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I went to a newspaper conference about a month ago, where I attended several workshops. One was on photojournalism, and one of the tips I picked up was the use of facial expressions in photography. Our clinician placed "faces" alongside principles like lines, the rule of thirds, texture, etc. This highlighted to me how important he though they were.
He also gave us a few examples of photos with great facial expressions. They absolutely can make an otherwise boring photo very interesting to look at and engaging. A photo with a good expression will hold your attention much longer, and draw your eye much more effectively.
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55 mm
Handheld
I've learned that there are few times better for getting a great face in your photo than during a high-action activity like Ultimate Frisbee.
This is from the same shoot as yesterday's photo, so I hadn't quite figured out that I need faster shutter speeds for these. But there will definitely be more games for me to shoot in the near future.
Most of the members of the large choir at my school are on tour in California right now, so those of us who are left went outside and played Ultimate Frisbee during that class today. Halfway through, I decided I wanted to try and get some pictures. It was really sunny outside, so I was able to get fast shutter speeds even though my lens is pretty slow (f/3.5-5.6).
click to enlarge, or see it on Flickr
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55 mm
Handheld
Though I wasn't afraid of getting in close to do these, I think I would have been much better off with a telephoto lens. 55 mm really just doesn't cut it for sports in most cases.
Also, I had issues with focus. I was on servo AF and burst mode, but it still seems like a crap shoot as to whether or not the AF will be fast enough to get the shot. I guess that is just more confirmation for the case that you need to take a large volume of photos when shooting sports.
About 50 pictures in, I decided I wanted faster shutter speeds to completely freeze the action, so I bumped up my ISO to 200. I was a little frustrated that I had to be shooting at 200 ISO on a day with no clouds and a bright sun, but that's just because I have a slow lens. Now I know why they can charge $3000 for about 3 stops worth of aperture.
Anyway, I got a few pictures I was pretty happy with, so I'll probably be sharing them for a few days.
