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A Guest post by Melissa Ashenhurst from Ashenhurst Photography.
Parties are a great time for family and friends to come together and have some fun. Here are 8 simple tips to help with taking the party shots that last.
Image by Dustin Diaz
1. Break the camera out early
Depending on the type of party you may need to start taking pictures early. Arrive early to take pictures of the decorations, food, the cake, etc before any people show up.
2. Get the group
Typically people don’t stay in a large group at parties; they are all spread out in smaller groups. While having everyone in the same room at the same time, get that group shot so you can treasure it afterwards.
3. Capture the emotion
Keep your camera handy and turned on so you’ll be ready for those spontaneous expressions.
4. Be Candid
You can get some great shots of your family and friends when they don’t even know they are getting their picture taken. This is great for capturing emotion at the party
5. Don’t be afraid to zoom in or out
Don’t be afraid of zooming in so your subject fits into your camera frame. This way you can capture the expression of the subject. Also make sure you get pictures of the party as a whole, don’t be afraid to zoom out to capture the entire room.
6. Avoid Red Eye
One of the most common occurrences when taking pictures of people at parties is red eye. To make sure your friends and family don’t look evil eyed have them look just over your shoulder rather than directly at camera. This should help reduce the chances of red eye in your pictures therefore saving you time having to take it out before printing them.
7. Know the schedule of events
Make sure you get a copy of the time of the events so you can have your camera ready and specific shots are not missed.
8. Try different perspectives
Don’t be afraid to try different perspectives throughout the party: get at eye level with the kids to get their perspective of the party or take pictures standing on a chair or staircase to get a shot of everyone at the party.
These photo sharing sites are great but sometimes I want to get a photo from someone immediately, say, when we are out having fun and someone takes that great picture of me and my friends. I found this great app called Share2Qr (or is it Share 2 QR) for my android phone. It's easy and all someone needs to get a picture from me is a barcode scanner. It's on the android market!
Great Post! We need more good party and event photographers so we can blog your party pictures!
i agree totally with kirpi ... shoot a lot! we just don't know when the moment of "grace" comes when people are in their best photographic selves.
If you have some extra cameras, put them out with the people at the party. Different people take different kind of photos, and it's always extra fun to be like "huh, where was this, and how did it happen?" :)
Otherwise, you could just pass that cheaper camera around, and let people photograph whatever they want. It's always fun to know you were also at the party ;)
Or you could just make like an area for photos, with stuff to wear (like freaky glasses or hats), so you know the lighting and depth of field is just perfect. It's a great thing to do at the entrance when people arrive, and they usually are the best dressed at that time aswell. Otherwise it's also kind of fun seeing how everyone gets more and more rowdy as the set progresses. Not the mention how the camera-man's steady hand gets more and more unsteady as the party progresses :D
Program your camera in the continuous shooting mode, and take various shots of the same situation. It is a pitty to think that one has taken a nice portrait and later find that someone has his/her eyes closed, or moved a little and the image is blurred, etc.
Another tip:
- slow shutterspeed (1/10 or something like that)
- flash on rear curtain
- zoom in or out while taking the shot.
Or
- turn camera while taking the shot.
Works best with lights in the background.
Example here:
[eimg url='http://www.2-rings.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/WencheBart_blog_10042.jpg' title='WencheBart_blog_10042.jpg']
If it's a casual party (not, say, a company party or a party where you were hired to take photos), don't bring the largest lens in the bag and your battery grip. I find the cheaper the camera, the more comfortable people seem in front of it. My girlfriend gets the best 'natural' shots using her crummy toy Instax instant camera. I usually bring along my 'Nifty Fifty' (50mm f/1.8) since it's so small, and it's a good focal length so people don't look distorted when you take close-up shots. I'm also on the fence about bringing out the speedlight. Of course, it allows you to take MUCH better photos, but again, the big speedlight on the SLR may put some people off. Many times I just open up the aperture, bump up the ISO (for background exposure) and shoot with the pop-up. The speedlight is in the bag, though. Just in case you are 'the camera guy' and they want a big group shot.
Great list of tip I would add to it shoot in slow shutter speed and add flash in second curtain.
I also like to take party shots. Mostly I shoot nature, because it's still, nobody is turning away from the camera, every moment it shows all its beauty. BUT, if you shoot paties (especially of your friends) those are the pictures that will always bring you smile on your face, even if they are not of any artistic value. In 100 years you won't be fedup with them. Picturing people having a great time is timeless. You can immerse in those photos, living again that moment and forget all the worries of outside world. :)
All good tips...would've liked to see a few more sample photos along w/the tips though. Thanks for sharing!
And again, triplicate, and I absolutely, 100% submitted it once. Any Safari incompatibilities? No way to remove multiple posts?
Wal: What are they doing there? Maybe they're there for the party. To talk or whatever, not to be preserved forever on some stranger's Flickr page. And you're missing the point of the candid: the person wouldn't notice the picture being taken and thus couldn't turn away.
I don't know why my first post was triplicated; it was submitted once.
Wal: What are they doing there? Maybe they're there for the party. To talk or whatever, not to be preserved forever on some stranger's Flickr page. And you're missing the point of the candid: the person wouldn't notice the picture being taken and thus couldn't turn away.
