Today I decided to devote a couple of lines to such a concept as photo essay. As in all educational institutions Let's start with concepts, no matter how boring they are. Learning, as they say, high exposure, ignorance - low.
In a broad sense reportage- this is a type of newspaper and magazine activity or information that enters the media through the press and publications about the events of the current day. In short, everything that is written in the newspapers is reporting from one place or another.
reportage shooting- an integral part of photo essay. In other words, it is the recording of interesting events in chronological order. For example, the story of your life in various situations, told through the pictures taken, is also called photo essay.
Photo report used in presentations of various campaigns on various topics. reportage shots are also interesting in that they can include photographs-plots that are works of art.
Qualitative photo essay- this is the main material for designing booklets, postcards, as well as decorating websites. This is especially noticeable on wedding flyers. Every photographer should have at least a few of these photos in their portfolio (and not just from their own wedding).
Lively and interesting reportage footage, which depict, for example, attentive employees of the company, are much more credible than just advertising photos.
Topics for a photo essay can be endless: business photos, science, technology, culture, art and sports. Even an ordinary birthday can be a good theme. Such pictures can be divided into two types: event and ordinary reportage.
The beauty of reportage photography lies in its persuasiveness and sincerity, showing the truth as it is, without excesses. This is often used by the paparazzi - there are a lot of photos of celebrities in ridiculous poses on the Internet.
So what is photo essay? This is a small, fluent story about life, so it is best to photograph at a fast shutter speed. It will help you get better detail and detail. Pictures and stories for newspapers and magazines just need it.
A photo essay is a kind of coherent story, where expressive means are the skill of the photographer and the quality of the camera. Photo reportage has long become an independent genre of photography, with its own tasks and style features.
The word "reportage" has a second meaning - it is a method of capturing an event without interfering with its natural course.
This genre does not imply a scrupulous study of the phenomena of life, an analysis of what is happening. This is a cursory account of the event, a kind of song of the Kazakh akyn: what I see, I sing! The result of creative efforts both in songwriting and in photographic reporting depends to a large extent on the personality of the performer. If the akyn is not deprived of talent, imagination and is armed with the experience of previous generations, the song can turn out to be interesting.
The specifics of reportage photography
A photo essay is a series of pictures taken during an event, when the photographer is limited by the time and scenario of what is happening. Thus, the report puts the photographer in some time and scenario framework. The reportage method of shooting excludes directing, although in some situations the photographer may provoke people or situations a little. But this happens infrequently - the art of reporting consists in, without directing a shot, to shoot it impromptu, in the course of action, accurately finding a point, plan, angle, moment.
A photojournalist, if he is tasked with capturing an event that occurs suddenly, in a very short period of time, must carry a camera at the ready. This makes it possible at the right time from any point to instantly take the first picture. Then, if the action is repeated, the photographer may be in better shooting conditions and technically improve the next shot. But we must remember that a second chance is not always given.
When a photojournalist cannot move around the scene (for example, when shooting demonstrations, parades), he focuses the lens on sharpness on an object that people must pass by.
With such shooting, the aperture is set taking into account the required depth of field, and the shutter speed is set taking into account lighting conditions and the speed of movement of people.
sports
Photo essay about any sport is not easy to do. The more athletes compete, the more difficult it is to focus on any one of them, to foresee possible overlaps. It is a little easier to shoot those competitions that take place in martial arts: gymnastics, alpine skiing, horseback riding, etc. Here, one athlete is in sight, and this allows you to better appreciate the moment of shooting.
A feature of sports photography is that the operator, as a rule, cannot predict what will happen in the near future, which is why it is necessary to work in multi-frame shooting mode. If you are serious about doing this difficult task, then when choosing a camera, pay special attention to this function. Moreover, not only the shooting speed is important, but also such parameters as the duration of the series of frames and resolution. There are models of cameras that provide very fast continuous shooting, but: with a resolution of no more than one megapixel. This indicator is not enough even for printing 10x15 cm photos.
