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Michael Grace-Martin

~ Photography, Art & Life

Michael Grace-Martin

Tag Archives: event

The Great New York State Fair, Syracuse, NY (Sept 2016)

07 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by mgm in MGM's Photos, Street

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Tags

event, new york, state fair, street photography

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I’ve taken some photos at small county fairs in the past, but have often thought I should go to the large (a.k.a. “Great”) New York State fair held in Syracuse each year.

Well, this year I got my chance and drove up on the very last day ($1 admission day; also, Labor Day) to walk through for a couple of hours before coming back home for the local fireworks display I go to each year with my family.

The day was hot and crowded…presumably due to the regular $10 admission being only $1, and also because it was a holiday that many have off of work. Initially I found the heat and crowds off-putting; but I tried to remember that this combination made for better photos and that’s what I was there for…(!)

So here now are some of the photos–in approximately chronological order–I took during my 2+ hour jaunt through the hot & crowded Syracuse fairgrounds…:).

(click a thumbnail to see the photos large and in slide show format..)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)
The Great NY State Fair (2016)

The Great NY State Fair (2016)



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

My Weekend at a Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix Tournament in Pittsburgh (Nov 2015)

05 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by mgm in MGM's Photos, Uncategorized

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candid, card, event, mtg, photography, tournament

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tournament room entrance

My son is an avid Magic: The Gathering (MTG) card player. MTG is a trading card game that was begun in 1993 and is now played by millions of players worldwide.

He usually satisfies his appetite for playing MTG each week at the local game store that hosts Friday Night Magic (FNM), a weekly MTG tournament with an entrance fee and store credit to the top finishers. FNM is apparently a weekly event in many cities across the US and internationally.

My son has been playing most weeks over the past couple of years. Players at these local tournaments typically range from about 12 or 13 years old to adults in their early 30s. My son is a freshman in high school and there are many players from his high school and the surrounding two colleges at the local event.

A couple of months ago, my son told me a MTG “Grand Prix” tournament was coming to Pittsburgh (a 5.5 hour drive from our home) and he was wondering if he could go. My typical parental response was: “Maybe”. As it got closer, we discovered our friend’s sons wanted to go too and didn’t have a ride. When my friend said she’d cover the hotel if I drove, I agreed to go.

players at one of the match assignment boards

players at one of the match assignment boards (note: you can click on any image to see a large slide show of all the photos)

While the tournaments at the local game store have something like 15-25 participants, this Grand Prix tournament in Pittsburgh advertised a limit of 2,500 players…which it reached (sold out) a couple of days before it began. I don’t know what the capacity of the convention center (where it took place) was, but it had to be at least twice that to host the total number of people in attendance–i.e., the players, the tournament officials and judges, the vendors, and the friends and parents of the players.

We weren’t able to attend the first day (which mostly consisted of “side events”), but got to the convention center before 8am the next morning so my son and his friends could fill out all the paperwork they needed to complete before the “player’s meeting” at 9am, which was followed shortly by the official beginning of the weekend tournament.

My son was very excited and nervous because it was his first big tournament outside of the local FNM tournaments he was accustomed to. This was also my first time attending a Grand Prix tournament. And even though I wasn’t expecting to do much photography at the tournament, I had to do something with the time I was forced to spend there..!

Observations

Big Production
This tournament is a huge production, especially the first day when there are 2,5000 players playing 9 matches over almost 12 hours!

So, not only is there an extensive staff coordinating all these matches and keeping track of the results of each match (and then coming up with the new matches based on the results of each round), but there are also several MTG-related and food vendors selling their wares and holding side events all around the perimeter of the room and outside the conference room doors, not to mention the live broadcasting and video being produced to both report on and augment the tournament activities. It’s quite a “happening”.

tournament coordination central

tournament coordination central

production involving game commentators & pros

production involving game commentators & pros

more production going on..

more production going on..

