HKU: Photography Tips

• Practice at a parade – Everyone will be taking pictures of everyone else. Professional and amateur photographers will be running (and standing) around with cameras taking pictures of the parade, the participants, and the crowds. Join in the fun and take a couple close up pictures that capture the excitement and the moment in the faces of the people who were there.
• Wear a sleeveless vest to conceal your camera – If walking around with a SLR camera makes you self conscious and you feel too obvious wear a un-zippered sleeveless vest. The camera can rest between the zipper and under the folds when moving around the crowd.
• Look for the shots – Uniformity and variation are captivating subjects to photograph. People will be dressed and walking in ordered formations. Wait for the shots and anticipate the crowd.
• Use various camera settings and photography styles – Meter and adjust your camera for the environment but be sure to take some pictures in auto, aperture/shutter priority, and full manual. Each mode will allow you to render the images differently. Full auto isn’t always the best choice.

The last was a personally difficult lesson. As a photography exercise most of my pictures were shot in aperture priority mode. My goal was to soften the background and enhance the focal point. Great idea, poor implementation. My recollection of what large and small f-stop settings did was completely backwards. As a result many of my pictures were poorly exposed.