Other important feature for shooting sports - the speed of autofocus. This option is usually not specified in technical specifications, and it has to be evaluated by taking the camera in hand. Moreover, it must be borne in mind that in many cases the model can demonstrate high performance of the autofocus system in bright light, but when the brightness decreases, this value drops.
Report from the holiday
It is better to shoot a feast from the highest point, for example, standing on a chair. In such conditions, everything will be clearly visible to you, more people sitting at the table will fit in the frame, and at the same time, the hands of some guests will not block the faces of others. Perhaps the hands of the guests will be in the foreground of such a picture, it is important not to overexpose here.
Once again I want to remind you that the second and third planes play an important role in the composition, which can be either active, that is, they play along with the semantic basis, or passive, like, for example, a person frankly looking into the lens. In reportage shooting, you should avoid moments when someone purposefully wants to get into the lens. These are the so-called photographer's ears, that is, if one of the characters looks into the lens of the camera, then this immediately betrays the presence of the photographer. The camera in such reportages should be invisible to everyone. And the more successfully the photographer "hides", the better the picture will turn out.
Shooting a concert
Concert photography is one of the most difficult types of photo reporting. The conditions there rarely contribute to obtaining high-quality images, more often the opposite, so good equipment in this case is the number one condition. The luminosity of optics is especially important: shooting at a concert with a flash is killing the stage lighting, and with it the atmosphere. Often smoke is used to decorate concerts, but what is a flash in the smoke? This is a lost frame. Great value with such shooting, it has the ability to painlessly increase the equivalent sensitivity of the matrix for the picture. Due to the significant size of the matrices, digital "reflex cameras" have a larger size of a single receiving cell - a pixel, so when the signal is amplified (increased sensitivity), there is little noise in the image and the picture remains quite clean.
Here, by the way, it is appropriate to mention once again the huge advantage digital cameras before film - we are talking about white balance. Keeping the colors of the stage lighting in the picture means conveying all the nuances of the atmosphere of the concert. It is impossible to control color on film to such an extent under these conditions.
Shooting with and without wire
Usually, when shooting a moving crowd, it is very difficult to find a moment when people do not "blend". In this case, the photographer is required to be very observant - you need to follow all the plans and keep all the actors in sight. This is perhaps the most difficult thing in documentary photography, it must be learned. And my advice to you: whether you are walking down the street, whether you are riding in transport, try to find shots around with a complex composition, with a large number of characters and learn to "stop with your eye" these moments.
In situations where the main subject is a car, it is desirable to shoot at a slow shutter speed with wiring, due to this a greater dynamics is obtained, and the composition wins a lot.
Shooting with wiring is carried out when the angular velocities of the object and its optical image coincide. Trying to keep the moving object at a certain point in the frame space, the photographer presses the shutter button while the camera pans behind the moving object.
It is better to photograph mass processions and scenes from high points (third or fourth floor), choose side lighting, build a frame not directly, but somewhat diagonally.
By the way, meetings and sessions are recommended to be photographed from a height of at least 2-3 m. Good results are also obtained from a higher point. During breaks in meetings (on the sidelines) it is necessary to shoot from eye level, trying to ensure that the interviewers do not notice the photographer, do not try to pose for him.
Speakers from the stands should not be photographed from below - a sharp angle distorts faces. It is better to shoot from the level of the podium or from afar with a telephoto lens.
Hardware Requirements
As we have already said, it is difficult to overestimate the artistic significance of photo reports - they, like no other genre, are most accurately and reliably capable of reflecting an entire era, based on the moments that have fallen into the frame. However, such works are not only the embodiment of the artist's talent, but also a demonstration of the masterly possession of photographic equipment and shooting techniques. Naturally, the requirements for equipment in this case are quite high and specific, but it is not difficult to express them in a nutshell - the camera should not impose any restrictions on the shooting capabilities.
