Today is the day after the night before, where I attended my first Photographers Event, as part of my work experience and general experience for my Photography Career. In my last post I mentioned how it was going to be a Wedding Event, so I was getting all excited...but the plan changed slightly. Stuart had been given two offers for Friday night and guessing that this other event paid him more he chose this one. This one meaning a Staff Awards Ceremony. It didn't sound too interesting, also adding to the fact it was Reading Town Hall. To my surprise when I turned up at six pm, after waffling down my Shepherds Pie dinner, I found the town hall had a modern decor and was actually presentable.
Stuart asked me to turn up early, so we could talk to the event organizer about the Photography plans of the evening. We began capturing some snaps at the awards rehearsal to make sure people where standing in the right position and the light was suitable for the photos. As part of this task Stuart asked me to go up onto the empty stage and stand on a white line where the award winners would stand. He gave me a colour chart to hold up against my top to make the sure colour would stay the same each time depending if the light changed. This is a tool that is used to correct colour during editing, to make a sequence of photos match.
After capturing some photos,guests began arriving and we headed to the bar [not for a drink but to get more pictures.] We had to make sure that people where animated before we took a photo. This is to make the environment seem more vibrant and exciting. We then moved back into the main hall, where guests were taking their seats and started going round the tables taking more photos. We did this before and after their starters, so there weren't any images with people eating, therefore us being intrusive. There was a forty-five minute break before the awards began so I was able to call it a night. It was a really good first experience, and a good insight how the photographer becomes part of the evening. I feel though that I still don't know my camera enough but there are some things that I did take away with me, listed below.
What I learnt from the event:
- I used a soft-box flash [Stuart kindly let me borrow for the night] this evens out light and makes it appear natural.
-Built-in flash is terrible [try to avoid it if you can]
-Shoot in RAW [most SLR's have this setting somewhere on the camera]as the file quality is higher and the outcome will be more accurate to what you actually see through the view finder. JPEG only compresses the image, creating a fake appearance.
- When capturing crowds, try to focus on two or three people in a group and use a wide angled shot, so this can be cropped later if it need be.
- Round the table shots: again focus on two/three people as you shoot round the table. [Sometimes the table numbers get in the way so make sure they don't in the way too much.
Hope these tips have been useful to other amateurs and photographers, like myself and I'll keep you updated on anymore Photography happenings.
Want to visit my Flickr photostream with the featured photos in my blog and more then click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brown_eyed_dreamer/
No comments:
Post a Comment