Spirit of America - C&C

[Nevermore1]

I don't post many photos but wanted to post these to see if anyone could provide any tips for the next time I get to attend the Spirit of America. I try to go whenever it is close enough to the DC area that it can be a day trip (this is the first time in about 12 years it has been close enough that I am aware of), I attended almost every year from when I was about 11 until I was 27 when they decided to travel to different cities with the show. There is a lot of noise in these photos since the ISO was up pretty high due to the lighting (the ISO was set to auto) and I was limited to taking photos from one spot sitting down since this was a show at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA and I didn't want to block anyone else's view. Anyways recommendations are very welcome. There are more on my Flickr page including one which kind of shows the perspective of the floor from where I was sitting. Also, I am aware that the color is probably off, my dog ate my monitor calibrator so it hasn't been calibrated recently . Thanks!

EDIT TO ADD - Forgot to mention that I did not use a flash for any of these as they were probably too far away for it to have done any good. Also, from past years I know that they don't like flash being used during certain parts of the show as it is a distraction/safety issue to them.

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[Nevermore1]

Ok, no one has any comments about what I could have done differently? Trying to get some input as to if there is any way to improve when dealing with crappy conditions such as this.

 

[snowbear]

Offhand, the only real thing I see is that some are not level. As far as angle, distance, etc - you can only work with what you have.

I like #4 - you might want to try cropping #7 the same way - concentrate on the guys at left. The smoke covers the rest of the group so you might as well crop them out.

It's been a while since I've seen this show.

 

[Rick50]

Is your dog the proper color now?
Hey, these look pretty good. Without flash you get what you get as far as color temperature. Like I say these look good.

 

[Nevermore1]

Is your dog the proper color now?
Hey, these look pretty good. Without flash you get what you get as far as color temperature. Like I say these look good.

He's still breathing even though I was ready to kill him! He's about 9 years old and never outgrew the "let's destroy anything and everything I can" stage. The other day he found a box of chocolate pudding mix on the counter and proceeded to shred it to bits, I still haven't gotten the stain off the carpet.

Thanks for the input from both of you. It's good to know that I did a decent job considering I'm still trying to figure out stuff. Like I've said before, I've been taking pics for at least 20 years but am just recently (since beginning of the year) getting serious about learning how to use the different settings on the camera instead of keeping it on full auto all the time.

 

[sm4him]

Yeah, I can't give much input either; it really looks like you did about all you could without being able to use flash and/or being up close to the stage/action. I especially like the second one, really nice lighting and color on that one.

I've never even heard of this, but it looks like a pretty neat thing to see!

 

[Nevermore1]

It is a great show that travels to 3 different cities each September. It is put on by the Military District of Washington (MDW) and goes over the Army's history and they also have the ceremonial units perform. All the soldiers in the show volunteer their time in addition to their regular duties and there is no charge to attend. Tickets and schedule are usually posted late June or July. They have only missed doing the show for a few years right after 9/11. It is an excellent show and I always encourage people to attend one if they can. If you do a search for MDW Spirit of America it should pull up the site which gives more info.

 

[hamlet]

I feel like the shots are cramped. That's just a personal preference really, i like a little room for my subjects to be in.

 

[Designer]

Ok, no one has any comments about what I could have done differently? Trying to get some input as to if there is any way to improve when dealing with crappy conditions such as this.

I'd say you did quite well considering the conditions. Even the one of WWII (?) where it is very dark. The war was very dark.

 

[MichaelHenson]

Yeah, I don't know that I have anything that I could add...I guess just be sure you're shooting in RAW format so you have as much "wiggle room" in post as possible...Looks like a cool show and you got some good shots!