Sunday, September 19, 2010

Richmond Fair

I wouldn't exactly say that this assignment went quite the way I planned... not at all actually, but it wasn't a fail. It way quickly proved to be challenging and overwhelming for various reasons. Firstly I wasn't completely confident with my equipment. I decided to use a Canon 5D Mark 2 and a Speedlight. For some reason the flash screen kept blinking and I couldn't set the subject distance... I couldn't set a lot of things actually but sometimes what I managed to do with it resulted in a decent photo. For a while I didn't need to use the flash, it was far too bright but the lighting conditions were constantly changing at a fast pace so I was always finding myself tinkering. I became flustered with that especially when taking pictures of people and having to deal with shutter speeds and determining what kind of aperture I'd like (so many turned out a bit overexposed to avoid playing with their patience and even my own). I was feeling really pressured... and a lot of people said no to pictures. Inspiration was really on the downslide.

I was beginning to love studio photography even more. I'm a control freak and I don't like having to adjust to my surroundings. I like using my surroundings when I see a moment that needs to be captured. Otherwise it's like working with an unforgiving force if the perfect time is not chosen. The photographer in me will be shown through my abstract and conceptual vision/ways of thinking and my techniques used to convey messages, moods and feelings. In the future I want as much influence as possible when creating images of interest... subjects/models, hair/make-up, wardrobe, props/set design, location, lighting, all of it. Not to mention, I'd be working with professionals with hopefully the same outlook and there would be much more time floating around to get your head into gear.

Shooting an event tested my abilities. The time of day should have been picked more wisely and I'm guessing the flash was glitchy. I also need to work on my comfort zones, I hate it when I'm surrounded by randoms and they're staring at me taking pictures... and it's hard to find genuine people I don't have to work to get personality out of seeing as I'm an introverted person myself. On top of that, I trusted the cameras LCD screen more than I should have so I got brighter results. Anyway overall I'm still pretty alright with the outcome and many are workable images. It was taking too long to both find moments and take one great picture after the other so I just got a little over 100 pictures... and a few of them are my boyfriend >_> what can I say he's where I put most of my focus.

Here's a picture from the fair:


& here's something extra:

<3