This is how short I am. Even in 2" heels. Every photo I took at this business/net working happy hour includes a view of the ceiling. I was looking up at Everyone. Some people were so tall, that with my wide angle lens, their heads seemed very far away, compared to their exaggeratedly close torsos. The people in this photo aren't even that tall, but you can see plenty of ceiling. Part of the challenge was that it was extremely crowded, so I couldn't back up much.

It was a friendly crowd - everyone in town for a media conference. I had several people tell me that I was doing a good job. I've been told that at other events. I often wonder, how do you know if I'm doing a good job? I actually mentioned this of someone at the wedding over the weekend. I said: Wait til you see the photos, then decide if I did a good job. The complimenter had replied: I know they'll be good. You know what you're doing. And you're friendly.

Which made me think: there's more to photography than taking a good photo. The people interaction part is huge, in both event and portrait photography. At weddings, I have to herd groups of 30 into a well composed group. At events I have to politely interrupt conversations and sweetly request to take a photo. With portraits, I have to converse to get people to feel comfortable. People don't want to pay for a surly/ aloof/ anti-social/ unfriendly/ obnoxious/ impatient/ shy/ bossy/ awkward photographer. It's one of the biggest differences between being a pro and a non-pro photographer - dealing with people. Unless of course, you're a landscape/ wildlife/ object etc photographer, but being nice never hurts anyways.