The city I live in, London Ontario, is gaining strength as a rad city to live in.  One of the reasons behind the increased awareness of London comes from events like Ignite London.  From the title, you should be able to know that there is a 2nd Ignite coming soon (October 12th). While Ignite isn’t a a photography specific event, it does provide photographic opportunities.

What is Ignite London?

Ignite is all about bursts of short presentations on ideas. It can’t be better explained than by Ignite London directly:

Ignite is a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea – and the guts to get on stage and share it. Run by local volunteers, Ignite London is a force for raising the collective IQ and building connections in our city.

Ignite and Inception

What I enjoy, and what some of us tend to forget, is that the idea can already have happened.  I used to think of the “idea” as a thought or project that has not happened yet, but it would be fantastic to pursue or create.  While an idea has to start from a place of imagination, you don’t have to present ideas that don’t exist yet. The idea can already exist, but you can plant it into the minds of many more.  Limiting presentations to 5 minutes forces the people with guts to plant the simplest form of idea in the viewers minds.

Where does Volunteer Photography Come into Play

Remember that Ignite London is run by volunteers.  Having been at the first Ignite London event, a few things happened to me that I didn’t expect. The 2 elements that I experienced are connected together. A negative experience leads into the positive experience.   I’m not saying I had a negative experience at Ignite London.  I had fun in the time I was there.  My issue was internal and related to time.  I had not paid attention to the lineup schedule of presentations and thus I did not plan my night accordingly.  I had to leave after a couple hours – right before the talks started up.  Thankfully the quick talks were video taped and placed on YouTube – Check out the IgniteLDN Channel.

Because I didn’t plan out my time accordingly that night, I had to leave and I came away with only a few images seen here.  I felt disappointed inside.  I’ve learned that I can’t ruminate on negative feelings and instead look at ways that my camera can overcome the negativity.  Volunteer event photography for local events like Ignite London, and more, will be on my list to get to and take candid photographs.

Volunteer Event Photographer

Sometimes I fall behind the times and hear about events late or after they occur. To help with the growth of our city, I need to hold myself accountable to keep updated.  This becomes a way to give back to the community, raise awareness of these amazingly brilliant events, and bring awareness to why I do what I do on a daily basis.  This becomes a Win Win Win.

As I hold myself accountable, I would love to hear from organizations and events that are going on that could need some help capturing it.  This wasn’t an idea I expected from Ignite London.  After all, I missed the presentations right?

I look forward to future events, like Ignite London, to make up for my blunder. I look forward to contribute to the movement in London,Ontario to become one of the best cities in the World and bring awareness to my vision of the world free from depression using photography.

Few More Images: