I really like your pictures. So nice
So when can you get here, Sam's grad is 7:00pm on friday!
I'm hoping by burying my eye in the camera, no one will notice my emotions
LOL on the note being drafted by the educators. I've gotten some of those notes and all I can say is WOW!
I'll be thinking about you Friday night! And sure........ I'd love to come, but the lens turns back into a pumpkin on Wednesday. Sorry!
Something that can work out very well with your longer lenses is to try the T2i's Auto ISO mode.
I've had my best luck with it in Manual. Switch to M and set the widest aperture the lens can have (or whatever aperture you want for the desired DOF, if "just getting enough light" isn't all you're looking for) and a shutter speed that's fast enough (or a little faster) to freeze the action, and then set the ISO to AUTO.
The best thing about Auto ISO is that the T2i can use fractional ISOs and that helps to keep the noise down. The camera uses ISO settings only as high as it needs to, like something in between 1600 and 3200.
I have tried the auto ISO a few times. To be honest, I just keep forgetting about it though! And my brain was too worried about completely blowing it to think real clearly. I ended up setting the ISO to 3200, and yes there was a lot of noise. LR3 did help a lot with that at least. But it would be much better to let the camera help me out in the first place!
I'm starting to get why people shoot manual.
Heck, it was a big step for me to start using Shutter and Aperture priority recently. But my brain's just not used to making all those adjustments on the fly.......
Part of the issue for me is that I alternated between taking photos of the brightly lit stage, and photos of various students walking back to their seats in the darker part of the auditorium. If I had used full manual I probably would have forgotten to adjust between the 2 situations. That has really been the hardest thing for me. Too many years shooting in auto...... and an aging brain screaming against retraining!
Those came our GREAT! You did a wonderful job. I've to tell you my DD doesn't graduate for three years but reading this thread I found myself panicking that I won't get the right seat or shots.
Seeing these makese less worried though I wouldnt be against the flat out run method either. Congrats to you and your boy!
Many thanks Wen! And not to worry. I have every confidence you will come away from the experience with some amazing shots.
It did panic me a lot to not know where my son would be sitting. If he had been seated on the other side of the aisle, I probably wouldn't have gotten any of the onstage shots. When your daughter is a Junior, if she has friends graduating, I'd really suggest offering your services to photograph the event for them to get a ticket in. Knowing the layout and how the events unfolds would have done a lot to put my mind at ease.
So I wonder if it's too early now to plot for my middle child's graduation in 2 years????
After seeing that the top 3 students sat on stage and their parents had reserved seating up close........ I did tell him there was an extra $50 in it to keep up his good work and save me all that time waiting........
He has finals this week....... better get him eating his Wheaties......... He's tied with some other kids at the top, so it's very doable.....
Yet somehow I'm guessing his mother's seat at graduation probably isn't on his list of priorities with the whole thing......
