In this article, I will share three short and fun projects that you can use either as a road map or as exact recipes to adapt in various situations.
When making portraits, any large event is usually a great source of material for fresh new faces. Whether you choose to pose your subjects or take candid shots, you can always go beyond a simple snapshot.
One drawback of photographing at large events is that you usually have to struggle to find a clean and interesting background, especially if you plan to create a substantial photo series in a short period of time. In this case, I had about an hour to make portraits of drivers that gathered to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ford’s first factory outside of the United States. I knew that it would be a very crowded event, so wide portraits of drivers alongside their machines wouldn’t be possible. To be able to photograph a number of them in a similar style, I decided to get rather close and use a wide open aperture. On this particular day, the sky was practically cloudless. The powerful and contrasty light of a summer morning sun was not really my best friend for portraits. I decided to go for a safe choice and use it as a backlight to avoid people squinting too much. As an additional source of light, I used a small 12” Lastolite reflector to light up people’s faces with a golden glow. To add a bit of context, I also photographed details of their vehicles, and paired them together to ultimately make “diptychs.” (Click on the photos in the gallery below to view them in full-size.)
In terms of numbers, it’s tricky to find an event that will provide us with more models in a short period of time than a marathon or similar sports event where faces come and go like names in quickly turned Rolodex. I was interested in runners’ expressions towards the end of the race, so I positioned myself in a spot where I knew I could be relatively unobtrusive to the runners and also photograph them from a close-up distance. I quickly setup a flash to freeze the motion and started photographing. It’s quite hard for the camera to focus on someone passing by at speed and at such a close distance, so I used manual focusing, a high aperture, and started firing away. I had to adjust my position and settings a few times during this session but it resulted in photographs that are quite interesting and relatively easy to replicate in a polished version at a different event – which I’ll definitely do. It was interesting and quite funny at the same time to see some of the runners pose and smile for the camera, not paying attention to being tired after 26 miles of running. Image is everything, I suppose, these days. (Click on the photos in the gallery below to view them in full-size.)
The third example I’ll give you is from a barbecue during a cycling festival in my hometown. Since I photographed the festival for a number of years, I knew there would be quite a lot of people I could potentially invite in front of my lens. I also knew that everyone would be in a party mood, so portraits had to be done quickly and without any elaborate setups like I made in previous years.
One common element I always use when photographing cyclists at the festival is their own bicycle, and this series was no different. Since the location for the closing party changed last minute, I had to negotiate space for my “studio” upon arrival. I picked the least obtrusive background, and set up one flash on the ground behind a chair destined for my sitters. The light from the flash created a “halo” over everyone’s head as it bounced off a wheel of their own bicycle. I started inviting people to have their portraits made. To add a bit more ethereal feel to the photos, I made them with a Lensbaby Composer at a wide open aperture. (Click on the photos in the gallery below to view them in full-size.)
So here you have three quick portrait assignments with almost no time for setup and with a large number of photographs that aren’t just correctly exposed snaps. I encourage you to think in a similar way when you plan your next portrait exercise. A bit of out of the box thinking will give you extra joy when using your camera and help to create something out of the ordinary.
By the way, the marathon I photographed was won by a runner from New York. He is the first person I photographed before I got properly setup:
