We sometimes go through quite a lot of energy drinks and my view on it is that it is a positive thing in terms of safety. Basically, when you’re out on an industrial or mining photography assignment, it often involves working from before sunrise to well after sunset, with probably a hard day of surface or underground photography taking place in adverse conditions between the two. These can have factors like extreme heat and humidity combined with hand hauling heavy equipment over long distances as well as up and down many flights of stairs or ladders.

This is all great – it’s free gym and keeps us fit without us having the choice of skipping it when we’re tired. However, a little assistance from energy drinks helps to get us safely home after such a day. Often the danger is compounded by the fact that the mine or plant in question is most likely to be quite remote, leaving us driving through the dark on potholed “B” roads.
I’m not generally in favour of artificial stimulants, but if it’s a choice between falling asleep at the wheel and getting home safely – better we grab the bull and get some wings.
We try and stay off the stuff as much as possible reasoning that you probably develop a tolerance of some sort to it and then , when you need it most, it may not be as effective.