Oct 11 2008
I’m such a dummy!
Sara is a great speaker but this photo is too noisy to use
I just returned from a weekend conference. I took my camera along in the hopes of getting a few photos I might be able to sell as micro-stock.
One of the problems we face as photographers when shooting seminars is low light. To add to the challenge are speakers who move. To prevent this a photographer has a choice, set your camera on a fast ISO to make the camera more sensitive to light – and allow faster shutter speeds to keep the subject from being blurry – or to use a flash with a lower ISO. The trade-off when using a flash is that it is very disruptive to the class and the speaker.
Well, I decided I wanted the best photos possible, so I choose to use a flash. I carefully asked attendees, speakers and the organizer if they minded and everyone agreed.
Just before the event started I wanted to grab a quick shot of a group in a lower light situation, so changed my ISO to 800. That allowed me to capture the shot, keep the subject in focus and not use a tripod. The trade-off, I knew would be a very noisy photo. I knew it, but felt it was OK because the shot was going to be for web use, but not for printing.
Then I got to talking to conference attendees, and a number of other things tugged at my attention – and, you guessed it, I forgot to change the ISO back. The results? Mostly good photos, fine for web use, but not very professional looking – and definitely not usable for selling. Drat! Conference photographs are very good sellers on the micro-stock circuit.
The lesson – learn your camera. When you are photographing in a professional capacity – well, just do one thing at a time – remember your purpose, that’s to take pictures. Once you have a few good photos put the camera away and then start enjoying the seminar.