Undoubtedly, the reportage camera is obliged to do good shots in difficult lighting conditions. Insufficient light, its excessive intensity, the presence of "exposed" objects in the frame along with deep shadows, or the inability to use additional lighting (in the case of a ban on the use of flash) are common conditions for shooting reports, and the device must be designed to work in them. At professional photographer There are a lot of opportunities to take photographs in such lighting using a film camera. A wide range of interchangeable optics, a wide range of films of different sensitivities, and the ability to work out complex exposures inherent in modern cameras allow shooting in such conditions. professional cameras. When switching to digital technology the photographer gets a number of advantages: efficiency, savings on consumables, convenience of storing and structuring digital images, etc. All this is especially important for a photojournalist when seconds are counted and the number of frames is measured in hundreds. Restrictions directly depend on the photosensitive matrix used in each specific device.
For reportage shooting, it would be nice to get a "digital camera", which already has the function of continuous shooting. For operational work, a rangefinder, a fast shutter, and the ability to use interchangeable lenses are also required. It will not be possible to do without a standard set of filters, an electronic flash, a light tripod and a photoelectric exposure meter.
Kit fast lenses(1:1.5-1:2.8) should help in the most unfavorable light conditions for shooting. Normal, wide-angle and telephoto lenses are a must-have set of optics for a photojournalist.
If the photographer wants to get lost in the crowd, then for this you need to have non-bulky pieces of equipment that would not attract special attention. (Now many have cameras, and people are less and less responsive to "soap boxes" and small cameras, but professional photographic equipment, as a rule, immediately catches the eye.) A photojournalist must be able to get used to the situation that he wants to capture, and at the same time remain unnoticed. And do not try to immediately pull out the camera, because this can very easily destroy the natural atmosphere of what is happening. It is very difficult to remain invisible with a camera in the crowd, this requires a certain professional experience. Of course, in order to photograph complete strangers when they are in a hurry on business and certainly would not want to save their dull face for history, you need to have a fair amount of impudence or use a telephoto lens or a hidden camera. Be that as it may, many famous photographers it is advised to use a hidden camera even when photographing loved ones, because a person who does not pose looks more natural, at ease and, accordingly, more interesting.
A smartphone is a compact camera with a wide-angle lens that...
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Wrote a wonderful post about photo essays, with which I agree on all counts. I recommend reading.
And in addition, I will note my old one, about how I typeset posts from a technical point of view
Original taken from nasedkin How to make the right photo essay?
I've been meaning to write this post for a long time, but never got around to it. And here in Lately I am periodically asked about all sorts of different reportage details, so I decided to arrange an educational program-impromptu. Although, it is loudly said, of course. Be that as it may, everything that is written below by no means claims to be the ultimate truth, however, I hope it may be useful to someone.
1. As we call it, it will float.
The title, of course, should hook the reader, make him immediately go under the cat. However, it is important not to overdo it here, otherwise it will be something in the style of "Life News" or the newspaper "Your Day". Especially "no ice" if the noisy title does not match the content of the article. Some top bloggers (we will not name names), in order to get more views, unfortunately, do this and do not even use the introductory text. But we want to make the right report, don't we?
2. Title photo.
There is no doubt that a photo essay should start with a title photo. It's like the cover of a magazine or newspaper. For me, it is better that the photo was one. Some people post two at once, and put an introductory text between them. In my opinion, when a single photo visually attracts more attention. You can also use a collage of several shots, here, as they say, the taste is yes, the color of the sample is not.
3. A post without a hat is not a post.
It seems to me that there is quite enough text for about 7-10 lines, separated by one or two paragraphs. At the same time, there must be an empty line between each of them. A computer is not a paper book, there is more load on the eyes, and therefore such a torn text will be easier to read. On the one hand, the content should reflect the essence of the photo essay, and on the other hand, it should turn out to be somewhat understated and thereby create intrigue.
