Observations Photographing LaidOffCamp Phoenix
This past weekend I went to LaidOffCamp Phoenix in Gilbert, AZ and brought my new camera with me. I’ve had the camera, a Canon EOS Rebel XS, for about 2 weeks and, a couple of days before the event, I got a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I know next to nothing about photography and bought this camera so that I could learn. What better way than at an event with a lot of people and activity to photograph? Little did I know that I’d take 330 photos throughout the day. Here are some observations I had during that time.
- Event photographers must be like ninjas. Going in and out of sessions shouldn’t distract the participants too much and you want to capture things unobtrusively.
- People like to look at cameras and/or pose. However, I was trying to capture more candid shots. It was especially hard because I still don’t know what I’m doing and it takes me a while to adjust the settings before taking a picture. I’d either put the camera down for a little bit or tell them I was just playing with the settings, not taking a real picture.
- Dealing with different lighting is hard. Each setting was unique and trying to figure out, with my limited knowledge, what to adjust was both time consuming and frustrating. I ended with quite a few dark or blurry shots because I couldn’t get it adjusted correctly. I also missed quite a few while I was trying to adjust…
- Manual focus is also hard. Part of my tutelage involved placing everything on manual as I need to learn what all of those adjustments mean before trusting the camera to do some of them for me. I stuck with it all day… There were many shots where the focus was really close to being on, but was 3-4 inches too near or far (e.g., focused on someone’s ear or on their hand that’s resting on the table in front of them).
- Photographing an event can be physically tiring. I spent much of the six hours I was there crouching, kneeling, leaning or standing. There was not much opportunity to take a break. I went to each of the sessions and, during lunch, grabbed a quick slice of pizza before everyone else so that I could take pictures during lunch/networking time. And I only had one camera and no additional equipment; think about the people lugging multiple cameras, tripods, lens, etc. around.
- I’m self-conscious about taking photos. It seems like a weird thing to say, but that’s how I felt during the day… It got better as the day went on, but it was especially bad during the first hour or so.
One of the constructive comments I received afterward was from local Phoenix fine arts photographer, Tyson Crosbie. He said it looked like I was afraid of getting close to my subjects. This may be a reflection of feeling self-conscious about the whole thing, but might also be the result of only having the 50mm lens.
Overall, it was a good experience and I think some of the photos actually turned out well. Of the 330 I took, I narrowed it down to 62 that were, somewhat, fit for viewing. So go check out the photos from LaidOffCamp Phoenix and let me know your thoughts and suggestions so I can improve!
Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer, nor do I aspire to be one at this time.
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Curtis, I also attended LaidOffPhoenix and I thought you did a great job of taking photographs without disrupting the sessions or seeming intrusive during the many conversations that went on. I'm not a photographer, but I really liked your shots of the event — I think they did a great job capturing the energy, the focus, and the "feel" of the whole thing. Great job!
August 9th, 2009 at 11:09 pmThanks for taking all those photos! Were you shooting with a 50mm? The depth of field on that thing is so shallow that you usually really have to nail the focus. Definitely tricky on manual!
Tyson's advice is actually pretty common. I forget which of the great photographers said it, but there's a quote something along the lines of "The best way to improve a photo is to get closer."
Photography is 95% psychology. It's relatively easy to learn settings, options, techniques, theory, etc. — but it's a lot harder to get in a strangers face, take their photo with permission, and leave them feeling comfortable and happy about the whole encounter. I admire anyone who's able to master that, since I sure haven't.
August 9th, 2009 at 11:54 pmDo you think I should require all students to photograph an all day event as their first assignment? I doubt many would handle it as well as you did. That was a lot of responsibility for a newbie.
Nice work. Very insightful post about the hard work of photographing events.
August 10th, 2009 at 12:19 amThanks Susan! I'm glad I didn't disrupt the sessions too much, event if I was in flip-flops
August 10th, 2009 at 12:33 amWell said, James! Yes, I used the 50mm all day on manual…
August 10th, 2009 at 12:35 amCurtis, I thought you were a professional, since you comported yourself like a ninja. I respect Tyson's opinion, but a camera in the face can throw many subjects for a loop, and so your 'away, far off' approach is likely to get many good shots, which can be cropped down to seem close when you are using a high quality camera like the one that you have. Thank you so much for being there, for capturing the 'action' in favorable frames (thanks, for example, for getting close-field on BOTH participants in our session, so the room full of empty seats was not as obvious in the photo as it was to us. But, hey, we presented concurrently with @pamslim, and we told people to see her, and catch ours on podcast, so we expected a small crowd and we were glad for both of our brave audience members.)
August 10th, 2009 at 12:35 amAs the first assignment? Uh… no! But, I think that would be a great addition about midway through. Perhaps it could be the midterm
August 10th, 2009 at 12:36 amThanks Jim, that's probably one of the best compliments someone can give to a newbie
I barely did any post-processing on the photos, but if you see something you like, feel free!
August 10th, 2009 at 6:19 pmI attended LaidOffCamp Phoenix and I consider myself lucky to be in several of your photos. I thought you did a great job during the event and love your photos, also. Thanks for volunteering your skills to support this event. It's always fun for participants to see photos after the event. I'm going to look forward to seeing you and your camera at future community events. Keep on snapping!
August 11th, 2009 at 3:17 amMy $2…..
If you have "good glass" like an f.2.8 f1.8 etc… this does NOT mean that shooting wide open is the best choice. If you're doing a portrait, maybe, however the best part of any lens is not wide open. If photographing a group. the depth of focus can often be too small. A common saying with photographers is "f8 and forget it" Not saying that f8 is winner, however using a less shallow f stop will allow you to use autofocus and concentrate on other things.
Even manual focus is only so good, meaning on a portrait if you're on manaual focus you sort of want more than one part of the face (and eye, etc) to be in focus. Yes smaller numbers on a wider lens are easier than f.2.8 on a 200mm, but just because you have "fast glass" dosen't mean shooting wide open is the best choice.
If you don't have any longer lenses you might be able to pick up a 2x converter to make youself a 100mm lens when you stack it on the 50mm. This was all I had when I first started photographing and it gave me a more "portrait lens". I've also discussed with Archer that it's good to not have too many lenses / gear as you must learn on piece of equipment at a time before mastering it.
Keep up the good work.
@acmePhoto
August 11th, 2009 at 4:05 amRegarding mixed results with exposures, maybe check & see if your camera has an auto-bracket feature that will snap 3 shots for each single shot. The two extras are slightly under or over exposed, so if you're close then you may still end up with something you're happy with. It's also useful for doing post processing on shots where there might be extreme lighting changes.
Always love to see people stepping out of their comfort zone to learn a new craft! Keep up the good work.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:13 pmThanks Charlene, I really appreciate your encouragement! I'd love to do it again, so maybe some event will give me a chance to try. Next time, I'll consult with professionals about what I should bring first though
August 11th, 2009 at 8:43 pmThanks for the encouragement! I think I almost understood what you're saying… still learning all the terminology. With the higher f stop, like f/8, more of the frame should be in focus right? I borrowed a lens from Tyson; it's a 28-90mm, so maybe I'll try using that a little more, too.
I don't plan to continue manual focus forever, but it's been a great learning experience. It's even made me think about how my eyes see the world, which is something I didn't really contemplate before.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:47 pmThanks for the advice! That's one of the main reasons I am trying photography: to get out of my comfort zone. Being a programmer, I tend to spend all of my time on the computer, but I was longing for something that would get me away from that and challenge me in different ways. I'm still trying to decide if photography is something I actually like or something I want to like… So far, though, it's been great!
August 11th, 2009 at 8:50 pm