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

portion of extensive event staff

portion of extensive event staff

VIP lounge

VIP lounge

Gender & Age Breakdown
Based on my experience with the local game store tournaments, I was expecting a lot of teenage boys. Well, the observation of it being primarily male was certainly correct (had to be close to 95% male), but the median age seemed to be closer to something like 25 years old.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Mostly male players

mostly male players

mostly male players

Effects of a Sedentary Game
Like most card games, there’s a lot of sitting involved. With my son–who is thin as a rail, has a lot of nervous energy, and is still young–the results of all this sitting isn’t visible and hasn’t caught up to him weight-wise. One of the stereotypes of a MTG player is being pudgy or quite overweight with their quite sizable butt crack in view at the back of their less than full back chair. Other common stereotypes of a typical player are: wearing a cap (often a baseball cap), wearing a t-shirt and/or sweatshirt, having facial hair, and wearing eyeglasses.

The food provided at the event was what you might expect: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, french fries, onion rings, etc…the type of mostly fried food you’d find at food truck or stand. Not a particularly good fit for sedentary game playing.

eating at the Grand Prix

eating at the Grand Prix

Grand Prix food court condiment station

Grand Prix food court condiment station

sedentary playing

sedentary playing

:p

:p

Back Packs Everywhere
Because the players have to keep their cards & playing mats with them and be ready to race to their next match, nearly every player is carrying a back pack…

row of back pack wearing players

row of back pack wearing players

more back packs

more back packs

any back pack will do

any back pack will do

Female Presence
Though the players are primarily male, there are a few female players (some sporting a sexy nerdy or goth look)…and they also make an appearance as glamorous and heroic characters in the game itself.

female game character

female game character

match assignment board

match assignment board

rare woman MTG player

rare woman MTG player

The Vendors Reflect the Players
The vendors seems to be a bunch that reflect or resemble their customers…:p

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

MTG vendor

Concluding Remarks
I must admit that the number of people crowded into the conference center on that first day was pretty overwhelming…especially when everyone was up between matches trying to quickly find the one of 1,250 table locations for their next match! I had to get out of there, but my son was a trooper…and even though I know he doesn’t like crowds, he stayed and played all 9 of his matches that first day (with a winning record..:D) over the full 12 hours.

I’m not sure I ever need to attend another one of these tournaments; but at least I’ll know what to expect if my son comes to me again about another nearby Grand Prix MTG tournament that’s only 8 hours away by car..(!!!)

Here are more photos from the tournament..
(note: you can click on any image to see a large slide show of all the photos)

2nd day match with onlookers
between matches
female MTG character

2nd day match
ongoing MTG production
tournament staff

rare woman MTG player
on their way to a 2nd day side event
between matches

ongoing match
one of the game result keepers
managing game results

studio production area
crowded match table
vendor MTG table

side event staff
non-tournament play
side event staff

crowded match table
headwear
rare player with a family in attendance

male MTG character
MTG vendor



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

GrassRoots Festival 2015: Photos from my ‘Slant’ Perspective

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by mgm in Street

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2015, color, event, grassroots, new york, photography, photos, street, trumansburg

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I have been photographing the GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, NY over the past couple of years in exchange for free admission to the festival. So, though I am being “compensated”, it feels like I’m shooting for free.

Rightly or wrongly, this “feeling” leads me to take liberties when deciding what to photograph–i.e., I tend to photograph whatever I find personally interesting or compelling, along with the more “standard” photos I believe the festival organizers actually want from me. (Shooting both types of photos almost in parallel has become quite natural for me.)

Here, then, are the photos the organizers are fairly unlikely to use, but which capture aspects and scenes that I find personally entertaining and which keep me going back to photograph the festival each year. They are a reflection of my skewed and maybe slightly jaded perspective (:p), and are in roughly chronological order.

(On a side note: in general, I think my 2014 GrassRoots photos turned out better, and the cause is probably 2-fold: 1) the heat this year negatively affected both the festival participants and me, and 2) I was having some equipment issues that will inform my equipment choices next year! I did, however, get better photos of the GrassRoots Happiness Parade this year with an equipment combo that now seems obvious. Those are coming soon…)

(click an image to see them full size..)

