Some St. Patrick’s Day themed assignments for you

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Happy St. Patricks Day’s to everyone Irish…and those who aren’t!
In honor of the Emerald Isle, how about some green/St. Patrick’s Day themed assignments?

GREEN WILL BE EVERYWHERE!

If you have a large Irish population in your city or town, it shouldn’t be hard to find people and places decked out in green.

Use your telephoto to be able to stand back and get candids, or ask people to pose if you like.  The fact they have plastered themselves in green kinda means they want attention you would think!

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GREEN BEER!

Most pubs and bars tend to dye their beer green for the occasion, so you can get some great images.
The image below was shot with flash off camera to the right to shine through the mug as the green beer is poured.

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Interesting images can be made by backlighting the beer as the dye is poured into it. You can do this by setting the glass up in front of a bright window, or use a flash off-camera shooting from behind the glass.

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If you have a friend or a willing patron at the pub or bar, silhouette them against the window.  Make sure to meter off the bright green of the beer in manual mode, or underexpose (go into the minus) if using shutter or aperture priority. If you are shooting with your iPhone, lock the meter on the beer!

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MORE TIPS BELOW!

I hope you find these tips useful! If so, it would be awesome if you would check out my LearnPhoto365 Photography Assignment Generator Apps on the app store and the Google Play store, a unique photography app that's meant to inspire you to take great photos!

Perfect for anyone taking part in a Photo 365 challenge, there are over a hundred individual assignments and hundreds of thousands of potential random ones. Versions available for both iOS and Android including free versions so you can try them out! Full details, including reviews and tour videos of the apps can be found at www.learnphoto365.com/apps Even if you only download the free version that would help get it up the app store lists!

CELEBRATIONS

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Head out to the St. Patricks Day events and dinners and take photos!  Again you will find people in green having a jolly good time.

Most likely you will be close to the subjects, so you should use your wide angle to normal lens (18-55, 17-55, 17-85, etc)

If the events are outdoors, use faster shutter speeds (1/500th or higher) if there is movement.
If you are shooting indoors, you most likely will have to use the flash.

CAMERA SETTINGS:
1. Use MANUAL(M) mode.
2. Choose ISO 400
3. Set the shutter speed to 1/60th of a second or 1/125th of a second if people are moving quickly or dancing.
4. Set the aperture to F8. Yes, by doing this your camera meter isn’t zeroed, it’s in the minus. That’s fine. You are going to light them up with the flash.
5. Pop up or turn on your flash and set it to TTL mode.
6. Take a test shot.
Most likely the flash might put out too much power, so if the image is too bright, use your FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION( LIGHTNING BOLT SYMBOL+/-, found on the camera or under the functions menu) to turn the flash power down. Take another shot, and if the image is still too bright, turn it down more.

If the image is too dark, use the FEC to turn the flash power up. Take another shot, and if the image is still too dark, turn it up more.

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If you have an external flash, you can try bouncing the flash off the ceiling if it’s low enough. You may have to turn the power up a bit, or use Manual flash mode and adjust the power until it gives you the right amount of light.
By using these settings, you should get sharp images of your loved ones as they bring on the holiday cheer! Just make sure they don’t spill beer and wine on your camera!!!

FOR THOSE WITHOUT MANUAL MODE
If you don’t have manual mode and just have a basic point and shoot, probably going with the AUTO/PROGRAM/PARTY mode will be the setting to choose.

Tom O'Neil, past president, Don Farrell, past president, and Matt Hayes. David Iles and Michael O'Brien.

VERSE TO VISUAL

Some quotes and phrases involving green that you can get creative and illustrate with your camera!

“It’s not that easy being green.”
“The grass is always greener on the other side”
“Green with envy”
“SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!”

okay, that last one MIGHT be tricky…

GREEN THINGS

Don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day where you live?  No worries!  Just look for things that are green!
Grass. Leaves. 7UP or Mountain Dew.

So have a happy (and snappy) St. Patrick’s Day, whether you are Irish or not!


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Noel Chenier
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Photographer and teacher
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