Things I learned:
1. Shoot with your back facing the window - the subject's face should be lit by the sunlight.
When you shoot with the subject's back facing a window that has a lot of light coming it,
it makes the subject too bright. See how washed out the kids look in the above image?
If your subject is facing the window, you can see their eye color and facial features more clearly and they are not overcome by light.
2. Shoot mostly with a large depth of field.
When I shot the registration in the morning, I had my macro focus on and I had my aperture at f/3.6. The images were neat and artistic, but I got a lot of blur. I would have liked to see more faces and have more crisp images. The top two are examples of one person as the focal point and the rest blurred. I like them, but I think for an event I will do this sparingly.
3. Shoot with a low shutter speed to get good candid shots.
When I shot the awards ceremony, I switched to a low shutter speed. This allowed me to catch some nice shots while people we moving very quickly. I also put my camera on burst mode because if I did not act fast, I would get blur or blinking and miss the shot completely.
4. Be assertive and explain who you are.
This was funny for me because I have a small point and shoot camera and I had to go up to people and ask to take their picture. I simply explained I was a volunteer photographer for the event and I asked politely if I could take pictures. I wore my badge, which made me look more legit. However, I was still quite shy. I shot photos all day. In the afternoon another volunteer came to help with the photography. He had a large DSLR with large lenses and all sorts of contraptions. He immediately went right up to a group of people with no hesitation and began clicking away. I laughed at my trepidation after watching him at work! Next time.
5. Have fun!
The kids were open to posing. next time, I will direct them where to stand. I also enjoyed catching them candidly laughing, talking, and just waiting. I spent time talking to them about their projects. I had a great time.