4. We go under cat.
Some bloggers, such as Artemy Lebedev, do not recognize khat as such and dump the entire sheet directly into the feed. And if you weren't going to read it. So, there is no point in even considering such an extreme. The reader deserves respect. So, in my opinion, under the cut, specially titled, there should be about 35-40 photographs (I set the size to 1000x667), necessarily numbered. Do you understand, yes, why numbered?
When there are only a dozen or two photos, one gets the impression of some understatement, especially if the post is very exciting. It is also not worth experimenting with a very large number. Once I made a report about St. Patrick's Day in Moscow and, out of inexperience, scored more than a hundred pictures in the post. And then I wondered for a long time why there was no seemingly well-deserved return and such a small number of comments. The reader gets tired, annoyed and sometimes does not even finish reading the material.
Photos in the post should not be active links, this may interfere with viewing. Therefore, the source code should be trimmed accordingly. Don't forget to adapt your pictures to high-resolution displays (retina), your friends will be grateful to you. You can read about how to do this, as well as in general about photo processing with my eyes.
5. Above or below?
Among reporters, there is still no clear definition of where to put the accompanying text - above or below the photo. I believe that if there is one photo in the post, the description should be UNDER it, and if it is a large report, then exclusively ABOVE. Empirically, I found that it is more convenient to read a photo story this way. That is - the text, followed immediately by a photo without a space, then a space and everything repeats.
6. How should the story sound?
Sometimes excitement attacks me and I start to write too ornately. Well, in principle, there are such topics when it decorates the report, but, as a rule, such verbiage distracts from the visual content. Really, it’s better not to boast of wit, there is a separate genre for this. One, maximum two lines of accompanying text, simply and clearly revealing the essence of the moment.
However, too sparingly and telegraphic writing is also not good. "Yesterday there was a rally in Moscow. 100,500 people came. Everything went smoothly." The reader will start to yawn and may not finish reading the post.
An important point - if you are not a professional writer and doubt the impeccability of the text, assuming the presence of spelling and punctuation errors in it, ask a specialist or just some familiar "grammar Nazi" to edit it. Believe me, competent writing in our time causes only respect, but, unfortunately, it is less and less common.
7. And what's at the end?
Surely, if you returned from a trip to some interesting country, you have material for not one or two reports. I recommend at the end of the second to put a link to the first, at the end of the third to the first and second, and so on. Let it be like a serial film.
To make your story known not only to the audience of LJ, but also to other services, put a repost button at the end (in the HTML editor in the toolbar, a hand with a raised thumb). And buttons on your instagrams, twitters, facebooks. You look, and will bring future friends. And, of course, tags. It will be easier for you and your readers to find this or that record.
Like this. I would like to hear your opinion about the above, and especially the additions.
Successful shooting of a reportage is a complex, energy-consuming and high-tech type of photography. If you look at services for finding photographers for shooting a report, then you can often find ads like “advise good photographer to shoot an event", but here's how your first reportage shooting can become a creative and professional reportage, I will try to tell in this article: .
Introduction.
What equipment should a photographer have?
Shooting a reportage is demanding on equipment - it is desirable to have a camera with a full-frame matrix, for taking shots in poor lighting and high ISO. I usually take pictures in RAW or NEF format, uncompressed pictures, as well as shooting at full frame, are needed for high-quality post-processing of the material. The rate of fire of the camera should be from 5 frames per second, so as not to miss something important. The number of megapixels, mind you, is completely unimportant. Most semi-professional and professional SLR cameras fit here.
Practical advice: When entering the premises, I pre-set ISO 800 - 3200 units, depending on the lighting.
But the requirements for lenses when shooting a reportage are more serious. It is desirable that the lenses have a zoom and have a good aperture. To understand what lenses and focal lengths are needed for effective reporting, look towards Nikon's "gold" series or Canon's professional "L" series.
What do we see there?