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
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GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
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GrassRoots Festival 2015
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GrassRoots Festival 2015
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GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015
GrassRoots Festival 2015

GrassRoots Festival 2015



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

2014 GrassRoots Festival, Trumansburg, NY (July 2014)

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by mgm in MGM's Photos, Street

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candid, event, grassroots, new york, ny, photography, trumansburg

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The GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, New York is coming up this July and I realized I hadn’t really gone through the photos I took at last year’s GrassRoots Festival! So here now is a bunch of photos I took at last year’s festival!

Click any image to see them large..
































Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

2015 Cornell Fashion Collective Show: Back Stage

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by mgm in Fashion/Glamour, MGM's Photos

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college, event, fashion, photography

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This past weekend I photographed the fashion show at Cornell University for the 10th year in a row. This may have been my last year doing it; I don’t know.

In any case, over the past 10 years of photographing Cornell’s fashion show (which is always in the Spring..March or April), I usually have the most fun with the back stage photos because they’re typically unposed and can yield unpredictable (and sometimes humorous) circumstances and juxtapositions.

So here–for the tenth year in a row–are my back stage photos for the year’s Cornell fashion show:
(the actual runway show photos are elsewhere)

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show

2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show
2015 Cornell Fashion Show



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

2014 GrassRoots Festival shot ‘Skew’

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by mgm in MGM's Photos, Street

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2014 Grassroots Festival, event, photography, photos, street

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I like finding & making quirky photos when I shoot street photography. The annual GrassRoots Festival in Trumansburg, NY always has lots of quirkiness. So I have been attending the GrassRoots Festival over the past few years looking to make quirky photos.

You might say: “Well, that doesn’t seem like much of a challenge if the subject matter is already quirky!”. I would say that’s a very good point. But then I would add, “how about unintentional quirkiness at a quirky event? There’s still that!”.

In any case, I enjoy the oddities at the GrassRoots Festival each year and the challenge of making photos that don’t look like all the other Grassroots photos being taken by the other 100 or so photographers with press passes at the event each year (ok, maybe it just seems like that many…:p).

Some of these photos aren’t that quirky, but I like them anyway. The great thing about photographing the festival is I’m totally on my own without a shot list.

Here’s an initial smattering. I’ll be adding more much later this Summer into early Fall…:-).

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival

2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival
2014 GrassRoots Festival



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

Bat Mitzvah Photos and Artistic Expression

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by mgm in All, MGM's Photos

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art, bat mitzvah, event, photography, photos

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Regardless of whether I’m photographing an event, a portrait session, or while traveling, I’m always looking for interesting photos that go beyond being of interest to only the participants. These are photos that seem to “elevate” past the specific context of the event.

Granted, some of the photos I take at an event are not very artistic. Most of my event photography is meant to candidly document an event using technical expertise; I believe this is the main deliverable a paying client wants from me. If I can find places in which to throw in some artistic panache, all the better–especially for weddings.

Here are a few from a recent bat mitzvah I photographed. I have photographed numerous bar mitzvahs. And though it had similarities to a bar mitzvah, it also had its unique qualities that you would only find at a party with lots of 12-13 year old girls!

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)
Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)

Bat Mitzvah by Michael Grace-Martin (June 2012)



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

Point-and-Shoot Wedding: Photographing a Wedding with a Compact Digital Camera

29 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by mgm in All, Commentary, MGM's Photos, Wedding

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Tags

candid, event, photographer, photography, wedding

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I am a professional event photographer and I own thousands of dollars worth of professional digital camera equipment. I have photographed many events with my “high-end” photography equipment. When I’m not photographing events as a hired professional, I often use much smaller and less expensive cameras (both digital and film) to capture photos. I have been impressed with the quality of the images I been able to get with my smaller, less expensive cameras. The images don’t have quite the resolution or color depth of the files I get from my high-end, professional equipment, but in many cases I’ve found they’re pretty darn good…and often good enough for their usual uses–e.g., to display on web pages, make smallish prints (up to 8×10), or to make photo books.

