111--Scapes, Is this Idea Worth Pursuing?

slpollett

I'm not so good at thinking outside the box, so......when I think of "scapes", I think of nice scenery of some type. Something pleasing to look at, like mountains, or city skyscapers, or a nice lake view, or a beach, or 'something' to give some visual interest.

I don't live anywhere near anything like this, and I'm sure no landscape-type shot I could get around here would be anything to look at. We have no tall buildings, no interesting buildings, no great trees...nada. Everything here is brown & dried up, mostly flat, absolutely nothing of visual interest. Or maybe I'm just blind to it because I see it everyday as "non-descript"? :dunno

ANYWAY......the only half-baked idea I have for Scape is Friday Night Lights.

Something like:


Obviously not this particular shot (it just happens to be what I have for right now), but something similar maybe?????????

My daughter is in the band, so I am always a parent volunteer/band chaperone at the games. I have become the 'band photographer' since I am always there taking pictures. As you can see from this shot, we are always in the corner of the stands, so my view would normally be from an angle such as this. I can move around to get just about any view though.

My questions are:

Would this type of scene (or something similar from elsewhere in the stadium) fit the theme?

Would it be more pleasing or preferable to be from an angle such as this one, or should I strive for more of a center-based shot from the 50-yard line?

Does the band (or a portion of the band) in the foreground detract from the scene or add to it? This one is hard for me to answer since I'm a band Mom and to me the band is more important than the football. (lol)

(There really isn't anything going on in this particular picture, so if the band adds to the scene I would expect that they need to be playing instead of taking a break.)

Should I focus more on the football game or the band?

I wasn't really thinking of this challenge when I took this picture, but the more I look at it the more I think this might be the only idea I come up with unless I take off to travel somewhere. We have another game Friday night, so I have a chance to get something better. It would help me to kind of know what to strive for. You can see from the landscape outside the stadium that there isn't much to look at out there. You see why I'm having to look for something else!

Anyone willing to give me a few pointers??

Thanks,
Sherry

PedalGirl

I think something along these lines or even this photo would work just fine. Hey, it does depict a scene. I think Friday Night Lights is a great title as well. Maybe even a shot latter in the evening would work really well with that title.

angevin1

Two things.

1. Using this scene, it would be better with a view from the exact opposite, viz; Standing right at a Bass-Drum on the field and using a 16mm Fov, we see the stands and crowd.

2. You mention: "Everything here is brown & dried up, mostly flat." I challenge you, that you could easily find a scape in that scenery.

slpollett

Thank you Lisa and Tom for responding.

So the idea is ok, but I need to look at other angles and let it get darker. I will give it a whirl tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we have rain in the forecast so I'm not sure what I'll get or if I will even want to get my camera out in it. We'll see.

Tom, I do have one shot from the position you suggested (sort of). I took the first picture from almost at the top of the stands (right near the tubas). The bass drums are in the center of the band in the stands (not down on the field). This shot (below) was taken from the track down at field level from where I think you suggested. This example is rather poor, but you get an idea of the view from that spot.



If it isn't raining tomorrow night, I think I can get a few different shots revolving around a "Friday Night Lights" title.

Thanks again. I REALLY appreciate the response.
Sherry

sweetharmony

slpollett wrote: »

I don't live anywhere near anything like this, and I'm sure no landscape-type shot I could get around here would be anything to look at. We have no tall buildings, no interesting buildings, no great trees...nada. Everything here is brown & dried up, mostly flat, absolutely nothing of visual interest. Or maybe I'm just blind to it because I see it everyday as "non-descript"?

Sherry, I think that you could easily use a band shot and I agree that a night image would give an added feeling of drama and nostalgia. And if it rains, maybe you'll be lucky enough to get the band interacting with the weather.....unlucky for the band, but lucky for the photographer.

I know what you mean by brown and dried up.....with the drought we had this summer, I was mightily depressed about not getting to photograph my favourite garden subjects in all their glory. But the drought pushed me out of my comfort zone....chronicling it yielded several interesting photos that would fit this challenge well.....it's all a matter of refocusing your eye......

torrbrae

A band shot would fit the theme - from reading the definitions of "Scape" it includes a scene or view. Agree with the others that taken when is a bit darker would add feeling of drama to the scene. Also prefer for the shot to be from the foot of the stand, and looks as if you can take a shot without looking into the floodlights.

slpollett

Well...I guess I'll be back to the drawing board. I took a lot of pictures last night, but really--I've got nothing worth sharing for this challenge. I never really found 'the' place to get the best shot of the crowd or the band from and my night shots are...um...pretty bad. So I'll keep my eyes open for something else.

Thanks to all who responded.

Sherry

Tonto

Sherry although it's too late for this challenge the first angle you shot from was great, it had the band members in the foreground and the field of play behind them, maybe with your daughter in the band it might be possible for her to arrange for all the band members to turn round and pose for a shot from that angle for you, if you could get the team to stand behind them on the field at the same time you would have an amazing shot.

best wishes Ira

slpollett

Thank you Leah, Torrbrae, & Ira.

I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to get any decent shots from Friday night's football game. It had rained all day and it was very overcast at game time with low, dense cloud cover. It made it darker than usual and the lighting seemed very flat and dull. I set my shutter at 100-160 (started at 160 then dropped to 100 as it got darker). I didn't want to go slower than that because of all the movement at the stadium. I wanted things somewhat in focus (lol). I set my aperture as low as it would go (f2.8-3.5) and bumped the ISO up to 1200. I figured I'd have too much noise/grain at that setting so I didn't want to go higher. To me, everything I did was still too dark and just lifeless.

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, but how could I have achieved a decently exposed & interesting photo under these conditions. I tried a few things, but either I don't know what I'm doing or I don't have the equipment to do what I was trying to do (or both, as seems to be the case).

So, even though it is too late for this challenge, does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Here are a few examples from Friday night. To me, none are as good as my first image above (not that that one is so great, but....)

1.

2.


3.


4. Before the game


5. Drum Line (well, part of it...)


6. Drum Major Salute (Notice the middle drum major, lol. He does this every week and doesn't realize he is doing it.)


More here if you're a glutton for punishment: http://psphotos.smugmug.com/Sherry-Shots/HHHS-Red-Brigade-Band-2012/Heights-vs-Cedar-Park-2012/25386398_8Gf268#!i=2088739916&k=67sTWpn

We have 7 more football games this year. Mostly, I take pictures of the band kids which they put on facebook and (sometimes) their parents will purchase them. I sure would like to give them some better options that what I got this week.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Sherry

Tonto

Looked a t your SmugMug site and you have some lovely images Sherry all these shots need is a little post processing to make them stand out a little bit, I don't know what software you are using to edit your photos but if it has a histogram display then try moving the exposure slider over to the right until the highlights are right over on the right side of the histogram, then bring the brightness slider down to the left until the image looks good, maybe add a little fill light to bring out the midtones a touch, add some clarity with the clarity slider to give it a little sparkle and see if the contrast slider improves it at all.
If you play about a bit with these tools you will see a marked improvement in your photos and if you want to get really creative there are some handy tutorials down in the photocraft section of digigrin like this one: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=198239

Ira