It follows from this that a successful a requires almost all popular focal lengths, aperture 2.8 and VR (image stabilizer) is desirable for televisions. Of course, there are those who like to shoot only on “fixes” and there are excellent photo reports shot only on “fifty kopecks”, but if opportunities allow and there is a desire to carry such a burden, use the miracle of Japanese technology and have fun. Expensive pro-“lenses” give a soft and sharp picture in difficult conditions, and with universal lightweight plastic zooms, such as 18-200 mm, you will get one disappointment in your talents.
Practical advice: My camera settings are usually set to "M". I set the ISO depending on the light, the shutter speed is 1/200, and the aperture on the lens is very often open to 2.8 - 5.6. In difficult shooting conditions, focus in advance, on a bright subject near the subject, the camera's autofocus may be dull.
In dark rooms or when shooting a report at night, photographing with an open aperture does not help, and you cannot do without external flash with reflector type "petal" or "mini-soft box". The reflectors allow the hard directional light of the flash to be slightly diffused. I almost never use other nozzles and multi-colored filters due to lack of time. The only exception is the warm filter that comes with the flash for shooting indoors with incandescent lamps. 
What should I do if the room is dark and the flash cannot be used? A monopod or a tripod will help you, the main thing is that you do not have to run a lot with it after the main characters. Also, a tripod can be useful for “panning” shooting, this technique is often used to give additional dynamics to the plot.
Practical advice: I often use an off-camera flash with a soft box, synchronized with the camera via a radio transmitter, for close-ups, except for very dynamic events, or when using long lenses.
Batteries, memory cards, flash batteries, all this must be taken in a double, and sometimes triple set. Count yourself, I average 100 quality photos per hour, for twelve hours of shooting, I will need several 32 gig memory cards to accommodate thousands of RAW files, plus 2-3 batteries or a battery grip for the camera, plus 2-3 sets of batteries for the flash, charging. Here again to carry weights;)
For convenient carrying of this heavy mountain of photographic equipment, you may need a comfortable photographic bag and unloading (vest), but I prefer a photographic backpack. And I hang a couple of lenses in separate bags in order to be able to quickly change the lens or camera.
How to shoot a report for the first time?
And now your “finest hour” has come: the doors open, the rooms are filled with guests and your colleagues, now everyone is busy and no one has time, the security guards are only vigilantly watching you, I suggest that you also watch carefully. What to do and where to start?
All you need is to make a compact story about what is happening, show all the most interesting, your vision of events, using photographs instead of words, they are your photographic language. The specificity of reportage photography is that all actions will take place independently of you. The photographer only needs to anticipate, be in the right place in advance and react quickly. If the event is public for the press, then be prepared that you will have many competitors and you will have to show a little perseverance. And if you are in the front rows, then do not forget, after taking a few shots, sit down or step aside to let your colleagues and video operators shoot your report.
By the way a second photographer is sometimes really necessary. From my own experience I can say that alone comprehensively illuminate corporate event It is possible if the number of participants does not exceed 150 people. For larger events, feel free to recommend to the organizers to take a second or third photographer.
When shooting long "marathon" events take breaks to restore strength, not to lose concentration, check the equipment settings, the footage, replace the almost finished flash drive and just give guests a break from your stormy photo activity. Such small pauses can be made when the guests sat down to eat or when the speaker makes a long speech and only boredom can be seen on the faces of the listeners.
Practical advice. Shooting conditions are sometimes very difficult, imagine a dark huge room with a high ceiling and a brightly lit stage, what should I do? Since it becomes impossible to use flash light reflected from the ceiling, I place remote flashes on a raised platform and shoot only part of the hall, then I shift the light to illuminate the neighboring area, not forgetting sometimes to quickly switch to shoot a well-lit scene.
What to shoot at any corporate event?
How to quickly and efficiently process reportage photos?
Hooray! Finally, the shooting of the reportage is over, you can exhale, but you should not relax, because photo processing is ahead of you. As a result, I get several thousand raw photos taken in RAW, how can I quickly process them?
