| Nikon D2X, 24-70mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/40 |
Storytelling is about moments.
You may think that sitting around a room where people are just talking; things move at a much slower pace than, say, a baseball game.
You would be wrong. I think the action moves just as fast as in any sporting event.
Sports photographers are not pushing their shutter on the motor drive and then picking a significant moment in sports any more than they do with people sitting around in a room. The motor drive is to take the photos after the moment the photographer is capturing them. Concentrating on after is because you don’t know if the ball will pop out of the catcher’s mitt, and the player sliding home then is safe.
The ever-so-slight head tilt or body posture can communicate so much. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture like one of the men with the hand gestures. It can be ever so subtle as the lady in the photo above.
Can you see the moment?
One thing that can kill a great moment is not being able to see it.
As you can see in these two photos of the young girl, the off-camera flash adds life to the face giving more dynamic range and, therefore, more color and energy to the photo. However, capturing the moment is more than just squeezing the shutter at the right moment.
Can you see how much more “POP” this photo has with the off-camera flash?
Photographers do all they can when they are telling a story. However, they must get the best light to help communicate the report on the subject and the best moment.
Sometimes I crawl on the ground to get into a position so you can see the subjects’ faces, and then since sometimes the best location for the issue has the sun right behind their heads, as in the photo of the guys painting the fire hydrant [fire plug for those out west] I again use an off-camera flash to fill the subjects faces with light, so they are not just silhouettes.
Other times I get as high as I can to look down on the subject to capture the expanse of surroundings and their faces.
I rarely have people pose and hold it for me, as in this photo of the two ladies. There was just a moment, and I shot it. It worked well, and I liked the moment but had I said hold it just a second, OK now 1 …, 2 …, 3 … this would have killed the expressions. So even when people pose for you, if they hold their face, it isn’t as good as just before they hit their peak smile. I love to shoot just before they reach it.
This way, they are smiling and not just posing.