As long as the subject matter isn’t fast-moving (e.g., sports) or ensconced within a large, dark interior space (e.g., big, dark reception halls at night), using a non-DSLR camera with a small sensor can perform reasonably well.

So, it’s always been a fantasy of mine to photograph a wedding with a compact, “point-and-shoot” digital camera and see what I could get.

You might ask, “Why would a professional photographer want to show that a wedding could be acceptably photographed with an inexpensive camera when part of what his/her clients are paying for is that expensive, high-end equipment that mere ‘mortals’ can’t afford?”. The high-end equipment provides something extra for your money, no doubt. I most certainly get shots with that pro equipment that I can’t get with a compact camera; I am not disputing this.

However, I think that a truly experienced and professionally skilled wedding photographer *should* be able to get good shots even with decent but much less expensive non-professional digital camera equipment–i.e., it should be more about the photographer’s eye and skills than about the equipment they’re using.

I suppose the purpose of this article is two-fold: 1) as a response to the hegemony of the camera companies–and the people who eat up their message–that you need (and need to keep buying) the latest and greatest camera equipment to produce good photos at events like weddings, and 2) to reiterate the message: “It’s the photographer that makes the great images, not the equipment”.

A good photographer who really knows his/her equipment knows how to get the camera to make great images. A photographer can have a great/expensive camera + lenses + accessories and still make lousy images. Successful photography is all about the photographer and how well s/he knows how to use her/his camera equipment. The message here is not original with me; but I find it helpful to prove things for myself.

So, on with my “story”…

I had been looking for a wedding I could photograph in which: a) the wedding couple wasn’t going to have a wedding photographer, so they’d be grateful for any wedding photos I could give them (assuming I didn’t charge them or charged them very little), or b) be a free “extra” photographer in combination with the paid lead photographer. In either case, if my point-and-shoot photos didn’t come out well, no huge loss would be incurred.

Well, I found a wedding with a paid lead photographer. There was also a second person (who owned the venue) taking photos with professional quality DSLR equipment. Then there was me with my compact camera with a built-in zoom lens…much like any wedding guest might have. In fact–with the permission of the wedding couple–I posed as just another wedding guest with a camera. So, really, this “experiment” had two facets: 1) taking photos with a compact digital camera like any guest might have, and 2) taking photos while not being in the obvious role of a paid professional photographer.

As it turned out, a number of factors were operating against me:

1) Even though wedding guests–especially ones with expensive DSLRs–will sometimes get out of their seats at ceremonies to take photos, I vowed to stay in my seat with the point-and-shoot guests because that’s more typical behavior for a guest with a camera and I was trying to be convincing in my “wedding guest” role. Also, with two other photographers roving around taking photos during the ceremony, I’m sure they didn’t need me getting in the way (this, of course, is my ideal notion of the thought process of wedding guests at weddings that *I’m* paid to photograph!…but I digress..). So, I took all my ceremony photos from an aisle seat.

2) Taking photos of people other than: the bride and groom, their parents, or the wedding party (who are always “fair game”) was somewhat awkward because, “Who the hell is this other guest–who I don’t know–taking a photo of me when I’m not in the wedding?!”. I tried to sneak in photos of other guests, but it was a little tricky.

3) During the introductions and first dance, I stayed at my table with the other guests. Again, I was trying not to stand out too much as “Mr Photographer Guy”. So, instead of getting typical first dance photos, you get the perspective of a guest seated a couple tables away from the dance floor. I actually found this “guest” perspective of the dance interesting and fun.

4) In trying to stay out of the way of the first and second photographers, I had to “hang back” a lot and also get alternate perspectives on things. So, during the toasts, I took in a wider perspective…sometimes with the other photographers in the shot. During the cake cutting, I was initially behind the wedding couple–because the other two photographers were in the front–taking shots of the crowd surrounding them (a perspective I don’t normally get as a lead photographer, though it’s a nice perspective to have!).