Batch processing of photos in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom (any graphics program with similar capabilities) comes to the aid of the photographer. I'm used to using Photoshop, and I'll write about my reporting batch processing algorithm.
1) Copy all photos from flash drives to one folder and sort them in Adobe Bridge.
2) The most important stage of processing, when we remove duplicates, closed eyes, blurry, unsuccessful frames with all the courage. The stage is very responsible, but remember that the report is a compact story about the most important thing. The goal is to reduce the number of frames by 10 times! Thousands should be hundreds. It didn’t work the first time, drink tea, gain strength. What separates a professional from an amateur is the ruthlessness to his mistakes. Believe me, in most cases it is better for your clients not to see a bad photo at all than to think badly about your straight hands.
3) It's done! We open our best shots from the event in the Adobe Camera RAW converter. It allows you to select a series of photographs with approximately the same illumination and set General settings. I share the secret of the Camera RAW converter settings for batch processing: auto white balance, auto brightness, contrast + 10%, clarity + 10%, vibrancy + 10%, saturation -6%. After this step, skim through the entire photo archive and manually correct exposure errors. Save the result.
4) The last step I have is to run a simple fully automatic batch before going to bed, which allows you to open a photo, reduce noise, slightly stretch shadows, add juiciness, saturation, convert to the desired size, increase sharpness, convert to 8 bits, change the AdobeRGB space to sRGB, save to JPG and set the photo attributes (author, copyright, name and date of the event). When I wake up in the morning, I will have nice photos ready to be sent to a file hosting.
5) Clients often ask for photos in two formats at once, full-size and for the Internet, when the size of the picture does not exceed 900 pixels on one of the sides. For those who are familiar with batch processing and using actions, this operation takes a couple of minutes. And viewing and sending by mail such photos is much more convenient.
How to shoot video for reporting?
I am constantly asked: Is it possible to shoot a reportage and at the same time a short video.
I answer: The video should be shot by the operator, and the photos should be taken by the photographer, that is, you need two different people.
Despite the fact that the equipment for video and photography is now the same: you need a professional full-matrix DSLR camera (manufactured by Nikon, Canon or Sony) that supports HD video. For video recording, good optics, a tripod, an external microphone, external constant light, and so on are also important.
Conclusion.
Successful shooting of a reportage is a constant practice, training your gaze, perception of light, reaction speed, patterns of events, understanding people's facial expressions and framing accuracy. Therefore, I always shoot non-commercial reports with pleasure. It can be passers-by on a city street, a jazz concert, an unauthorized rally, a flash mob, or photographing dances.
I wish you success in such an interesting and difficult business of shooting a report. I hope my practical advice will help you shoot truly professional and successful shots.
Artem Kashkanov, 2014
Reportage photography- the concept is very multifaceted. It can be amateur or professional, it can take place indoors or outdoors, it can capture formal and informal events. In one form or another, every photographer has shot a photo essay at least once in his life.
4. Shooting a report in JPEG format
About what is Jpeg and what is RAW is written in detail in Photobook. Of course, reporting is different, and everyone decides for himself whether these photos are really important in order to use the camera's capabilities at 100% or just shoot everything in the mode of, say, automatic scene programs.
If you shoot in Jpeg format, you will have to operate with such settings as white balance during shooting, more carefully set the exposure level (shutter speed / aperture / iso). The fact that all this takes precious time - but this is not so bad. The real trouble will be if you make a mistake with the white balance setting or simply forget to switch it when changing shooting conditions. As a result, the photographs will have yellow or blue faces, which, if possible, can be corrected in Photoshop, then you will have to tinker a lot.
The RAW format frees you from the hassle of adjusting white balance, Picture Style, in-camera noise reduction, etc. while shooting a reportage. your task is only to set the desired shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity and not make a mistake with focusing. All other settings can be set to "default" or "auto".
