C.M. Simpson: Art and Photography: Photography: People and Action - Lessons Learned on the First Attempt (Part 1)

Saturday 28 February 2015

Photography: People and Action - Lessons Learned on the First Attempt (Part 1)

For a very long time, now, I’ve been taking photographs. Mostly, I take shots of birds, beetles, spiders and sunsets, but I recently took up a new hobby—learning the art of ancient swordsmanship with the Ancient Arts Fellowship (AAF) in Canberra. Because I’m a recruit, I can’t join in with the melees until I’ve learnt how to swing my sword safely, so when recruit training is over I pick up my camera.

The first of these shots were a complete learning curve. I had never used my camera to take pictures of more than my small daughter tearing around the yard or ‘helping’ in the garden.

And I had certainly never pointed it at strangers.

Three weeks ago, I did both. With the permission of the AAF fighters, I photographed some of the training session. Most of the time, I focussed on the melee combat, but occasionally I took a few closer shots. If you’d asked me beforehand if I’d be taking individuals, I’d have said ‘no’, so this is something I’ll have to remember for future events.

Here is some of what I learned:

My short lens doesn’t have a filter on the glare, and so does not produce shots that are of the same quality as those I take with the close-up lens. It is, however, better for larger group shots.