One of the challenges of using minimal storytelling tools is shooting in difficult lighting situations. I’ve pretty much switched from a digital SLR (Olympus E-10) to a pocket-sized point-and-shoot (Canon SD200) as both my carry-around and “work” camera.
The trick is to overcome the limitations of the Canon — a small range of ISO settings, few manual controls and its lightness, which makes it hard to hand-hold in dim light — something I haven’t achieved yet. The shot above, from a Vancouver concert by Greek singer Petros Gaitanos, is one of very few that worked and even at that, there’s a fair degree of motion blur.
A tripod, and better sense of timing on my part, would have helped, but I didn’t want to drag out even my small tripod out at a social event. (I was there as audience, not reporter.) Ideally, I’d like a lightweight and (very) collapsible monopod. Maybe something designed along the lines of the old folding yardsticks.
At any rate, my training continues. The challenges are nothing if not fun.
A NOTE: At last night’s dinner and concert, I saw only three people using camcorders but more than a dozen people capturing video on their cellphones. They were mostly — but not all — teens and 20-somethings.
I sent Canon Canada a pistol-grip design
meant to be attached to my IXUS 30 (SD200)
using the tripod mounting screw. I got back
a reply that due to legal and other reasons, they only use ideas from within
their own organization. So it didn’t get
anywhere. But I sometimes use a Pentax
binocular-mount adapter on it, to give it
something extra to grab onto. It’s small
& light too, but helps provide a better
hand-holding point on it. Try something
like that if you can. The Optex T-25
tripod works well too, but it’s not always convenient to pack along.