Need help on Event coverage


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yamcake

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Aug 11, 2003
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Hi,

I recently got this school assignment to cover the orientation event. i wanted to do a sort of candid photos.
the shoots i took, all very lousy.
i know its pretty late to ask now, orientation ends tmr..

i found out 2 major problems in my shooting:

1) Low light.

In the hall, i used the flash tittled at an angle so as not to flash hard on the object. iso 400, eos 300d
the shutter is not fast enough to capture the mass dancing, came out blur and poor composition ( as in the subject is poorly placed, there wasn't any time to think, once is gone, its forever)
Any remedy for that?

2) The people just don't cooperate.

When dancing, the students are originally doing well, so i wanted to shoot them, i point, but they saw me! then they like stop dancing... turning away from me... etc.. the whole process from composition to shooting takes no less than i think 1.5 seconds. I put to the tele end to stand further to sort of disguise but still no use, hand shake, other people blocking the subject sets in...

i really am at a loss on what to shoot. the shots are all very messy and poor... i swear that i tried not to be pai say and stand walk around the place, not just hide at a corner and shoot. they just prehaps got tooo camera concious

Can you enlighten me about what you all will do in these circumstances. and prehaps tell me how press photog shoot duing events (doing candids, not like group photo)
 

either use a DV cam, or use a super wide angle and do waist level shots.
 

Clown said:
either use a DV cam, or use a super wide angle and do waist level shots.

dv cam? i'm doin photo..
 

yamcake said:
Hi,

I recently got this school assignment to cover the orientation event. i wanted to do a sort of candid photos.
the shoots i took, all very lousy.
i know its pretty late to ask now, orientation ends tmr..

i found out 2 major problems in my shooting:

1) Low light.

In the hall, i used the flash tittled at an angle so as not to flash hard on the object. iso 400, eos 300d
the shutter is not fast enough to capture the mass dancing, came out blur and poor composition ( as in the subject is poorly placed, there wasn't any time to think, once is gone, its forever)
Any remedy for that?

2) The people just don't cooperate.

When dancing, the students are originally doing well, so i wanted to shoot them, i point, but they saw me! then they like stop dancing... turning away from me... etc.. the whole process from composition to shooting takes no less than i think 1.5 seconds. I put to the tele end to stand further to sort of disguise but still no use, hand shake, other people blocking the subject sets in...

i really am at a loss on what to shoot. the shots are all very messy and poor... i swear that i tried not to be pai say and stand walk around the place, not just hide at a corner and shoot. they just prehaps got tooo camera concious

Can you enlighten me about what you all will do in these circumstances. and prehaps tell me how press photog shoot duing events (doing candids, not like group photo)

1) if it's the same old kinda dance in my secondary sch days... the stage would be quite cluttered? but one thing the flash is not going to cover the stage.. why dun you try just using HIGH ISO since the 300D should be quite clean.

2) sounds like you got a bunch of shy faces.
Why dun you start talking to them.... maybe they wun be so jia lat, or you have the stressed out look then they scared haha. 1 tip always :D
As for candids... you just gotta be FAST!!! and hush hush... or just go up front.. and dun scare the buggers... since it's been so many days already they should have already accomedated to your presence... and one last thing is to hoppe for a better day tomorrow! ;)
 

:nono:
yamcake said:
Hi,

I recently got this school assignment to cover the orientation event. i wanted to do a sort of candid photos.
the shoots i took, all very lousy.
i know its pretty late to ask now, orientation ends tmr..

i found out 2 major problems in my shooting:

1) Low light.

In the hall, i used the flash tittled at an angle so as not to flash hard on the object. iso 400, eos 300d
the shutter is not fast enough to capture the mass dancing, came out blur and poor composition ( as in the subject is poorly placed, there wasn't any time to think, once is gone, its forever)
Any remedy for that?

2) The people just don't cooperate.

