Having recently upgraded to the world of DSLR i was invited by Lawmoment to join him and the rest of the Demotix Madrid team in capturing the prostest held on the 27th of January. We met at 18:30, 4 of us in total, Lawmoment, Billy, Victor and myself.
Being a newbie to the world of DSLR, I was excited to pick up any tips they might have in how to make the most of the camera, light and settings in order to get the shot i need. The two most important bits of advice seemed to be "Apature, keep it as wide as you can" and high ISO.
The zoom lens i have on my camera can only go down to 3.5f, compared to the 1.X and 2.X that the more seasons street journalists were using. But, as a zoom lens, i had a wider range of focus (18-135) meaning i could get both wide angle group shots as well as being able to zoom in for better detail or to get into the action without being in danger! This second point turned out to be quite important.
As the demo started i noticed a lot of other photographers around, some with DSLRs, some with point and shoot and many with camera phones. All recording the protest, some i even managed to (in my broken pidgin Spanish) explain Demotix to and give out a few cards.
Later in the night we also bumped into nathalie, so i was getting to meet more of the Madrid Demotix reporting team. The solidarity and teamwork at last nights events wasn't something i was expecting, but it was great to be apart of the Demotix team, but also the wider photographer tribe.
Once the fires were out and smoke cleared, Lawmoment and i, along with several other photographers found a bar and enjoyed a well earned beer (or 2). What a night.
Great feature Alex!
Great feature Alex! Definitely worth having more stories like these. I hope more people will do it, so everyone can benefit from shared experiences.
Looking forward to seeing you next back stage piece!
great story!
great story!