Shot of the Month
Martin Parr talks about his shot ‘New Model Army’, taken at the Whitby Goth Festival
Martin Parr talks us through a lively photo from the Whitby Goth Festival
This is a good example of how I shoot images in a nightclub. I’ll make sure the shutter speed comes right down – this one was shot at 1/20 sec, and because the flash is running across the frame, this is the resulting image. At the same time, because there’s ambient light, the background is included, so the atmosphere of the club is retained.
There’s also a kiss of flash just at the forefront. Most photographers who would use flash in a nightclub or a place like that would use a big powerful flash and you’d lose the background, killing the atmosphere.
One of the great advantages of digital is that you can work out the shutter speed and the aperture that is absolutely correct for the subject you’re trying to shoot, so you have a chance to get the right atmosphere.
Here, I’m using a Gary Fong Lightsphere diffuser. This produces a very even light, so it brings the intensity down. Of course, the flash is still pumping out the correct amount: the computers in these cameras are amazing now, so you don’t really have to think about the settings.
I’m using Aperture Priority – most of the time I’ll shoot on Program, though. When I tell professional photographers I shoot on Program, they’re appalled. I don’t see why you wouldn’t use Program Mode because it just works out the best combination, so I’m a big fan of it. And you can easily adjust it.
I look quickly at the rear screen just to see what’s going on – sometimes I may need to go up or down a further stop to compensate. And with Program Mode in bright sunlight, I’ll tend to overexpose by one third of a stop, just to get those intense colours that I like.
Why do I use Canon equipment?
I like the way you hold the camera and the way the cameras operate – it’s all very intuitive and it just works for me.