When dancing, the students are originally doing well, so i wanted to shoot them, i point, but they saw me! then they like stop dancing... turning away from me... etc.. the whole process from composition to shooting takes no less than i think 1.5 seconds. I put to the tele end to stand further to sort of disguise but still no use, hand shake, other people blocking the subject sets in...

i really am at a loss on what to shoot. the shots are all very messy and poor... i swear that i tried not to be pai say and stand walk around the place, not just hide at a corner and shoot. they just prehaps got tooo camera concious

Can you enlighten me about what you all will do in these circumstances. and prehaps tell me how press photog shoot duing events (doing candids, not like group photo)[/QUOTE


Hi there,
the light you still can use it cos I think is your mode and what mode you are using.when you are doing shooting try to shoot as far as you can or ask them for permission first before you start shooting otherwise you are wasting time over there
 

1. ISO800
2. go second storey and use long lens
3. walk straight into the dance crowd and shoot "blind": hold cam high up in 1 hand, use wrist to tilt down and just fire away. setting: flash on, f5.6, 28mm equivalent, ISO800. dont care the shutter speed. most of the time it wont go lower than 1/15s. half the time u get a useble shot. i used this method to freeze a group of beng-sters gyrating in the water fountain open disco @ suntec 2001 NYE countdown
4. dancer: if u r taxed then horizontal composition; half body shot for 2 dancers at a time; also does fine. dont always have to show full body framing. i was shooting in a dimly lit pub and for a group of 5 dancers. i found this method works ok. also try to cover each dancer individually. if u find it hard to frame properly then tilt for framing. looks more dymanic even.
5. ask the school to get EOS1D :bsmilie:
 

with the 300D, you could set the shutter speed in the Tv and manual mode to as fast as 1/200s and use normal flash sync. This should be fast enough to freeze the dancers.
 

I have also covered my sch orientation event last year using a sony 707. Think the AF of my camera much worse than your 300d. Got the shots through experience.


1. try not to go beyond 125mm, and use a external flash, with 1/90 or higher speed (at the expense of ambient light).

2. no need to shoot from far, shoot them when they are dancing or doing something, they wont pause to look at u(they will be too into dancing).

3. anticipate, jus lock ur focus first, then once u go there and snap, dont wait.

4. Like what ppl suggest in this forum, shoot at waist level so u wont be noticed easily, maybe urs will be harder cos u do not have the swivel lcd but nevertheless, keep trying

5. i suppose they dance at the hall or an open space right(as in my case), dont tilt ur flash, it wont work, cos the celiling is too high (open dont even have ceiling), u can either use omni bounce, a bounce card or u can stop down ur aperatureso the flash not that harsh.

6. PR, interact with the ppl, they should be friendly, tell them ur purpose, i suppose u are from the photographic society and wants to shot and show their faces in the sch mag and so on... they would be glad to do that.

7. u can preview after u shot, if it is bad, jus shoot the same thing again until u are satisfied. That is why digital are for right? ;)

Thats my experience, hope u can get better shots. :cool:
 

hey, a big thank you to your responses... i'll try to incorperate your methods, in covering the next orientation 3 months later.

The last day was a camp fire, there's is like no strong external light source. naturally i had to use a flash, but the hard light effect comes in, the people in foreground is slightly over exp, but the background is only a little exposed....

Setting wise its like iso 1600, 1/30 F3.5, using 420ex.
i afrain from tele as my hands aren't that steady at that setting... so quite stuck...

if met with such conditions, without strong lightsource i stress, what you would do?

sweat100 said:
2. no need to shoot from far, shoot them when they are dancing or doing something, they wont pause to look at u(they will be too into dancing).

Hi,i like all your suggestions, just as what i need, BUT for the point above, its like, they just shun away, they aren't into dancing, just "slacking" i would say.. looking around... see got camera then try to run away...
 

I also covered my sch's orientation this year.

