before i became the college photographer, i was very gian to shoot photos (i can picture PPC chuckling as he is reading this) hahaha it wasn't my "duty" to shoot but i'd go down with my 400D excitedly to kay poh kay poh... when i found out i was going to "take over" him as college photographer, i felt very very stressed because Mr Tee's "shoes" are very very BIG >.<||| so i took the chance to learn as much from him as possible before he retired. i'd follow him around and observe his every movement. he move i also move. he stand i also stand. he squat i also squat. but my photo always doesn't turn out as nice one LOL... cos he is so experienced and not to mention his camera and lens compared to mine are heaven and earth LOL but i did learn a lot from him =)
Mr Tee is very very cute...
me: Mr Tee, how come mine like that ha?
Mr Tee: ha? *look through his glasses at my photo* mmm... how come the colour like that? but Canon i don't know neh... (Mr Tee is a Nikon and Olympus expert)
i miss him so much *sobs* so anyway, here are some simple tips i have gathered besides the usual (rule of thirds teblah teblah...)
1. Move around
no need to paiseh one but not in a disruptive or intimidating way la! instead of always shooting from where the audience is, discreetly (i said DISCREETLY ha!) go up to the stage and shoot the performers with the audience as the background. great for orchestral or band performances because if you shoot from where the audience is, you get a shot of the conductor's butt (unless that's what you want -.- chee ko peh) LOL be careful not to knock over the cymbal, fall into the tuba, get kong-ed by the trombone or trip over wire ha! PPC and i will >.<|||
i did this for ACES day 2009 and the mass dance session this year
2. Details
yes, once again, this appears. when everyone is shooting the banners and banner painting, go and shoot the paint.
and take your time (like after the event) to shoot the "resources".
Community Advocacy Programme pledge cards
Math Dept CIP (Movie screening cum pop corn selling... pic of our popcorn)
3. Survey the audience for people who are super expressive
yes, it's time to stop beo-ing chiobus and hot dudes -.- find your subject and keep paparazzi-ing him/her until you get a decent shot. if s/he looks irritated or thinks you're hitting on him/her, act blur pretend to walk away and shoot something else then change to tele and continue LOL but most of the time, these people are also very attention seeking one so they won't mind. but if they start to (^^)V i will -.- them
4. Include a little more in your pic as you can always crop it later
too much can crop, too cropped? all the best... hahaha. but not too much la, cos if you have to digitally crop too much it won't be sharp le
which pic is better and why?
i think the second is better because you can see a bit of the goal-keeper. the first one is too "cropped", seems like there's no objective or goal.
5. It's not a bad idea to get people to pose (provided they don't do the (^^)V pose la)
Mr Tee is very very creative and he'd get his subjects to pose to get dynamic shots. I tried this for last year's Teachers' Day (one-legged race winning classes) and the folding paper flower REACH activity this year.
6. Shooting talks and workshops
Include the audience and use the speaker's slide as the background
University Talk
Ms Lai addressing JC1s on their first day in 2010
Motivational Talk (External speaker)
7. Chute some pattern
Mr Tee's pattern is more than badminton one... he taught me that night events are best opportunities for "pattern chuting". experiment with slow shutter speed to capture movement.
the following is my favourite odyssey (Orientation 2010) pic =)
[1/20; f/4.5; ISO 1000]
basically i focused on the guy's face and turned my camera body clockwise anti-clockwise (kinda like holding a steering wheel... oops, most of you don't have license... but it's like daytona la) while i kept clicking away. if you're lucky, you might get a decent shot =)
why don't all the kids who shot during odyssey share their fav photos?? =D
ooh ah ah eh ba ooh ah ah eh ba! suah!
