“Ready, 1, 2, 3…. strike a pose and smileeee!”
Last Saturday, I had the chance to be a “press photographer” at the festival opening of Shine Youth Festival, thanks to the kind folks at Panasonic Lumix and Omy.sg.
Held as part of an event photography course taught by freelance photographer Sze Ping, I learnt several useful lessons:
Sze Ping doing his thang…
1) The “A” in my digital camera stands for “Aperture”, and it controls the depth of field (ie how much details one can see). Wider apertures let in more light , but may result in a more blurry image and helps to increase the shutter speed hence avoiding a blurry image (thanks to “Sifu” Sze Ping for correcting this error of mine).
Dimunitive girl group “Roses” striking a pose.
2) The “S” mode corresponds to “Shutter Speed”, and the faster the shutter speed goes, the darker (though clearer) the image becomes.
Eric Guansing goes airborne with the leaping “Roses”
3) “Bokeh” isn’t a Malay word but instead, represents the “blurness” of an object. So now I can scold people by saying that you’re “bokeh like a sotong”!
I guess its alright if the dragon is “bokeh”
4) When shooting events, take special note of the following photo ops:
– Pre-events (preparations/ opening)
A spinning dragon makes for dizzy dancers
“Flying gold fishes” making their debut
– Ambience (environmental and ‘capture the spirit’ shots)
Don’t mess with us Cosplay heroes from Kamen Rider!
Magician charming his way into the hearts of 3 Cosplay princesses
– VIPs (not just Ministers, but the stars on stage)
“3…2…1… and launch!” (guess you can tell who two of the VIPs are at least)
– On-going events (using different angles)
No prizes for guessing what angle this is.
I like the double imagery in this photo of Kewei
– Audience moods/ candid shots
The girls and boys in blue are waiting for their idol Derrick Hoh to appear
– Closing/ group photos
Our VIPs striking a pose for the camera with Panasonic Lumix marketing manager
5) The new Panasonic Lumix GF3 (yet to be launched) is a superb system camera, with lightning quick focus, fabulous images and a light and compact form factor. Its awesome that we got to play with it BEFORE it is unveiled in the market. Way cool!
6) You can learn everything you like, but still end up with “bokeh” images!
Ok, maybe a little blurriness at the edges is acceptable here…
After about an hour or so of theory, the group of about 40 amateur photographers were unleashed into *Scape as “Official Photographers”, allowing us to snap anybody, anything and anywhere we fancy.
Us going for the “kill”
We probably took a gazillion photos of celebrities…
Kewei and Daniel Ong
…Cosplayers…
“He” is playing in our cinemas right now!
…singers…
Juz B is an almost all Malay group with a Chinese beatboxer
..pillow fighters…
… and of course, one of Singapore’s most well liked CEO, Mr Yam Ah Mee of the People’s Association!
“Pursuant to Section 49, Sub-Section 7E…”
Am I a better photographer after the session? Well, I think I learnt something although I’d probably need a lot more practice before becoming even a semi-pro.
Here are the rest of my photos for your viewing pleasure:
Probably my best shot of the day – a b-boy from Radikal Forze doing a handstand
Do help to spread the word too and many thanks in advance!
Nice post ~ You got some nice captures there!
Just a correction:
“Wider apertures let in more light but may result in a more blurry image” -> Wider apertures let in more light is a correct statement, but it doesn’t contribute in blurry image! In fact it helps to fasten the shutter speed (since more lights are coming in), thus avoiding blurry image.
Oops my bad! Thanks for popping by and offering the correction, which I’ve already done. :}