Research: Band Shots

For my preliminary task I think it is important to take still shots of the band and the individual musicians. I have drawn on Tom Ang's professional photography tips and applied them where necessary. Taking good photos with the right light and positioning is very important as I am planning to base the poster on one overlying image of the band, so the shot needs to be effective in terms of mise-en-scene and other important areas. A link to his tips on the BBC website can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/apictureofbritain/how_to/

Additionally i found some not to dos and important things to keep in mind for the shots:

Avoid red eye. Red-eye is caused when your eyes dilate in lower lighting. When your pupils are big, the flash actually lights up the blood vessels on the back wall of your eyeball, which is why it looks red. If you must use a flash in poor light, try to get the person to not look directly at the camera, or consider using a "bounce flash". Aiming your flash above the heads of your subjects, especially if the walls surrounding are light, will keep red-eye out. If you don't have a separate flash gun which is adjustable in this way, use the red-eye reduction feature of your camera if available - it flashes a couple of times before opening the shutter, which causes your subject's pupils to contract, thus minimizing red-eye. Better yet, don't take photographs which require a flash to be used; find somewhere with better lighting.

Focus. Poor focusing is one of the most common ways that photographs are ruined. Use the automatic focus of your camera, if you have it; usually, this is done by half-pressing the shutter button. Use the "macro" mode of your camera for very close-up shots. Don't focus manually unless your auto-focus is having issues; as with metering, automatic focus usually does a far better job of focusing than you can.]

Try an interesting angle. Instead of shooting the object straight on, try looking down to the object, or crouching and looking up. Pick an angle that shows maximum color and minimum shadow. To make things appear longer or taller, a low angle can help. If you want a bold photo, it is best to be even with the object. You may also want to make the object look smaller or make it look like you're hovering over; to get the effect you should put the camera above the object. An uncommon angle makes for a more interesting shot.

Fill the frame with your subject. Don't be afraid to get closer to your subject. On the other hand, if you're using a digital camera with plenty of megapixels to spare, you can crop it later in software.

Compose your shot thoughtfully. Get rid of distracting backgrounds and clutter. If this means you and your friend have to move a little so that a tree does not appear to be growing out of her head, then do so. If glare is coming off the windows of the house across the street, change your angle a bit to avoid it. If you're taking vacation photographs, take a moment to get your family to put down all the junk they may be carrying around with them and to remove backpacks or hip packs as well. Keep that mess well out of the frame of the picture, and you will end up with much nicer, less cluttered photos. If you can blur the background in a portrait, then do so. And so on.