Event random shot problem

[Tzetsin]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new to doing photography on a more than average basis and i've been reading and learning everything i can get my hands on.

Last night I shot an event (as part of my education, not for money) and now while doing post I've noticed a recuring problem that I cant find a way out of excepting maby content aware or clone or some other major op.

The problem is alot of my candid shots have people with really stupid expressions, wierd smiles, mouths open in conversation. I know this is natural, but I cant believe how stupid we all look while talking ;D

Any tips on how i can take these shots while minimising this, or how I can minimise it in post?

Thanks in advance!

-Jason

[Sterling]

Post is not the time to change facial expressions.

If you are shooting at random then you will get random results. Plan your shots better and be ready to get them when you see something you like.

[curelightwounds]

This is why I can't take pictures of people. It's too unpredictable.

Do you have any examples?

[prabbit237]

Originally Posted by Tzetsin

Any tips on how i can take these shots while minimising this, or how I can minimise it in post?

Taking 300 pictures and throwing away 298 of them will minimize it. Basically, that's how a lot of the professionals do when taking pictures of people. Ever watch a video of something like an SI swimsuit shoot? They might have taken 4-5 rolls, or even more, of film (or equivalent in digital) of a specific model and then used maybe 3 pics for the magazine.

Just get used to the idea that a LOT of the pics ya take of a person (especially when not posed) are gonna show goofy expressions, closed eyes, etc. and be prepared to discard most of them.

If taking shots of a "once in a lifetime" shot, like sports, etc. ya just have to plan the shots and even then have a fair amount of luck.

[curelightwounds]

Originally Posted by prabbit237

Taking 300 pictures and throwing away 298 of them will minimize it...

QFT

It's a lot of variables, too many to depend on only taking a handful of shots. More shots will increase the probability that a few will be workable.

[inkista]

Timing is a really important skill when taking photos, and your equipment can affect how effective you are at it. If you're using a P&S camera, you may have to also account for shutter lag, and try to anticipate things--using a half-press to set up the autofocus and auto exposure systems first, to reduce your shutter lag may help. You may also prefer waiting until someone's face is at rest.

One of the things I tend to do when shooting people is to pay attention to their hands. Whenever the hands are in motion, the face is usually doing interesting things.

[Tzetsin]

wow, thank you all for your quick replies.

It all makes sense too, I suppose setting the high/slow speed burst as default in this situation would be better than a single shot. I took a little over 1100 shots and have 136 shots worth having. thats about what... 9% success lol. Actually, I am happy with how the shots turned out for the most part, but this issue is something that I noticed was a recuring thing.

I never see shots that other people take at events where people have lips going on like mister Ed's or weird scowls or crooked half smiles, so I was a bit surprised to see so many. I guess those shots are the photographers 900 "other" shots lol. So anyway, after seeing them I was curious to know how professional photographers deal with it.

So far it seems to me that being a decent photographer is 30% creativity 30% preperation and 40% luck ;D

[curelightwounds]

Pretty much. For me, I've given up on taking pictures of anything with a mind of its own. It's so tiring to set up and try to gauge people and then having to throw away a lot of photos just feels wasteful.

Even then, when I'm just shooting things I still find maybe 10% of what I've taken isn't worth working on.

[Tzetsin]

lol only 10% bad shots? I have a long way to go ;D I've been reading like crazy though, I've taken the advice of many here and have gotten a bunch of books from photographers, magazines and texts.

[curelightwounds]

Originally Posted by Tzetsin

lol only 10% bad shots? I have a long way to go ;D I've been reading like crazy though, I've taken the advice of many here and have gotten a bunch of books from photographers, magazines and texts.

Mind you 10% attrition comes after having total control of what I'm shooting which is something that can't be said about taking pictures of people, worse still for candid pictures of people.

Alright, well -- tell me what your process is, start to finish.

What do you look for?
How do you know you've found it?
How do you plan to capture it?

What's your set up?
How do you deal with local conditions?