However, RAW is the kind of thing that requires processing. If you need a "quick result" - shoot in RAW+Jpeg. In this case, you kill two birds with one stone - you can quickly "blind" a slide show from Jpeg options and show it on the projector at the end of an event (for example, a wedding), and then pull out "exemplary" photo options from RAWs, for example, for printing in large format. You have to pay for this with the capacity of a flash drive, but with their modern volume and cost, this is not a big problem.
5. "Boring reportage"
Imagine that you were ordered to shoot an event for the presentation of diplomas to participants in some competition - 300 people! They are called to the stage one by one or in groups, and the same person (presenter) hands them absolutely identical-looking documents.
When I worked at the university, I photographed such events many times. In principle, it was possible to put the device on a tripod and simply press the button when the diploma was awarded to the next winner or graduate. To be present at such events is deadly boredom, taking pictures is even more boring, processing is generally green longing.
Many aspiring reporters make the same mistake! Suppose a photographer was invited to shoot a performance of a rock band in a club. And so he stands in front of the stage and starts filming the musicians "point-blank" and shoots until the concert / flash drive / battery runs out. The differences between the photos are minimal. Some of the photos are people close-up(almost always with open mouths and strange facial expressions), part - the whole scene. And who are they, what kind of group (not everyone has a recognizable emblem on their drum kit!), where it happens, what is happening in the hall, etc. - unclear!
On the other hand - what prevents, for a start, to photograph the building where the event takes place? Just one photo is enough, but there is already an answer to the question - "where is this happening." Photos of the participants of the show can and should be alternated with pictures of the audience, the situation - this will make it possible to assess the scale of the event. Do not get carried away shooting only large or, conversely, only general plans- they should also alternate.
It's great if you can take staged photos with the participants of the show, as well as with the audience (or with both). However, I noticed from my own experience that people are much more willing to make contact if you have a "charismatic" technique in your hands - a SLR, external flash, hefty lens :) If some official event is being filmed, the principle does not change! Photos with "talking heads with a presentation in the background" are of less interest than "live" shots with emotions, some interesting moments, staged shots, and so on.
6. Watch the background!
From the point of view of composition, there is such a category of objects - "photo-garbage". These are unwanted objects that enter the frame. They do not carry any semantic load and only distract attention. Let's look at a few photos from the bard concert - I shot it in 2007 "purely for myself". Now I look at these photos and note a large number of errors on them.
Bard Vladimir Medvedev with a guitar in front of an electrical panel
It is clear that the electrical panel in the background is superfluous! And the shadow from the guitar does not add aesthetics to the picture. Photoshop? Then the whole essence of reportage shooting is lost - everything should be as realistic as possible in the picture. The only way out similar situations- look for such an angle at which all unwanted objects go beyond the frame. An even more advantageous way is to find the angle when some attributes of the event - banners, stands, streamers - get into the frame. Then the value of photography as a reportage increases many times!
7. Too tight framing
So, we found another angle from which the electrical panel in the background no longer interferes with us. But I had to change the horizontal layout of the frame to a vertical one. In this case, another "ambush" awaits us - the risk of cutting off part of the key object.
When shooting guitarists, try not to cut off the neck of the guitar - this is an important detail!
By changing the shooting point, we got rid of the electrical panel and the shadow of the guitar on the wall. Although the picture is still not perfect - due to too tight framing, a significant part of the key object (guitar neck) was cut off. We continue to work on the bugs ...
It seems to be good, but there was a blockage to the right ...
In this photo, everything seems to be in place - both the guitar and the hands of the musician and his eyes. But due to the fact that he leaned back in his chair, a small blockage appeared in the photo to the right. It's not scary anymore, you can tighten it in Photoshop ...
Turned, it's time to cut off the excess
We already once considered the question of how to photograph a portrait and agreed that we would not cut off our arms at the elbows. It is also highly undesirable for the object to touch the edge of the frame. Unfortunately, this is how it happened - we came back to what we were trying to get away from! The right arm is cut off at the elbow, the neck rests on the edge of the frame.
