Stretching myself!

I seem to have been attached to a camera all weekend... which has been good, but a bit stretching, because so many of the situations I was in were anything BUT "ideal" lighting, etc. This is just a share... there are tons of photos on Flickr (follow the links) if you want more, but I wanted to share that I am kind of proud of myself for dealing with a lot of tricky situations and managing to get some decent shots. For me, that's a big step... I never used to be able to get anything decent in bad circumstances, and I feel like I'm getting more comfortable at figuring out tricky situations now. So, here goes my share!

On Saturday, I shot some photos at a local farmer's market, for use on their web site. Not a big deal, and a totally unpaid gig (as it should be, I had no clue what I was doing!), but my friend who was doing it with me couldn't go till almost midday and the day was soooo bright and difficult to shoot in. My favourite from that experience, just for capturing the 'experience' of the interchanges between vendors and customers, etc., is this one:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/...bea8ec71_z.jpg

Then we had the airshow right outside our window, literally, so I tried to take some good shots of that, which was hard with a max 135mm zoom! But I got this and was pleased with how sharp it was!
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/...2fefa502_z.jpg

Then at my aunt's house, it was a tiny space and terrible light, but I busted out the speedlite and thought this turned out better than I anticipated!
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/...f4151990_z.jpg

And finally, we went to the fair, and I could not resist taking photos of the Peking Acrobats, but was going anywhere from ISO 3200 - 6400, depending on the stage lighting, and was across the stadium from the action. But still, some cool shots!
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/...b789cdd1_z.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/...a24653d2_z.jpg

And outside it was so bright and contrasty again, I was struggling to get good shots. But I felt like this captured a little of the "flavour" of the fair experience on our day:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/...2c7edc43_z.jpg

I have some more to share, but I'm saving a few for the CC group thread. :)

Tracy, your photos continually amaze me! I saw these on FB and was thinking just exactly what you typed - it is obvious that you have really learned (and continue to learn, I know) what your settings mean and how they interact and your shots show that! I particularly think the Farmer's Market one is great! Love all the color in it!

Tracy, you did a fantastic job with all of these. Well done. They do show how much you have learnt

Great job, Tracy! You're really coming along and rocking your new camera. I'm sure it feels nice to finally be able to do what you were craving to do with your point and shoot. It's a liberating feeling!

Thanks, all! Yes, Steph, it's a huge blessing to finally have a camera that can do what I want! And I'm so happy that I learned enough before I got the camera that I can get my settings right with it most of the time! Now just to learn stuff like, oh, I don't know... taking good portraits................ :rolleyes:

LOL! You're definitely not as bad as you think, so don't beat yourself up! It's SO hard taking portraits of kids. They never sit still. The most recent ones with the boys that I took, I bribed them with some animal crackers. I would take a few shots, then we'd all go into the kitchen and they'd get 2 animal crackers. Then we'd do some more, and go back and get 2 more crackers. We did that a few times until they just didn't want to do it anymore. It worked well, because it broke it up and they weren't just sitting there the entire time getting bored. It takes forever doing it that way, but at least I was able to get some photos that I loved. Bribes work wonders!

Maybe you could also get them a bottle of soda or a lollypop or something to keep them still and occasionally have them look over at the camera. Patience is key when working with kids. Sometimes I will just sit there with my camera up to my face focusing and refocusing until I finally get that glance over at me and then snap. I also do knock knock jokes and fart sounds for smiles ;)

Tracy- don't get down on yourself! You are improving by each and every photo! Love the acrobat ones! Awesome! You did great with the speedlight too!

Wow so many different atmospheres and yet you still captured them beautifully. Thanks for sharing.

Love these, Tracy. I really need to stretch myself too! I rarely bring my camera out of my backyard/house...