Taking Pictures of a Speaker for my Newspaper

[hotrocks]

Tommorrow I'm assigned to take pictures (for the newspaper) of our resident scholar, who is a bioethicist speaking to our school.....they are probably going to be somewhat candid shots...aka she will be speaking to the audience, etc.

Any tips on getting a better than average shot?

 

[JerryPH]

I do not see why this would be in the "beyond the basics" section, its rudimentary at most.

Use off camera flash and/or a fast lens for additional shutter speed.

Tell your subject in advance that you will be taking perhaps 10 pictures for the paper with the flash and maybe 10-20 pictures without a flash.

Set up a 10-15 minute posed session with them after the event and get some portrait shots.

Use the few that look the best for your paper.

 

[KristinaS]

Use off camera flash and/or a fast lens for additional shutter speed.

Tell your subject in advance that you will be taking perhaps 10 pictures for the paper with the flash and maybe 10-20 pictures without a flash.

Set up a 10-15 minute posed session with them after the event and get some portrait shots.

I agree with everything but the last sentence. Photojournalism+posed shots=bad. I wouldn't set up any posed shots at all...stick with the candids.
Pictures of speakers tend to be boring most of the time, so my advice is to get there early, check out the scene and look for interesting ways to shoot it, if possible.

 

[usayit]

Show up early... Scout out locations to shoot from prior to the show. You'll already want to have gone through the photoshoot in your mind when the speaker arrives. Make sure the organizers know you and will work with you for the photos.

 

[JerryPH]

I agree with everything but the last sentence. Photojournalism+posed shots=bad.

Bad how?

If the location is low light and flashes are MAYBE forbidden, or the speaker is very dynamic and animated, all his pics could come out with motion blur... so the 10-15 min at the end are what I call "life saver" shots.

He doesn't NEED to use them, but if nothing else, he has 5-10 pictures in a controlled environment that guarantee that he has usable pictures.

Why not cover your hiney?

 

[KristinaS]

Bad how?

If the location is low light and flashes are MAYBE forbidden, or the speaker is very dynamic and animated, all his pics could come out with motion blur... so the 10-15 min at the end are what I call "life saver" shots.

He doesn't NEED to use them, but if nothing else, he has 5-10 pictures in a controlled environment that guarantee that he has usable pictures.

Why not cover your hiney?

Bad because it is unethical. Photojournalism is about capturing a true-to-life moment in time...expression, feeling, etc. It is not about posing a shot.
I work at a newspaper and I know we can get into serious trouble for posing shots. However, I do also know that many photojournalist do posed shots and get away with it.

 

[JerryPH]

Bad because it is unethical. Photojournalism is about capturing a true-to-life moment in time...expression, feeling, etc. It is not about posing a shot.

I do not see it as such... first, we are talking a school, not a commercial newspaper. Second, we are talkng about someone of limited experience (not a professional) AND limited equipment.

I do not think the school paper would fire him if he was forced to use one single posed shot if all of his other ones were unusable. I seriously doubt 99% of the people looking at this article would even know what to look for concerning a posed or candid shot.

Now if that bothered you that much, we could play the game of...

"Sir, could I ask you to have a seat here for 30 seconds and explain to me that point about XYZ again?"

"Why sure my young man, you see..." SNAP! PJ ethics addressed... lol

Where there is a will... there is a way.

 

[KristinaS]

I do not see it as such... first, we are talking a school, not a commercial newspaper. Second, we are talkng about someone of limited experience (not a professional) AND limited equipment.

I do not think the school paper would fire him if he was forced to use one single posed shot if all of his other ones were unusable. I seriously doubt 99% of the people looking at this article would even know what to look for concerning a posed or candid shot.

Now if that bothered you that much, we could play the game of...

"Sir, could I ask you to have a seat here for 30 seconds and explain to me that point about XYZ again?"

"Why sure my young man, you see..." SNAP! PJ ethics addressed... lol

Where there is a will... there is a way.

I disagree and I really don't see how it makes a difference if it is a school newspaper or otherwise. I view working at a school newspaper as gearing up for the "real world". And in most cases, that's simply not going to fly with a "real" newspaper.

And on a side note, if the photographer can't get a decent shot from taking over 20 shots with and without flash of a speaker as you mentioned before, I don't see much hope when taking a few posed shots afterward either, whether or not they have the speaker explain their presentation again or not.

It really doesn't matter if "99% of the people looking at this article would even know what to look for concerning a posed or candid shot." It's simply not allowed in photojournalism. Plain and simple.

This also relates to editing photos for newspapers. Many daily newspapers do not even let the photographer edit their own images in photoshop in an effort to deter people from manipulating their pictures to make them look better.

Just to illustrate my point, check out this article :http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165165/
If you search the web, you will find many other instances of this.

I didn't mean for this to be as long-winded as it is, but it's something I really feel strongly about.

 

[JerryPH]

I didn't mean for this to be as long-winded as it is, but it's something I really feel strongly about.

I can see that you do.

 

[KristinaS]

I can see that you do.

Yeah, I guess that comes with being a photojournalism major and then working for a newspaper. I guess it was beat in my head over and over again.

Not specifically for you, Jerry, but anyone who might be interested in the ethics of photojournalism should check out the National Press Photographers Association Web site: http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

 

[JerryPH]

Not specifically for you, Jerry, but anyone who might be interested in the ethics of photojournalism should check out the National Press Photographers Association Web site: http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

I never turn down a chance to learn something new in photography, even if it is something that I have little immediate interest in.

I've placed the link in my favorites and will look at it later on tonight after work.

As for this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165165/

In professional PJ, I can understand why they frown upon that. And just to add insult to injury... boy was that a lousy PSing job to increase the amount of smoke! The guy's undeserving on several levels.

 

[KristinaS]

I never turn down a chance to learn something new in photography, even if it is something that I have little immediate interest in.

I've placed the link in my favorites and will look at it later on tonight after work.

As for this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165165/

In professional PJ, I can understand why they frown upon that. And just to add insult to injury... boy was that a lousy PSing job to increase the amount of smoke! The guy's undeserving on several levels.

Hahahaha! I know! It was horrible!

 

[RyanLilly]

Did he use PhotoShop or Microsoft Paint?:lmao: