Birthday party shoot.

[momo911]

Hi everyone, been a while since I've posted here. I've recently been given my first photography job by a friend who is celebrating her daughter's 5th birthday.


I've been doing photography for a while now, but I've never actually "covered" a party.

It would be brilliantly helpful if you guys can throw in some tips for me.

The party is taking place in a lawn around 3-4 pm till 6 or 7. They have a lot of fun activities planned, like plant potting, painting, etc.

I don't know what the weather will be like, but it normally goes dark around 5:20 5:30 pm.


I have a Nikon D7000 with a 50 mm, 28mm, 105mm, 18-105mm, 55-300mm lens kit. I don't have an off camera flash atm, but at a stretch I could borrow one from someone.


Please throw in your tips, It would be really helpful.


Thanks everyone.


M*


PS - Posting some new photos on DPS finally.

[Fishpic]

I would be thinking about what you want to take with available light and what would be best with your flash so you can time things out. Find out from the friend what things she would like to capture if there are specifics. Also - what if it rains and you are inside? Be prepared for the unexpected.

[momo911]

As the party is taking place in the garden of the same building I live in, I don't have to worry about carrying stuff around too much.


As far as rain is concerned, there is a 1 in 20 chance of rains. It's not the time of the year for rains!


So the party will remain outdoors. They will probably have those halogen lights for when it goes dark.


Please throw in some more advice.


THanks.


M*

[graciousness]

I've done so many children's birthday party this year I think it's becoming my specialty I think I've done almost, if not, over 20 parties this year?

Borrow that flash.

From my experience, it doesn't matter if you are shooting outdoors in natural light. There are times and there will be times when you will need that flash to use as fill flash especially if the kids are backlit, or in a shady area. Read up on fill flash online and watch youtube tutorials if you're not acquainted with the technique. It's actually not that hard to do at all, just a matter of flash adjustments to ensure that you're not overpowering the ambient light and or making the photos obvious that you've used flash. With fill flash, you only want to use it enough to lift off the shady areas but not to the point where it's obvious you've used flash. I hope that makes sense.

Alright, with the kids. They are going to move left and right, up and down, and they will not stop. YOu need to keep up with them, but this doesn't mean you are going to run after them. You need to tune in to what's happening around you, be in the moment, and look for those special moments with the kids. Don't tell them to pose - let them do what they do and you be the quiet observer with the camera. Once you tell them to pose, most of the time, they will give you some cheesy smile which is cute, but not very cute if ever photo is like that. Capture the energy of the children, their moods, their faces, and try your best to look for images that are actually not so busy, but find some 'isolated moments' with the busy scene. Single out characters or small group; you don't need to get everyone in the shot just because it's a party.

You'll need to ensure that your shutter speed is fast enough to capture their movements. It doesn'nt mean use shutter priority; just be prepared to change it when required.

The quality and quantity of light changes outdoors constantly with people moving about so watch out for that. If it's a bright sky, try not to have them backlit if you don't know how to expose for the sun and their faces at the same time.

Make sure you are having fun so you can be in tune with the kids and their moments. If you are having a crappy day, your photos will reflect that. So no merry drinking till you share your drinks in the toilet the night before

Your f/stop should be small in number (wide aperture) enough so you can have enough shallow depth of field to keep the focus only on your subject/s, but big enough (narrow aperture) so that if you are shooting more than one person, you are allowing the focus to also fall on them. Cases like these, my starting point in manual mode is around f/5.6 and adjusting a stop down or up when required.

I'd leave the 18-105 on your camera and nothing else. That will give you the focal range that you need to get in close to your subject, wide enough to get the shots when the birthday cake is presented to the kid, and long enough if you want to take the photos from a distance. I wouldn't recommend changing lens; stay with one.

Don't be afraid to get in close to shooting kids portrait mode; those are usually the best photos that parents love.

Dont' forget to get some photos of the decorations, food and cake.

Ok, it's midnight now and I think I've typed a novel already I hope this helps and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers,

Grace

[momo911]

Thank you SO much Grace. That was very motivating. I didn't mind the length of it one bit.

Infact, here is my email - madhavtiwari@ymail.com. If you have ANY advice, please just drop in a line. I'd really appreciate it.

Come on people.....keep the advice flowing in.

[graciousness]

You know, I've just looked at some of your flickr photos and you have some interesting shots there of people.

I reckon it's going to be quite exciting taking the photos - the energy, the beautiful bold colours and contrasts, the smily and giggly faces.....damn, invite me to that party!

You already have a grasp for light as obvious with your photos. The only thing that you need to watch out for is your camera speed and the light against it. This is where flash will really help you because if there's too much light around, you can underexpose the overly lit background and use fill flash to freeze the motion better by adding some light to your subject. When I used to use P mode, I was not satisfied with the results the camera was forcing on me to use so I learnt to use manual. This was the only time that I got satisfactory results because I, then, controlled what was going on with the camera.

In such a busy scene, look for intimate moments. Those are quite special and what inexperienced photographers miss out. They are too busy trying to get everything in their photo, taking general shots that really doesn't signify anything other than showing who is there and what the event is. Look for relationships between families and the kids and then capture that within the scene. That's what makes it special.

Watch out for colours that may take away from the main story of your image. For example, If you are shooting someone in a portrait sense up close but then there are bright, colourful objets behind the subject, that will distract away from the subject. Compose so that you are simplifying your images, not cluttering them with something else in the background that is unnecessary.

Good god, I feel like I'm writing a book! I really need to learn how to express my thoughts with less words!

Anyhoo, I think that's all I can add at this time. If I think of anything else, I'll come back.

Cheers!

[momo911]

I'm loving reading this so called 'book'. It's giving me a lot of motivation and constructive advice.


Thank you very much. And yes PLEASE get back if you have any more advice to throw my way

[momo911]

Will more people please help me out!?!