Firstly … To all those that celebrate Holi in what ever form … HAPPY HOLI
Anurag sonia and aakriti
There Color Run was started in 2011. After seen the avid interest many people in South Africa had after watching media clips or reading news stories about Holi they created the color run as a wonderful and brilliant way to raise funds for charity and the chance for the public to experience the fun and visual spectacle of Holi .
South Africa has a small percentage of Hindu devotees ,and the Color Run was a great way for those who wanted to experience Holi while ben respectful to the Hindu faith and festival.
The Color Run is a 5 Km fun run where participants get bombarded by volunteers throwing colored powder at them while running through multiple “gates” along the 5 km course. After all the participants have finished the 5 km run/walk , they gather in a central area and bags of powder ( the powder is non toxic colorants applied to corn flour ) are handed out , and the color madness goes on for about 2 hours.
All Color Runners pay an Entrance Fee to participate in fun and all moneys are donated to Charity. Participants receive a "package " once registering . The Package includes various items. An instruction manual ( safety precautions , warnings ( Don’t wear your best shoes ) , what to do if you get powder in your eyes , eye protection , and a white Color run t-shirt. Included in the package is a number of small parcels of assorted colors of powder , a head band , and a few other assorted items.
As a photographer for this event - here is some Advice …
- Stay Upwind .
-If you can get an Underwater Housing , use it - your Camera will get this stuff on it , in the Lens and no matter how hard you try , it will get splattered.
-Be very very alert when taking photos at this event , The participants are very mischievous and you will look like a target because you are not covered in Powder , so they will aim for you … - Wear Sunglasses
- Have a Camera bag that you can quickly hide your camera in when the powder cloud comes your way.
- have Loads of fun
- And arrange to have your camera and lens cleaned at a Camera shop after the event . I had little specs of powder in my camera for months afterwards.
So what do you take photos of ?
The Organisers of the Color Run have a number of Photographers who they hire for the event , so even if its tempting to try and take a photo of every single person , hey , someone is getting paid for that.
So my advice is look out for extraordinary people in this chaos. Look for those Genuine smiles and hand gestures ( the hands will be full of color , so its great to take photos of ) , look for people interacting with each other. Teenager guys are always full of mischief , so keep an eye out for them playing pranks on their friends .
In the very Top photo , I used Slow Shutter Speed . Because the event was during the bright summer sun , I could make my aperture smaller on my camera (That means the F-stop would increase ) , and then I could keep my Shutter open a bit longer than usual. I have a Canon Camera , So I switched to TV ( Shutter Priority Mode ) - Then holding the AV button down ( Aperture ) , I would close the shutter …
Check your ISO , see if you can keep it on the lowest number ( 100 )
Take a few test shots , and have a look on your view finder to see if you are getting an image and detail , if not , then adjust your settings. Experiment and have fun.
Try different positions , I took photos of peoples feet and socks , I even asked a group of friendly ladies all with very reflective sunglasses to all huddle close , then i asked each ladie to adjust their positions , and took a photo of the central lady with her two friends reflected in her sunglasses.
The main thing is to have fun , be polite , smile allot , and try and experiment as much as possible.
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