Used ISO 400, Manual, 1/200, F4 for most of the shots in the hall.. including mass dance.. Flash bounced.

Took most of the shots using 50mm f1.8
 

junyang said:
AJC orientation? :p

hey... how did you know that.. :dunno: :nono: :dunno: :nono: :bsmilie:

the mass dance is in the open... damn.. i don't have proper bouncing equipment..
 

i was in AJC for the 1st 3 months last yr :)
 

Wow that is cool! i covered Aj orientation that year
For the fire, i recommend u to use tripod without flash, using flash will kill the pics.
I think i know who u are liao, ;)
u should also know who am i. haha... :cool:

The ppl shunting, change to other ppl, there are so many for u to shoot.
generally for guys, they are more shy as compared to the girls.
 

it will get better when u get to university... i've been the chief photographer for engineering freshmen orientation camp for two years running and shall be going into the third year coming July
 

sweat100 said:
Wow that is cool! i covered Aj orientation that year
For the fire, i recommend u to use tripod without flash, using flash will kill the pics.
I think i know who u are liao, ;)
u should also know who am i. haha... :cool:

The ppl shunting, change to other ppl, there are so many for u to shoot.
generally for guys, they are more shy as compared to the girls.

hey... i got a rough idea who you are... very happy to see you in here...
maybew we could meet up and discuss in depth about these problems and solutions
 

from my experience, use a prime lens : 85mm, 100mm or better still 135mm.
No one can beat the speed of these lens. Ideal for candid shots. Usually less than 0.5sec from compo to press. my favourite is 100mm f2... in hall and low light situation.
 

i'm a big fan of low light candid photography - indoors lighting, and esp candle-lit scenes.

i would use ISO1600 or faster, and a 1.4 or faster prime, no flash. If the lighting does not change, i would shoot a grey card and set exposure at manual (and set WB at the same time with a white card). If it does, tough. The metering typically goes haywire in low light with a few spots of strong light here and there.

Focussing in low light is tricky. If your eyes are very sharp and your lens is bright, go MF. But since you're using a 300D, forget MF. For AF, be aware the sensor needs a strong horizontal or vertical line to focus - and only use the centre one. Lock on the nearest line to your subject (eg, hair-face line, collar-neck line, etc) and fire. If your subject notices you, the candid moment is lost, so i don't recompose for the first shot.

Another reason i don't use flash for candids - after a while, the people get used to a photographer's presence and ignore him, but the flash will keep drawing attention.
 

yamcake said:
2) The people just don't cooperate.

I've covered like 1 to 2 orientations before, although it's at university level. One thing you can try is to get your OGLs or your friends helping out to pose for shots, and then ask them to jio the freshmen for the photoshoot as well. After they get used to you and your eqiupment, it will be easier to take candids. Especially for digital, you can show then what you take on the spot--a great way to make friends with them.

It's a pity that being the resident photographer you can't really participate in the activities together with them, but you can try having meals together with them, or just chit-chat during the slacking sessions. Show yourself to be a friendly senior as well, not just someone who's "out there" trying to do a job. Enjoy the orientation together with them! ;)
 

Ah Pao said:
I've covered like 1 to 2 orientations before, although it's at university level. One thing you can try is to get your OGLs or your friends helping out to pose for shots, and then ask them to jio the freshmen for the photoshoot as well. After they get used to you and your eqiupment, it will be easier to take candids. Especially for digital, you can show then what you take on the spot--a great way to make friends with them.

It's a pity that being the resident photographer you can't really participate in the activities together with them, but you can try having meals together with them, or just chit-chat during the slacking sessions. Show yourself to be a friendly senior as well, not just someone who's "out there" trying to do a job. Enjoy the orientation together with them! ;)


u right on, dude. dont forget to flatter all the pretty girls that u see :bsmilie: commonly known as "psy-ops"... make them feel like runway models. or a.k.a "human factor" other than all the above mentioned technical tricks. gambatte ne!
 

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