Bluffton May Day (#156)

While I'm posting the photos that ran in the paper as well, this is another "almost" post for me. It was one of those situations that happens to every photographer: Going from one shooting situation to another and forgetting to change settings (white balance, ISO, etc.) until after the first few frames.

Bluffton University holds a May Day celebration each spring before graduation to honor that year's graduates and alumni. And the highlight of the ceremony is the Maypole Dance, performed by sixteen freshman students. And when I started to shoot the dance, I realized my camera wasn't set for outdoor shooting and the first few frames were pretty blown out. I tried hard to save this  frame, but it was too gone.

It doesn't look terrible, in my opinion, but still too blown out to run in the paper. I really like this image because it isn't the classic wide-angle of all the dancers around the pole (which I did take). The girl in teal has a great expression, it's framed well, and still shows off the dance.

After those first frames, I adjusted my settings and got some nice images. These are the two that ran in the paper:

photos 05/08/10