Things are heating up in Iceland as the people are starting to rise up against the ruling government which has done nothing to prevent the economy collapse of Iceland.

8. Nov. 2008
#1 - "Stop the corruption"

Any tips on how to improve my photography in this type of action? People of Iceland rarely protest anything so not many photographers in Iceland has experience to photograph such kind of event.

One tip! Get closer to the action. maybe use a wideangel to get into the scene instead of lokking at it from a distance.

I once heard someone say: "if your photo's aren't good enough, youre not close enough."

regards, marco

Robert Capa is the one that said that. You should have no problem moving up closer to the action in this crowd while still remaining safe.

Thank you both for your comments.

Would you think that it's better to have fullframe rather than DX for these type of photography?

If you want to use wideangle's, I'd say fullframe is the way to go. Good luck with it, don't get hurt!

/David

A good series, I'd say.
In the first three, you have avoided sharp focus on any one protester and recorded the scene as one mass of 'anonymous' protesters and kept the signs as a big part of the pic. Seems effective to me.
#4 & #7 need to be posted together to show the "flag story" sequence.
#5 & #6 & #8 are a bit weak. I say that because they have a jumble of things going on and it is not clear what is happening. It may have been hard to improve #6 & #7 without a different perspective. No motorcycle was noticed in #8 without close examination.
#9 - Closer would have helped (with the right lens). Trade places with the other photographer.
#10 is OK but again wider may improve it a lot.
Sorry I have so little to suggest except to shoot wider. (most shots 50mm on Nikon D80)

Nice photos! Once I shot a situation like this in Göteborg (2002), although Sweds are known for being pacifists and the their policemen quite soft, an officer lost her mind and shot at the crowd and hit a young boy at his back...

I think you did a good job. I'd love to see some B&W conversions. For some reason, in my head I always think of protest pictures as B&W. Also, I don't think you need full frame, just something wider than your 50mm, which becomes a 75mm equivalent on your DX. Get a 35/2 which will act like a 50mm on your DX. A ton of the best PJ pix were shot with at a 50mm focal length.

And it's interesting to see this in Iceland. I was in Reykjavik in mid-September and might be going back next week. Fascinating how quickly a political and social climate can change.

Thank you all for your advices and comments.

Jim, I agree with you that some of those photographs need to be grouped together for better context maybe.
Unfortunatly only wide I have is Tokina 12-24 f/4 and for the lights which was available then it wouldn't cut it. But my 50mm AF stopped working during the protest so maybe I will just use the change and buy a new prime which wider.

Maxllus, any photo's to share?

Chris, hehe... yes I have noticed that it's most popular to have these types of photos in B&W therefor I decided to use somekind of inbetween conversion.
Yes, next weeks will be interesting to see what will happen... if the gov. won't do anything to calm the public then we will see some real action - which hasn't happen in Iceland since 1943 or something like that.
If you will come then feel free to contact me, would be interesting to meet somebody from this forum in person.

I wonder if they mind carrying protest signs written in English next time?

I shall ask them!