Contact of an object with the frame border is an error!
Alas, not a single "exemplary" picture was found from the entire plot, which I could cite here as a good example. One way or another, on all frames of the series there are some small, but offensive flaws. In order not to fall into the same trap, get into the habit of moving the zoom back a little after framing when shooting - this will reduce the likelihood of objects being cut off, touching them with the edge of the frame, and also gives you "wiggle room" if you need to smooth out blockage in the photo.
8. People with an open mouth
Shooting speakers behind the podium, despite the apparent simplicity, the task is by no means an easy one! When I worked at the university and photographed various conferences, I was perfectly convinced of this. When some people go up to the podium for a report, they seem to be replaced. A person's facial expressions change, and often not for the better (apparently, excitement affects). As a result, in the photographs, such speakers are obtained with a twisted mouth, wrinkled foreheads and bulging eyes. For reasons of professional ethics, I will not give photos. Let me just say that it is not always possible to take a picture of a speaking person the first time.
Photo from the Internet
In order for the speakers in the photographs to look like themselves, I recommend that you follow simple rules.
- Don't limit yourself to one shot - the more you shoot, the more likely it is that at least one shot will be successful. Don't put high hopes on the camera's LCD screen - it's hard to tell the difference between a normal look and a "crazy" one on it :)
- Take a picture of a person at the very beginning of the performance, when he had just entered the stage, looked into the audience, but had not yet begun to speak. As a rule, such photos are the most "calm". All people behave differently - someone just stands and talks, someone starts to lean forward, someone gesticulates frantically, someone wrinkles their forehead, etc. It is especially difficult to photograph normally those who read from a piece of paper - their eyes are almost always lowered and their faces are tilted forward. When they look up, the head often remains tilted, which causes the forehead to wrinkle, and the person looks into the hall frowningly.
- If you shoot a vertical shot with flash, make sure that the shadow is cast from the back of the head, not from the side of the face.
- A favorable moment for a picture is when the speaker supplements his speech with gestures. Please note that when a press conference is shown on TV and the speaker begins to move his hands to the beat of his speech, clicks of reporters' cameras are heard in the background.
9. Bad angle
At this point, there is clearly not enough focal length, as a result, people turned out to be too small, and on the sides there is a lot of empty space and extra objects. Zoom Help!
The same, but taken with a larger focal length
The second example is a children's matinee. Pay attention to how the parents with cameras are located:
Below are the results of shooting from the points "correct" and "incorrect"
By the way, the most "trump card" place when shooting such events is in the front row on the side (preferably next to the window). The room is viewed diagonally, the light from the windows does not hit the lens. You can shoot both sitting and standing, while not disturbing anyone.
10. Issues of professional ethics
Do not forget about the rules of professional ethics! When reporting shooting, they are especially relevant.
The most important rule is that whoever took the shooting point first, that is it. If you came to this point later - do not try to get into the frame of the one who occupied it before you. There are often not very many good shooting sites, so take care of choosing a shooting point in advance. The height of arrogance and impudence is to stand with your back in front of someone's lens. When someone's figure suddenly grows in front of me, my first desire is to give a good kick! Some begin to "revenge" - they do the same in relation to the rude photographer. I urge you not to imitate and behave with dignity. In the end, the one in front could simply not notice you. If they themselves accidentally climbed into the frame of someone and received a poke in the back, they themselves are to blame.
Another common situation is that one photographer shoots from his knee, the other stands right behind him and puts out a telephoto lens above his head. When the one who gets up from below, most likely, will hit his head on this lens.
If someone is taking a picture on your way - stop and let the photographer take a picture, or just go around the photographer from the back.
On this, I think, we can finish. I hope that the above recommendations will be able to warn you against mistakes and get beautiful, interesting and lively reportage photos that will be nice to look at later! I am sure that the above list of recommendations is far from complete. If you have something to add - it can be done in the comments. Thanks in advance!
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