I could kick myself..

garymercer

garymercer

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Gary Mercer
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I was asked recently by our school to do some photographs of the school choir while they sang in the local Tesco.

So today was the day. I wasn't exactly given much room to play in and not having a wide lens didn't help either but I thought I could manage. It's my first time doing anything like this (especially as it was so public too) and I wanted the school to have some usable photos.

So, off I went snapping away best I could dodging xmas shoppers, LOL. problem was I didn't really look at my settings while I was shooting. I was more bothered about trying to get a decent shot.

One hour later and the singing was over and looking at the LCD on my camera I thought some of the shots seem to be fine. I got home and quickly went about processing them.

Uh oh, photographer has made a major boo-boo. Lots of the shots had shake, were blurry or just plain rubbish. Then I took notice of the EXIF data on the pics. Not good, way too slow.

So it was then that I could've kicked myself (and hard too). The moral to my little story is "Check your settings, check em again then look at taking the shot."

I hope I have learnt something from this and won't be in too much of a rush next time I'm asked to do something like this again.

My newbie-ness really got the better of me!!

I would post some of the shots but none of the parents have seen em yet and I would rather they see them first.

:amstupid: :bonk: :bang:
 
A quick tip when doing this kind of shoot.

Get the safe shot/s in the bag first. The safe shot is a shot that regardless of how you compose it is likely to be technically good.

What this means is think before you start 'what is the safe shot?'. The safe shot I'm guessing would have been to up the ISO to about 800 making sure you had 1/200 shutter and get some depth of field ie.f5.6 to f8 if wide on the lens (24 to 35mm). Then gel the flash for the store lights (probably fluorescent so stick on a bit of green) , set WB to match store light (fluorescent), shoot in raw and use a bit of direct fill flash. At this point you bang out a couple then knock out a couple with some bounced flash if you can. Thats the safe shots in the bag :)

Now go for the technical shots, dragging the shutter, shallow DOF etc.

Once you get into this mind set of thinking 'what is the safe shot' before you start it ensures you always have something you can use and also ensures that you consciously adjust the camera both to get the safe shot and to make the transition to the more challenging shots.

It is a habit you get into when you do a few of these. Get the boring, vanilla shot that will save your bacon and then do the fancy stuff.

John
 
jpwone said:
A quick tip when doing this kind of shoot.

Get the safe shot/s in the bag first. The safe shot is a shot that regardless of how you compose it is likely to be technically good.

What this means is think before you start 'what is the safe shot?'. The safe shot I'm guessing would have been to up the ISO to about 800 making sure you had 1/200 shutter and get some depth of field ie.f5.6 to f8 if wide on the lens (24 to 35mm). Then gel the flash for the store lights (probably fluorescent so stick on a bit of green) , set WB to match store light (fluorescent), shoot in raw and use a bit of direct fill flash. At this point you bang out a couple then knock out a couple with some bounced flash if you can. Thats the safe shots in the bag :)

Now go for the technical shots, dragging the shutter, shallow DOF etc.

Once you get into this mind set of thinking 'what is the safe shot' before you start it ensures you always have something you can use and also ensures that you consciously adjust the camera both to get the safe shot and to make the transition to the more challenging shots.

It is a habit you get into when you do a few of these. Get the boring, vanilla shot that will save your bacon and then do the fancy stuff.

John
Click to expand...

Thanks John!!
 
Pleasure. Hope it helps in the future.

Its a technique I always use for event shooting and switch back to every so often throughout an event. It ensures that regardless of how 'artistic' I try to be I will have something that is usable for all major elements of the event.

It is also a good technique to use if you are doing PJ work. Safe shot then creative. The safe shot might be boring but at least you don't have a wasted trip if the others don't make the grade.

John
 
sounds like me a few weeks ago ....took some (what I thought) stunning shots only to find out at home and on the PC they were very blue so checked the camera and ARGGGHHHH tungsten setting in bright lit sky does not work and altering in ps dont help much so do check and take a test shot at a weed if you have to I do now all the time
 
I'm trying to get in to the habit of setting my camera for the bag every time I shoot.

By that I mean before packing it away, I change the settings back to simple 'base' settings (ISO100, Cloudy WB, f/8 etc.) so that when it comes out next time it avoids any nasty surprises when getting going.

The option to customise settings is a handy one if you can, so that you get in to the habit of selecting it before you put the camera away.
 
I dont no if any one else is like this but i am used to the sutter on my camera so if its that bit slow i can hear it and immediately check the shot. I dont no how long you have been shooting for but its just seccond nature to me now listening to the shutter
 
It happens Gary, I took the time to walk around the local lake earlier in the year, chose to "go light" leaving half the kit in the car, only to realise I had no CF card in :bang: I won't make that mistake again.

I now put the camera on "safe" settings when I pack it away, and also, before I go out, do a "spot check" on my kit to make sure it's ready to go. Not a bad habit to get into.

Steve
 
Shame Gary, I feel for you.
setting my camera into a safe setting is a habit I am trying to instil.
Hope you managed to get some safe shots......
 
It was bound to happen, and it's embarrassing, but you've learned a hard lesson you wont forget. ;)
 
Mistakes are how we learn - see it as a lesson. I had to go and do a day of landscapes at 800iso to teach me that particular lesson:cuckoo:

I keep telling myself to write a note on the inside of my kit bag "check speed/Ap/ISO/EX" etc
 
oooooh one of those mistakes you should only make once

I now keep a 2gb cf card in the boot of my car permanently as i have been known to leave the house on a few occasions without one. :bang:

To make amends you could always ask to shoot the school assembly or play (if allowed) and do as jpwone says get the safe shots in the bag first :thumbs:

In a strange way though i like making mistakes as i learn from them it kinda helps
 
Dangermouse1964 said:
sounds like me a few weeks ago ....took some (what I thought) stunning shots only to find out at home and on the PC they were very blue so checked the camera and ARGGGHHHH tungsten setting in bright lit sky does not work and altering in ps dont help much so do check and take a test shot at a weed if you have to I do now all the time
Click to expand...

That'll teach you to use JPG as opposed to RAW ;)
 
jpwone said:
A quick tip when doing this kind of shoot.

Get the safe shot/s in the bag first. The safe shot is a shot that regardless of how you compose it is likely to be technically good.
Click to expand...

Top tip there from that man!:thumbs:

I used to have the same problem when shooting in the studio last year. The images looked great on the back of the screen yet when taken to the computer they were either blown out slightly or there was a touch of motion blur. So from now on I always zoom right in to the main sections of the image on the back of the camera, and double check the settings on my camera.
 
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