Shooting a Hail Mary photo

I call it sticking my camera up in the air, not really into the whole religion thing :)

Not a whole lot of 'how to' is there? Approximate focus, shoot. Job done. I do it all the time at events, as most people do.

You could add on to your blog thingy; up the ISO and stop down to slightly increase your hit rate. Obviously you'll also need a higher shutter-speed than when holding the camera conventionally if you want sharp results..
 
Thats what I did here, Pre focused on what I could see from 5 rows back, Raised the camera... Not exactly a science though is it?

4048252146_20a626ef88.jpg
 
Wow, talk about overstating a basic! Especially when the results (including the examples on the site) are god awful photos (IMO)!
 
Great technique to use at a wedding during the first dance. Gives an additional perspective to the usual shots.

I don't know about Canon, but with my SB900 on and switched on, you can use it as a focus aid. Extend above your head, simply push the button down half way and watch for the red light on the subjects face.

Not rocket science I know but a lot of people wouldn't have thought of using it this way
 
I think the only thing I would think was a good idea is to start at the angle you think is right and then pivot up and down from there. It's surprising how much out you can be with just a couple of shots.
 
I took one at a gig on Friday which I'm dead chuffed with. The artist (David Ford) stood on a chair in the middle of a performance of State of the Union which finds him jumping around stage from one instrument to another, adding layers on the fly using a loop station. You'll see what I mean if you watch the video.

I had a woman and child stood in front of me, so I used the custom function to focus with my thumb button, held the camera above my head and let off a stream of shots. He then lept off the chair and I caught this in the middle of the series. To give you an idea of the height of the camera, I was stood at the same level as the people in front of the stage.

The shot hasn't been cropped, which makes it so satisfying as a fraction lower and I would have chopped off his head, yet it also has the whole of the chair in there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldeman/4199078160/
 
I call it sticking my camera up in the air, not really into the whole religion thing :)

Not a whole lot of 'how to' is there? Approximate focus, shoot. Job done. I do it all the time at events, as most people do.

You could add on to your blog thingy; up the ISO and stop down to slightly increase your hit rate. Obviously you'll also need a higher shutter-speed than when holding the camera conventionally if you want sharp results..

what strange names we use...i would call it pot luck..but then that hasnt any deep faith connotations..

:|
 
Back
Top