Special Needs Prom(SD Union-Tribune)

Shot this at a prom for special needs kids last week where a number stylists from local salons donated their time to get the kids ready for the big night. After getting the normal safety shots I thought I'd challenge myself to see how much activity I could get into one frame and have it make some kind of sense. I think the inspiration might have come from looking at numerous shots of debris filled photos from the tornado's in Alabama. It's hard to make sense, photographically, out of chaos. You have to frame elements to get them to stand out, space subject matter so things aren't popping out of their heads, try selective focus and wait for the right timing.
For so many years I was taught to get in closer(wire photo model) to the action. Now I'm really starting to take a step back and show more environment. I personally like to soak up as much of the surrounding in an image which seems tell a more accurate story. Wide photos used to look like crap in newspapers because they would usually run small and had to compete with lots of advertisements and reproduction was most always spotty. Now with photos running online and in slideshows, there is just a better, more true venue to show these kinds of images.