PHOTOGRAPHING EVENTS

Events are both challenging and fun to photograph. They're challenging because so many variables interfere with a good shot. They're fun because you just never know what you're going to find.

I improve my percentage of keepers by knowing and preparing for the challenges. Here is a key list of what I anticipate: wall-to-wall people, confined quarters, unexpected action--the need for quick grab shots, and the need for fast shutter speeds. 

Given those challenges, here is a list of preparations: I'll need to be ready to used wide-angle capability to be able to photograph subjects while in crowded spaces; telephoto capabilities to isolate subjects from the crowds if needed; a low-number f/stop setting to blur the backgrounds behind my subjects; and, to make sure I have the continuous shooting mode set on my camera. 

Remaining calm, relaxed, and just enjoying the activities allows me to spot the right subjects to photograph, be ready for split-second moments, and make on-the-spot adjustments, as needed. 

With that introduction, below is but a sliver of examples from my collection. 

In my hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas, we have an awesome horse racing and gambling resort. Once a year, they have a horse-racing derby (women's hats) competition. It draws a lot of attention--huge crowds! After spending some time photographing the horse races, I started looking for women with big hats/derbies. As I saw a competitor walking across in front of me, I quickly aimed my camera her way. Click! An f/stop of f/6.3. 

In Nederland, Colorado, they have their annual winter Frozen Dead Guy Days. Lots of folks dress outlandishly, well, "deadly." I shot this "dead guy" at f/10 to cover the entire crowd. 

The Chalk Art Festivals in Denver, Colorado are awesome, as well! Such beautiful chalk art is painted on the street, just to disappear in the following days. The image below, at quick glance, looks like the artist is painting a mural. For this one, I stretched my arms out almost over the artist's head and clicked. I made sure I had a high enough ISO in order to get a fast shutter speed--it's impossible to keep my camera steady with outstretched arms. ISO= 640. Shutter speed: 1/250   

Several miles northwest of Denver is Steamboat Springs. It can get miserably cold up there in winter! But, that doesn't stop them from having chariot races, yes, in the snow! 

A word of caution. When there is this much white snow in the scene, it will trick your built-in exposure light meter into underexposing this type of scene. You will need to adjust your exposure compensation dial to, maybe, a +1 stop. Be careful with brightly lit scenes. 

Then there are car show events. I love to photograph those classics. Here is where wide-angle focal lengths come in handy. I stood close to this cool pick-up truck to get away from the crowd of people behind me. But, with my zoom lens set at 19mm, I was able to get my shot with no people in the shot. And, just like the image above, I had a lot of bright white to handle. I set my exposure compensation dial to a + 1-stop to keep the white truck from coming out underexposed.  

For this image of an artist at work, I wanted everything in sharp focus. This was during a 10-day art event that included an artists' studio tour. I wanted enough depth-of-field, but it was not very bright in his studio. So, to have my cake and eat it too, my settings were: f/8, shutter speed of 1/250 (his potter's wheel was rotating rather fast). In order to get that speed in that lighting scenario, I needed an ISO of 12,800--the highest ISO I have ever used.

Photographing horse races is challenging, but fun. I shoot those at f/8 because it's not about blurring the background but trying to get two or three horses all in focus. Shutter speeds are also critical, especially when the horses are moving perpendicular to you at a very fast speed.

I mentioned at the beginning that we have horse racing in my hometown. For this image, my f/stop was f/8; shutter speed at 1/1600. ISO at 1600. It was a cloudy day, so I needed to pump up my ISO to get a fast shutter speed. 

So, find out when your next event is in your town or neighboring towns, and have fun capturing the action. Make sure to determine in advance what f/stops and shutter speeds you will need. If the action is about to begin, like horse races, take some test shots, aiming your camera where you will be shooting, and make any necessary adjustments before the action begins. Have fun!