5) And finally, the small sensor on my camera was fine when we were outdoors, and even indoors before it started getting dark. But once it got darker, I was struggling with existing light shots (which I tend to prefer). At some point in the evening, I started using a hot shoe flash on my compact camera, aiming the flash toward the ceiling. When I was close enough to the subject, it worked reasonably well. It’s a pretty small flash, though, and I struggled to get anything farther than 10-15 feet away (something I can do with my big, expensive DSLR equipment). I still took *some* existing light shots so I could capture some of the ambient lighting; if you don’t mind a little digital noise, they’re not bad.

So, what do I conclude from this little “experiment”?

I was able to get many–though not all–of the images I wanted to get. I was talking to the lead photographer at the wedding (briefly, so as not to compromise my wedding guest “confederate” status) and mentioned that I felt I was getting something like 80% or so of the images I could get with my much more expensive professional camera equipment. Is that missing 15-20% crucial? Maybe, maybe not.

This was not a true “pure” test of the compact camera versus the professional DSLR. I was limited in various ways due to the presence of the other two photographers and my ruse of trying to appear as just another wedding guest (I even had a “story” of how I knew the wedding couple in case any of the other guests asked…:-). On the other side, it certainly helped to have a wedding during the day, outside under a tent where the light is pretty good. I would have struggled much more with a compact camera in a dark church.

I guess the main message for me is that it *is* possible to get nice wedding images with a compact camera–even in the role of a “guest”. The important thing is for the photographer to really know what s/he is doing–having lots of experience shooting weddings and/or other events helps a lot!–and for the photographer to really know the strengths and weaknesses of the camera they’re using.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one other thing: knowing how to process images (in something like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop) can make a *huge* difference in the final appearance of your images regardless of your camera equipment. What makes a wedding image look like a “wedding image”? A significant part of this “look” is the post-event image processing.

Below, you can see a bunch of the wedding images I took with my point-and-shoot at the wedding and decide for yourself how “successful” the experiment was..!

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
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Point-and-Shoot Wedding
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Point-and-Shoot Wedding
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Point-and-Shoot Wedding
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Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding
Point-and-Shoot Wedding

Point-and-Shoot Wedding



Visit Michael's Art Photography Portfolio at SaatchiArt.com!

MGM’s Twitter Feed

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Michael Grace-Martin
Michael Grace-Martin
@mgmsbrain

@cbouzy I'm moving my Twitter account over to Spoutible. Already started an account at spoutible.com/mgracemar 😀

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8:32 pm · April 7, 2023
Twitter
Michael Grace-Martin
Michael Grace-Martin
@mgmsbrain

I think I'm just going to move over to Spoutible because I like how they're doing things over there. Check it out and maybe follow me there at spoutible.com/mgracemar

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10:26 pm · April 6, 2023
Twitter
Michael Grace-Martin
Michael Grace-Martin
@mgmsbrain

Saratoga Racetrack (Aug 2019) #streetphoto #streetphotography #colorphotography #eventphotography #candidphotography #saratogany #saratogaracetrack #photography pic.twitter.com/rNRYx2T23F

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6:20 pm · January 25, 2023
Twitter
Michael Grace-Martin
Michael Grace-Martin
@mgmsbrain

Seat at the Table (2011) #portraitphotography #portrait #portraiture #female #woman #throwbackthursday #throwback #bnwportrait #bnw #bnwphoto #photography pic.twitter.com/CIMurIxGGb

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9:56 pm · January 17, 2023
Twitter
Michael Grace-Martin
Michael Grace-Martin
@mgmsbrain

Grassroots Festival (July 2022) #street #streetphotography #photography #eventphotography #candidphotography #people #grassrootsfestival #trumansburg #streetshot #fashionstyle pic.twitter.com/xd2rsmO3bu

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9:55 pm · January 17, 2023
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