for the moving light to spotlight a person near the Blackberry-wired Porsche and moved it across the wire.