paulwishart

Dare To Be Different

Fergus Highland Games 2015, Ontario
Canon T3
70-300mm

Fergus Highland Games 2015, Ontario
Canon T3
70-300mm
Read less

Apr, 2016

Views

126

Likes

+10

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Superb Composition

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at the Fergus Highland Games 2015, Fergus Ontario, during the Highland Dance competition. My wife and I attend nearly every year, and I had my camera on hand because Fergus was running an inaugural amateur photo contest. This image was selected by their jury for the grand prize, and I won a new Canon T5i camera bundle.

Time

This was shot mid afternoon, in the hot summers sun. To protect the dancers from the direct sun and to offer a bit of shade, the highland dance competition was held under a large white tent, which made for less than ideal lighting conditions.

Lighting

The tent protecting the dancers from the sun created a very diffuse lighting scenario, while the afternoon sun outside tended to blow out in most shots due to lower shutter speeds and a low F-stop. To combat this, I shot down the length of the platform, using the dancers awaiting their turn at the far end, to help block out the sun outside.

Equipment

I captured this photo with a Canon T3, sporting a Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens. To maintain mobility at the competition, I wasn't carrying any other gear on me.

Inspiration

The highland dancers of course! Beautiful women dancing in ancient attire and kilts should be enough to inspire anyone.

Editing

Yes there was a bit of post processing on this image. Due to the less than ideal lighting, I used the raw image capture to increase the exposure in post, and created a matte around the dancers in the foreground, and reduced the contrast, and increased the brightness on subjects in the background. Most of the depth of field blurring was due to a low F-stop, but using the same matte, I added a bit more blur and some diffuse glow to add further depth to the image.

In my camera bag

Most of the images I capture are taken in nature or of wildlife, so I typically carry at least a telephoto lens. Even shooting competitions or events like this one, I prefer to use a telephoto lens, allowing me to get in close with the subject, without invading their privacy, and potentially spooking them and ruining the moment I am trying to capture. After winning the Fergus Highland Games Photo Contest with this image, I now generally carry the Canon T5i that they awarded me, along with my latest lens, the Tamron 150-600mm. For subjects that are in closer than the 150-600mm will cater to, I will carry a Canon 24mm pancake lens in my pocket. For the times when I don't have the time to swap lenses, I rely on my LG G4 set to RAW image capture as a great close range alternative.

Feedback

To capture something similar to this image, in North America at least, you need to be at a Scottish Festival. There are over a dozen held throughout Ontario alone every year, with the Fergus Highland Games being one of the largest in Canada. Regardless of your heritage, everyone should attend one of these festivals at least once in their lifetime, to experience the unique competitions, music and food that Scotland has brought to the world.

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paulwishart

paulwishart

Dare To Be Different

Fergus Highland Games 2015, Ontario Canon T3 70-300mm

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow paulwishart

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Fergus Highland Games 2015, Ontario
Canon T3
70-300mm

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