Fall festivities in Metro Detroit

Madeleine, 6, of Clinton Township carries pumpkins at the Clinton Township Recreation Department's Trick or Treat Trail in Clinton Township, MI, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. Children that registered for the event were allowed to pick one pumpkin each. "I want to get one for daddy, too," she said in the pumpkin patch. (WSUpj/Arianna Endicott)

Participants stand at the top of the Clinton Township Sled Hill, overlooking a field of smashed pumpkins during the Clinton Township Recreation Department's Pumpkin Roll Down Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. This event is held the day after Halloween every year. (WSUpj/Arianna Endicott)

The McClung family rolls one of the pumpkins they brought to the Pumpkin Roll Down Friday Nov. 1, 2019. They brought three, and families were encouraged to bring as many pumpkins as they had. (WSUpj/Arianna Endicott)

Participants at the Nov. 1 Pumpkin Roll Down aimed to get as close to the targets on the field as possible. Westley, 9, only brought one pumpkin but won this target's prize: a $25 gift certificate to the Clinton Township Recreation Department's programs, and as much leftover Halloween candy as he could carry. (WSUpj/Arianna Endicott)

Ryan Wargal throws a pumpkin down the hill at the Pumpkin Roll Down Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. The family brought five pumpkins, but none of them made it closest to the targets they aimed for. (WSUpj/Arianna Endicott)

I found out about both of these events because I work for the Clinton Township Recreation Department. We put on many community events throughout the year, and my bosses allowed me to take photos to use for this assignment while I was working. All of our participants signed waivers and agreed to be photographed. 

One of the things that I struggled with most with this assignment was keeping my camera properly metered. During both events, there were several different lighting scenarios. My initial approach was to keep my shutter speed high and take any photos during any opportunities I had, as quickly as possible.

The Trick or Treat Trail took place on a trail in the woods, and ended in a clearing. I had initially metered in the woods, so when I got to the clearing, most of the photos that I took there were too overexposed to be used. The event had three different time slots Oct. 26: 10:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. so I looked over my first round of photos after the first time slot. When I realized the mistake that I had made, I was careful to meter when the lighting changed for the remaining time slots, and my photos came out significantly better.

I also ran into lighting issues during the Pumpkin Roll Down event. The event began at 5:00 p.m. Nov. 1 as the sun was setting, and went until 7:00 p.m. when it was dark out. When I first metered, I made shutter speed my priority and then adjusted the aperture so that the rolling pumpkins would not be blurry. However, as it got later, I had to constantly adjust so that my photos would have enough exposure. Eventually, I had to lower the shutter speed due to a lack of light, so some of the photos that I took later in the evening were blurry and grainy.

Overall, this was a fun experience. Most people were happy to have their photos taken, because they were at events having fun.