Thursday, February 24, 2011

Covering the Crowds. Tips for photographing rallies and protests










This week I’d like to give some pointers on covering the crowd. It takes a very steady hand to photograph rallies and protests, and I covered two this week outside the Massachusetts State House. Here are a couple thoughts:

*Stay Neutral.
If it’s a rally of two different sides converging, I recommend you don’t voice your opinion or take sides. Rather than covering the story you will become part of the story. As I was covering the Union Rally this week I was on one specific side of the issue and people began asking me what side of the issue I was on. I kept replying, “I don’t take sides. I’m with the press, covering the issue.” They kept pushing and pushing for me to give my opinion on the topic but I didn’t budge and kept replying that I was neutral. It seemed as if they were trying to instigate a argument with me, hoping I’d say I’m not on their side.

*Get Different Angles.
Like any other event I cover I suggest getting a variety of angles. Get a shot that shows the entire crowd. Also, zoom in and get single portraits from within the crowd.

*Capture Emotion.
Make pictures that show the emotion of the event. Whether happy, sad or mad, let your images tell the emotional story of the event. This can mean capturing the chants, cheers and tears in the crowd.

Labels: ,

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

very good advice for press or even bystanders. Good psychological insight about capturing emotion and describing unspoken feelings that are underlying the overt emotions of anger, self-righteousness....You may think of teaching phoyographers and others to interpret and decode emotions, notice the tears, clenched fists, looks of desparation, what ever emotions are underlying the overt message of the protest / demonstration. Your insight and knowing what to shoot conveys a deeper, more human version than what most photographers are capable of. Great post!!! EM

March 3, 2011 at 1:32 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home