Unusual elements that tell the story better.

[molested_cow]

When shooting an event, it's very easy to get too immersed in what's the "main" thing. For example, going to a auto racing event and all photographers shoot are the cars. A basketball game and all you see are game shots. To me, 50% of the event is everything else especially the people.

A few times I am lucky to discover unusual elements during events that tell the story much more than anything else that I can find at the venue. It's like finding a treasure, because I was the only one who saw what it meant.

One unusual element I found, during a gay pride parade, was.... well, the thrash on the ground. To me it was more than enough to describe the event. Perhaps I did not take the best shot possible, but I thought it was a unusual chance that I saw it the way I did.

Another one was a little more predictable. I was exploring the famous old Packard Car factory, a huge abandoned industrial structure, and there was a doll laying on the concrete floor amongst other debris. Typically you see wide angle HDR shots of structures like that, but I zoomed in with a telephoto with the intention of the viewer's eye focused on the one spot, as opposed to moving around the image overwhelmed by highly textured details.

So what are your unusual elements? Care to share?

 

[imagemaker46]

I like the shot with the doll, angle looks good, makes you wonder why or who left it behind.

 

[bigtwinky]

From a photo walk in an abandonned building this past January. It was full of graffiti and awesome to check out (minus the ice on the stairs that had no railing)

 

[bigtwinky]

And another from a walk in the "hippy" part of town. Great buildings, staircases and people.... and little details

 

[molested_cow]

Winter in abandon buildings isn't always fun. There's a story in Detroit where they found a homeless guy in an elevator shaft, head first, frozen in ice with his legs sticking out. What happened was the guy fell into the shaft that was filled with water and no one found him. As the weather got colder, the water froze and then the police came along. The biggest mystery was how the police got the body out of there.

So, never go there alone and be careful.