Last Tuesday evening, National Fatherhood Initiative hosted its Fatherhood Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

I've photographed this event since 2005, and always enjoyed myself. Photographing an event like that presents a technical challenge and unique pressures, similar to that of a wedding: low light, active subjects, and a one-time-only chance to catch the moment.

Taking pictures of people while giving speeches presents a unique challenge: you want to catch the person talking, but not in a part of a sentence where their mouth appears odd or makes them look awkward. And some folks have more dynamic speaking faces than others, which you want to exploit whenever possible. This requires listening to what they're saying, and also reading their body language to anticipate when they might next move their hand a certain way, or even turn their head towards or away from the camera.

Event photography, for me, is people-watching on steroids.

For those who are interested, you can view a small gallery of the photographs, and see for yourself!