Event shooting

[astroNikon]

I would have raised the camera up a bit more to get it more direct on or slightly upwards pointed down to her.

that's a weird ring on her right hand.

Thanks. I was the only place I could be. It was tight.

raise the camera up above your head ... use the flippy LCD screen.

Ok, I forget I have that on the XT2.

On my D600 I got really good at pointing it without actually seeing through the viewfinder/ fixed LCD. I would take a few shots but usually got what I wanted. Hey, it's digital, no film to pay processing for.

 

[Gary A.]

The WB has been covered, shooting events can be quite cumbersome due to movement restrictions and not wanting to become a distraction to the audience. But, the big but, I would have shot long, tight and wide open (between F/4 and F/2.8). 50% or more of the composition is superfluous, not needed to tell the story. The mic blocking much of the face is problematic and a different angle may have been better. I understand that sometimes there is no 'other' angle available. If no other angle is available, then wait for the speaker to break away from the mic, at the end, a smile ... when they make a gesture ... usually there are opportunities when the speaker breaks from the mic. Going tight will emphasis the eyes and smile/mouth, when/if the speaker breaks from the mic. The ring and fluffy sleeve on the left are quite distracting.

 

[jcdeboever]

The WB has been covered, shooting events can be quite cumbersome due to movement restrictions and not wanting to become a distraction to the audience. But, the big but, I would have shot long, tight and wide open (between F/4 and F/2.8). 50% or more of the composition is superfluous, not needed to tell the story. The mic blocking much of the face is problematic and a different angle may have been better. I understand that sometimes there is no 'other' angle available. If no other angle is available, then wait for the speaker to break away from the mic, at the end, a smile ... when they make a gesture ... usually there are opportunities when the speaker breaks from the mic. Going tight will emphasis the eyes and smile/mouth, when/if the speaker breaks from the mic. The ring and fluffy sleeve on the left are quite distracting.

I really need to pickup that 50-140 2.8, it would have been ideal this day. Its been on backorder for weeks. She was singing. Good stuff to know, I really should of asked what to do prior to the event. I did get some good candids though and I texted her a few shots and she was very pleased. Thank God she don't know what all y'all know.

 

[Gary A.]

That's the lens I would have used. You've been shelling out a lot of bucks on gear recently ... you must be getting serious about photography.

 

[jcdeboever]

That's the lens I would have used. You've been shelling out a lot of bucks on gear recently ... you must be getting serious about photography.

I don't know about that. I just been making great commission checks and buying glass that covers me in all aspects. The 55-200 would have been gritty in that light and I will sell it when I pickup the 50-140 because I have the 1.4TC I can throw on it.

 

[vintagesnaps]

It can be tight at events and sometimes I've scooted a step at a time (as a crowd usually seems to shift periodically, people don't seem to stand perfectly still, just takes time to work your way thru). Or I've leaned one direction or the other if that's the only way to adjust my vantage point. It just isn't always ideal. This would have been better to move a little to change the vantage point enough to get the other person's arm out of the frame and 'move' the microphone.

I agree with Gary about the timing. I might take a picture to get something (depends on what it is) but you'd have the length of the song at least to get more than one shot. I think it takes practice to get the hang of the timing. And helps to go early to scout out some possible good vantage points, look thru the viewfinder and see how photos will look (taking into consideration people will be in seats or standing once those seats and/or floor space are full).

I'd suggest more practice, maybe try going to events just for fun where it's allowed for anybody to bring in cameras and take pictures. I think if you agree to do an event and don't yet have the experience it might not always turn out so well and the person may not always be so happy with the results.

 

[GWWhite]

Just so you know AWB can be spotty. And when multiple color sources are involved, it pretty much sucks. Odds are from the original WB on the image I would guess you were in a mixture of tungsten and fluorescent lights. That is probably what caused the green tint. If the light is stationary you can Custom WB to compensate. If it is changing constantly, you can only do what you can do.

 

[Derrel]

One of the issues with this picture is the way it looks based in most part on the lens is focal length used. Gary A's suggestion of shooting tight makes sense; the issue is that she's shown in front of a door, and because the focal length used was relatively short, and the camera was close to her, she literally is shown as being wider than a door. Psychologically, that's probably not the optimal way to render this, a woman standing, and speaking into a microphone...a "podium shot", a pretty common news shot type.

A longer lens length would have greatly narrowed the angle of view behind the subject, and she could have been shown half-body, or tighter, and with the door reduced to an OOF blurred segment of brown-toned wood. The 40-150mm lens from 20 to 40 feet back would have allowed you to zoom in and select good angles of view, yet would have de-focused the backdrop somewhat, but more importantly than the focus, a longer lens length would have given "background control", which would have made this into more of a photographic interpretation, more so than what it is now, a recording of the scene, shot in that semi-wide-angle type focal length zone that shows too much of what is behind the subject.

Podium shots are a staple of many news stories...somebody at a podium, rostrum, or on-stage, talking into a microphone. At times, what is behind the speaker is very important: think politcal rallies, and throngs of supporters, or protestors, with signs, etc.. This OTOH was a pretty pedestrian scene, so the door behind her needs to be minimized. Telephoto segmenting (did I just make up a new photo phrase?)the scene would have really helped!

 

[jcdeboever]

One of the issues with this picture is the way it looks based in most part on the lens is focal length used. Gary A's suggestion of shooting tight makes sense; the issue is that she's shown in front of a door, and because the focal length used was relatively short, and the camera was close to her, she literally is shown as being wider than a door. Psychologically, that's probably not the optimal way to render this, a woman standing, and speaking into a microphone...a "podium shot", a pretty common news shot type.

A longer lens length would have greatly narrowed the angle of view behind the subject, and she could have been shown half-body, or tighter, and with the door reduced to an OOF blurred segment of brown-toned wood. The 40-150mm lens from 20 to 40 feet back would have allowed you to zoom in and select good angles of view, yet would have de-focused the backdrop somewhat, but more importantly than the focus, a longer lens length would have given "background control", which would have made this into more of a photographic interpretation, more so than what it is now, a recording of the scene, shot in that semi-wide-angle type focal length zone that shows too much of what is behind the subject.

Podium shots are a staple of many news stories...somebody at a podium, rostrum, or on-stage, talking into a microphone. At times, what is behind the speaker is very important: think politcal rallies, and throngs of supporters, or protestors, with signs, etc.. This OTOH was a pretty pedestrian scene, so the door behind her needs to be minimized. Telephoto segmenting (did I just make up a new photo phrase?)the scene would have really helped!

Thanks. All the responses are super helpful and will guide me next time. I am going to do some editing to try and clean some of these up. I will clean this one up and re-post to clarify y'all's instruction. Good stuff as always for a noob like me. Great forum.