Action Sequence for Fantasy Art - Ancient Arts Fellowship Training on April 11, 2015

Here are a couple of short sequences I took of the Canberra Ancient Arts Fellowship fighters doing skirmish training on Saturday, April 11, 2015:

Photography: People and Action - Lessons Learned on the First Attempt (Part 3)

With thanks to the Ancient Arts Fellowship of Canberra for both letting me train with them, and then take photographs.

There was one final important thing to note about taking photographs in public places:

Public grounds have other people… and cars… and things, which will show up in your background.

Two background items  - rubbish bin and the woman on the right

Note the car...

And then there's the toilet block...

...another cars, some Coppers Log fencing *and* the road signs.

It is, however, possible to blur the background in shots taken of individuals.

"...and then I just came in low and..."

The AAF fighters work very hard!

Sometimes it is possible to avoid unwanted background features:

... or to crop unwanted material out of shots to achieve a more ‘natural’-looking background.

Cropped - no car, but we lost a fighter

Uncropped with car in background

And sometimes you can’t:

The woman is gone from the right, but I still have a garbage bin dead centre

The close-up lens will do both close-ups and group shots, while the short lens just can’t get close enough.

Close-up of the warrior-in-red

Group shot including warrior in red

As close-up as the short lens can get

Group shot with short lens

And, finally, be aware of the good influences that can happen with people in the background. These shots are more interesting because of the female fighter in the background.

Photography: People and Action - Lessons Learned on the First Attempt (Part 2)

With thanks to the Ancient Arts Fellowship of Canberra for both letting me train with them, and then take photographs.

 As well as learning that there is a difference in the type and quality of photographs taken using the short lens and the close-up lens (which has a filter), I also noted the following from my first time out photographing groups of people:

Sports setting is good for getting a series of continuous shots of movement, which provide good references for drawing. Take note of the two left-most fighters in the first three photos and observe how the sports setting has provided a good sequence of movement for the same people. This will provide a good sketch reference in future.

Shot 1 of 6

Shot 2 of 6

Shot 3 of 6

Shot 4 of 6

Shot 5 of 6

Shot 6 of 6

 

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.

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter

short lens - no filter

close-up lens - filter