- black & white
- celebration
- Center Framed
- cheers
- Cloudy
- Energetic
- Group
- Group shot
- Low angle
- lower thirds
- Natural
- Natural Light
- Overcast
- Playful
- Soft Light
- Unposed
The story behind the image
Directions
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
I ran up to this group and I asked if I could get a photo of them cheering as they just did a few seconds ago. I gave them 2 specific instructions. The first was to make sure they didn’t look at the camera and the second was to make sure they were genuinely excited. On my mark, as I got into position, I directed them to get excited and do one big cheer. It worked out pretty good because everyone followed my instructions which were just to bring out their natural excitement.
What did you say?
“Hey folks, could you do that one more time for me?! This time I’m going to get nice and low and when I say GO, I want you to do another BIG cheer for me. But make sure you don’t look at me as you’re cheering and I want genuine excitement ok?” Ready… and… GO!”
Composition
The composition here was to capture the scene from a very low angle to add drama. When shooting low and wide it gives a dramatic look to the scene you’re shooting. This works great for candid moments and you don’t have to worry too much about the lens distortion because it just adds to dramatic feel of the frame.
framing
Lower Thirds
Focusing
Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)
The focus of this shot was the person in the centre with the main focus being on their hands. The reason for this was that they were in the centre of the frame and I knew I would capture their facial expression the best.
Focus Mode
Continuous Autofocus
Focus POints
Single Point
Focused on
the hands of the person in the centre
Equipment &
Exif
Camera
Lens
Flash
Filter
1/2000 @ f/1.6 ISO100 WB-Auto
The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:
Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.
Light & Weather
This day had full sun all day, but at the time the image was taken there happened to be the perfect cloud defusing most of the harsh light. Talk about timing! With this diffused light, I was able to shoot this image in pretty much any direction since the light was soft and easy to work with.
Light Type
Natural Light
Weather
Cloudy
Editing Workflow
How did you edit this image?
I used my own Black and White preset for this shot. I tossed up between having this image in colour or black and white and it could have gone either way. But in the end Black and White seemed to give the image more drama which was the aim of the shot.
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Preset Used
Own Preset
Challenges
The main challenge in this image was to try and capture the reaction on people’s faces without arms getting in the way.
Solutions
Positioning myself in the right spot was crucial to trying to make sure I captured reactions.
Location
Location Name
Kangaroo Valley
Location aDDRESS
Kangaroo Valley
Loation Type
Garden / Field
Country
Australia
Don’t be afraid to ask to recreate a shot at a wedding. You’re not superhuman so you won’t always capture everything at a wedding. When you see something happening that you think can be re-created, go for it. People at weddings won’t judge you for asking. In fact I think they’ll think the opposite and praise you for it.
