Lisha at Sirens at Sunrise. © 2010, Matt Vanecek

It’s been a while since my last blog post. Photographic opportunities are coming along pretty regularly now. I’ve been using events (dance, burlesque) to try and hone my anticipation skills. On the one hand, I get to see some really good performances. On the other hand, I get to develop my skills and familiarity with my camera. I generally shoot events without flash at a pretty high ISO–1600 or 3200. If there’s enough light on stage, I’ll drop to 800 ISO, but I really need to be able to keep the shutter speed fast to help prevent blurred or shakey images.

I believe being to anticipate and prepare for “The Moment” is a key skill every good photographer must develop. There are situations when the high-speed continuous shooting mode comes in handy, but I don’t think it should be used too much. I want to be familiar enough with the event type and with people so that I can be prepared for “The Moment” and take the shot. Being able to get the shot without machine-gunning the camera saves wear and tear on the camera, generally results in better-composed and compelling shots, and certainly gives me fewer shots to have to cull. Less work is a good thing!

Happy image making, folks!