Clothing swap.

[ypx3]

I have a problem, I have recently become the defacto photog for a group I am a part of at school and I love shooting and posting pictures so that is no problem, the problem comes in that I do not know how to shoot images that are quality and capture mood and atmosphere of events at the same time.
(please ignore the low quality they are all highly compressed)
For example:

this is what most of my images turn out looking like. They show people in action. But it is not an interesting or by any means good picture.

this is another example. in this picture it looks like no one at the event had heads.

this is the last problem, as a recreational photog with no credentials I run the risk of looking "creepy" when photographing random people so I end up shooting photos secretly, which is even worse than being creepy. In addition the photos never do what they were intended to do in the first place.
The real here is composition. I want to capture people's expressions and the overall mood of the event. How should I go about this.
thanks
Tommy


p.s. These are not all of the photos I shot but they are a sampling of my problem areas. the whole album is here

[Titus213]

Well, based on your album I'd say you have an excellent opportunity for some good photos. In fact it looks like you have some excellent volunteer models there. The images of 1 or 2 people up close are much more interesting. Backgrounds are too cluttered and you could do with some fill flash.

As to feeling strange - act like your are authorized to be there taking photos. You are! Sneeking candids will cause you more trouble than just openly shooting images.

[Freak3150]

well, I cant help you with the photo side of things, god knows I suck butt at that.

However, as far as the feeling like a creep goes, you say that you are part of this school group. Unless it is an utterly HUGE group, most if not all members surely know you, at least enough to identify you as one of the members, and since you say you have been chosen as the "defacto photog" then many of them must know you are going to be taking photos. If that alone doesnt make you feel better, then how about getting an account on a photo sharing site, and announcing that you will be taking photos of the events you guys do, and where to see them online. Then people will know whats up. and if they look through the photos, they will see candids and understand the mood you are trying to convey. So if they DO spot you trying to "sneak" a shot of them they wont think you are creepy.

Titus has some really good advice also, you are the "official" photographer for the event, so just act like it, and a lot of that weird feeling will go away. I have done the NAIAS press preview 2 years in a row, and the first time I was nervous, didnt want to get too close to the cars, or the people. During an interview with Caroll Shelby, I was snapping away like the camera was on crack, and wondering if he was thinking I was some sort of nut job with all the shots I took. The second time I went, I was nervous at first but sometime in the middle of the second day, I started acting like I was supposed to be there, which of course I was (and everyone there knows it) and started getting up close and personal to cars, and models, asking them to pose and what not, and the big surprise is that they acted like I was an actual photographer.... My pics are still crap, but I felt less odd about being there just by changing how I acted toward the job at hand

It seems some of them dont mind as you have some of them that appear to be setting up posing or at least smiling for you.

Oh, one more thing, I have similar problems with getting good shots as you, though I don't usualy do events like this, but one thing I do is take lots and lots of shots, that way I have a much larger pool pf pics to pull from and increase the chances of getting good ones. You didnt say of the album you linked to was all the shots you took or not, but if it is, take more, losts more, and youll have a better chance of getting good ones. It seems to me that candids would be an even better example of this. I have like 10 shots of the same car, from the same angle, and they are all pretty much the same, but 10 candids of the same group of people will all be different, and you can pick the one that best conveys the mood....

[PhotoJourno]

Ok, two things that will help you:

1- Shoot Black and White for a while. The color variations are almost giving me seizures. (Black and White help focus on composition, rather than colors and etc).

2- Get Closer!!.. Until you have either cut off any half people showing partly in the frame, or until you can photograph a face that fills about 1/9th of the viewfinder (meaning that if you apply the rule of thirds, the face should fill one whole square out of the nine made up by the lines..does it make sense?).

This alone will make an improvement. Go back to color after at least 100 photos.

Well, my suggestion, anyways.

[jbimages]

I just looked at you album. A couple of things stand out. Album presentation, you have some portrait images showing sideways. You should rotate them so the viewer doesn't have to rotate their screen.

The backgrounds are very busy, you should eliminate as much as you can by getting in closer and opening the lens to get a narrower DOF. That will minimise the background distraction.

Some shots, like this one, are crying out for portrait framing. The girl in the white top should be the subject.

Changing your viewpoint helps. Try getting closer to the ground - squat or kneel and try some from waist height.

You know the people in the group, talk to them, you can ask them to turn, move etc. to make the most of the light and the backgrounds you have.

[mcmadkat]

Hi, if you switch image editing on in your profile I could do some work to those pics in photoshop for you if you want.

[ypx3]

Originally Posted by mcmadkat

Hi, if you switch image editing on in your profile I could do some work to those pics in photoshop for you if you want.

Done!

[1rushfan]

YPX, I agree with MJGravina...shoot in B&W mode for awhile. My first photography experience was a B&W film class I took in college. While I still need work on other things, composition and exposure are not issues with me anymore. Keep shooting and don't feel weird! If you hesitate to get the shot you want, you'll never get the shot you want.

[ypx3]

The origianl purpose for this thread was to gain knowledge quick for my next event the next day. I think I improved



and last but not least, actually its my favorite

full album
http://kzoo.facebook.com/album.php?a...83&id=40901950
not all of them were shot by me

[Titus213]

I'd say you improved a lot. You've picked a subject and gotten an image of it. The first set was more of a shotgun blast of the whole scene. I like these last posts, the next to last is my favorite. You've got a good grouping of people, good light, good exposure.

[mcmadkat]

Hey, just looked back into this thread, yup you have improved in a day!

These are my personal style, not necessarily an improvement, but different. All were adjusted in photoshop. Mainly just hue/sat and levels, and some had warm up filters added. A little manual dodging and burning was used on one of them.









Cheers,

Sam