need advice and tips

ipon · Jan 12, 2006

hey guy and girls, i have a gathering on sunday to go to,a dinner at varsity and scaveger hunt afterwards. any advice on capturing the moment? i don't want to take snap shots that will look like your regular average joe pocket digital camera pictures..( if there is a joe here i don't mean you )

hope you understand what i'm asking.. thank for your advice and opinions like always...

'Daniel' · Jan 12, 2006

Anticipation and reaction time.

markc · Jan 12, 2006

In my opinion, most of that comes from composition.

http://photoinf.com/General/Geoff_Lawrence/Composition.html
http://photoinf.com/General/Gloria_Hopkins/Composition_Getting_Beyond_the_Snapshot.htm
http://photoinf.com/General/Theresa_Husarik/Photography_Tips_-_Composition_Refresher.htm

ipon · Jan 12, 2006

with the equipment i have in my sig how far or close i have to be from the item or person i'm focus on with each lens? please bare with me for i am a newbi trying to learn..

Big Mike · Jan 12, 2006

Try not to get people with that "deer in the headlights" look...especially if it's dark. If you have or can get an accessory flash, use it. Bounce or diffuse the light if you can.

If you can do it without flash, that might be a good option as well.

Rob · Jan 12, 2006

Get right up there in people's faces and fill the frame with information.

Two classic crap snapshot facets: Red eye and people too far away with the frame filled with clutter and crap.

Avoid mirrors and windows indoors. Get a separate flash or put tissue/rizla over your built-in and step it down -1/3 stop to avoid redeye and rabbit-in-headlights effect.

Use the wide lens and the long lens so your pictures are a different composition to a "standard" 28-35mm wide snapshot camera.

Sharpness - hold the camera very still, preferably shoot with a tripod at suitable moments.

Do at least one "motion blur" shot with no flash, narrow aperture and tripod. It says "busy" as a shot and wows anyone who's never done photography seriously.

Get down on the floor, then stand on a table to take shots. People will stare and laugh and you'll get great emotional shots. Be an entertainer as well as a photographer.

Have fun, get happy and make people join in with you. Don't take no for an answer. "YOU will be in the next picture" then take it.

Erm... anyone else?

Rob

Rob · Jan 12, 2006

Big Mike said:
Try not to get people with that "deer in the headlights" look...especially if it's dark. If you have or can get an accessory flash, use it. Bounce or diffuse the light if you can.

If you can do it without flash, that might be a good option as well.

Woah dude - synchronicity! I'll see your deer and raise you a rabbit! :lmao:

ipon · Jan 12, 2006

oh yea this will be at night. thanks markc for the informative links..

ipon · Jan 12, 2006

this is great!! you guys are being very helpful....:thumbsup:

markc · Jan 12, 2006

ipon said:
with the equipment i have in my sig how far or close i have to be from the item or person i'm focus on with each lens? please bare with me for i am a newbi trying to learn..

It really depends on what you are trying to show and what angle you are using, especially since you are using zooms.

Since you are working with zooms, I'd suggest limiting yourself to certain angle stops rather than the whole range. Something like 18mm, 35mm, 55mm, 85mm, 135mm, and 200mm. Or whatever stops are marked on the lens. You don't say if you are using film or digital. If it's film, the 18-55 is a wide angle and the 55-200 is a telephoto. Wide will put more into the image than the eye normally sees. A telephoto puts less in. Wide will exagerate distance between objects (front to back, not side to side). Avoid wide when getting close to people. It will exagerate sizes of facial features. Nose will be large and ears will be small because the nose is closer to the lens. Telephoto will compress distance. At 55mm, the lens will see things about the same way as the eye does. It's "normal". Try to make you focal length choices (mm) based on this. If you are using digital, 35mm would be considered "normal".

Since you are shooting at night, you'll probably have to use flash. I personally hate on-camera flash, as it's one of the main things that says "snapshot" to me, but everyone has to make do with the situation in front of them. Depending on your camera, you may be able to adjust your flash output. You could try upping the ISO and using a wide aperture (low f number) so that you can dial back on the flash, making it not as harsh. You'd need a bit of light where you are shooting for that to work well though.

If you have a separate flash, get a cord for it so you can hold the camera in one hand and the flash in another, high and off to the side.

Hope it all goes well, and good luck.