Welcome to the GeekShot Photo Exclusive Series. This will be a weekly post featuring cool, interesting, or just plain awesome moments we have captured during San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon. Each week we’ll post a photo by Beth or James of GeekShot Photography. We may include a short story about the photo, but sometimes we’ll just let the photo speak for itself.

About This Photo

Dylan Bruce at the Orphan Black panel at WonderCon 2015.

I’ve written in the past about getting reaction and interactive shots of guests on a panel. Sometimes, however, you’ll want neither. As you can see in this photo, Dylan is not reacting, interacting, or otherwise doing anything other than watching/listening. I feel that this kind of shot helps show off the guest as if they were posing for a portrait.

One of the best things about trying to get this kind of photo is that it’s much easier than reaction/interaction shots. Panelists tend to spend a lot less time actively doing something so you can get plenty of shots. One thing to avoid is catching the panelist where they look bored, between blinks, or any other split second capture that doesn’t show them in a positive manner. You should always try to post the best photos of a panelist and none that are embarrassing, awkward, or bad poses.

That’s not to say you can’t capture something funny or seemingly awkward. Just use your best judgment and remember that if you wouldn’t want it posted online then they probably wouldn’t either.

Have you captured a panelist during a quiet moment on stage? Let us know in the comments.

You can see all of the previous posts in this series here.