I don't know why my first post was triplicated; it was submitted once.
Wal: What are they doing there? Maybe they're there for the party. To talk or whatever, not to be preserved forever on some stranger's Flickr page. And you're missing the point of the candid: the person wouldn't notice the picture being taken and thus couldn't turn away.
I don't know why my first post was triplicated; it was submitted once.
Wal: What are they doing there? Maybe they're there for the party. To talk or whatever, not to be preserved forever on some stranger's Flickr page. And you're missing the point of the candid: the person wouldn't notice the picture being taken and thus couldn't turn away.
I don't know why my first post was triplicated; it was submitted once.
Wal: What are they doing there? Maybe they're there for the party. To talk or whatever, not to be preserved forever on some stranger's Flickr page. And you're missing the point of the candid: the person wouldn't notice the picture being taken and thus couldn't turn away.
I don't know why my first post was triplicated; it was submitted once.
thanks for the tips..
It's quite strange and not cool when people say no to taking pictures at party's.. Then wth they are doing there anyway...? still it would be just easier to just look the other way round if they dont want their pic taken
Scott: I DESPISE being photographed. I don't so much mind candid shots, though, because there's literally no pressure. I may be a little embarassed later, in the sense of "aw, geez, you took my picture!" but that's as far as it goes.
Another good thing from Chase Jarvis - put camera on a tripod and use intervalometer to take a picture every 5-15 second, let people do crazy stuff, than make timelapse from that :) I really liked the results.
I liked that candid tip.....through this you can capture natural pose ......Thanks for sharing nice tips ....i will always keep in my mind :)
Sometimes whipping out an old-school instant camera is fun for parties. Since people can see the photos right away the photography becomes more a part of the party, instead of just an outside look in.
About lighting: use a bounce-flash. If the ceiling is white, as often is, turn the head of the external flash upwards. Pull out the built-in diffuser a bit, or put a small piece of paper on top of the flash, or use a small diffuser box, so that a small fraction of the light gets directly to subject's eyes, to lit them up. If the ceiling is dark or with a strong tint, then use a big flash diffuser. Use flash exposure lock, so you avoid preflash (some people are very fast with eyelids).
Candid shots: what about those who don’t want their picture taken, and resent the candids?
Say it one more time :)
Great tips and a great photo included in the post. Though not parties in the same sense of the word, we go to a lot of local festivals here in Europe and many of the concepts are similar, especially the candids :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lendog64/4982442459/
Good tips if you're working a party event, but if it's just a night with friends, don't forget to have fun too. And if you are with friends, don't be "that guy" about taking candids if your friends aren't into it. It is a party after all and you'd probably like to be invited back again! :-)
Thanks for the tips! Anything about lighting, flash etc that I should also take note?
Just did a small family reunion in a restaurant. An on-camera (rather than built-in) flash is a must. Couldn't use bounce because of some bizarre colored walls, but kept the camera in aperature priority, which forced a 1/200 shutter speed. That got me decent depth-of-field and enough shutter speed to stop any action during talking, moving & eating. As always, shot in RAW and waited for post-processing to make it all pretty. Just my opinion, but I think they turned out pretty good. This is such a great site with lots of very usable tips. I have had to relearn photography from my mostly-manual film SLRs to my digital SLR and this site has helped immensely.
Photographing this party at a local yacht & tennis club was a wild experience. Like the author suggests, I got there early and photographed the building (very well lit up) and the tables before they become all messed up (but not before the staff was fluttering about).
http://jasoncollinphotography.com/blog/2010/1/9/treasure-island-yacht-and-tennis-club-new-years-eve-party-20.html
The sample shot in this DPS post is really well exposed and sharp.
Another tip could be to use manual exposure mode for party shots.
Hey guys, I'm really glad you're liking this post!
@kirpi
Thanks for sharing those great tips! Capturing all those great expressions, is just as important as photographing everything else. Thanks again.
@Sime & @Scott
Thank you for answering Scott's question. I completely agree the candid photograph isn't candid unless the subject doesn't know they're being photographed. If you take a true candid photograph of someone, they won't be thinking "oh my God someone is pointing a camera at me!" and the shot turns out so much better. I don't know how many people have told Evan or I that they don't want their photo taken only to later see a photo we took of them when they didn't know it and love the image.
Scott,
Go with: "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" if you get caught in the act. If so, show them the picture to okay it. If they insist you delete it refer them to the host/hostess. Most will not want to upset them.
Obviously
Scott, I'd argue that there's nothing you can do about it as you're shooting a candid, they're not really going to know about it until they see it afterwards (on Facebook hah) and you're not going to know they didn't like their photo taken, as it's a candid and you've not exactly "got in their face" to ask them... I'd hazard to say "deal with it after the fact" and worry about getting the shots while you're there.
I shot an event on Saturday night - a night club (for a radio station) and every person or group of people I waved my camera at immediately jumped into some sort of pose - it was hilariously good fun.
Good tips, thanks!
Sime
flashgun with a diffuser is a must and use a zoom lens instead of prime, if you can hand hold the flashgun off-camera would be better. wider angle zoom lens would be better because parties can get a little crowded. use different angles - high, low, dutch tilt. also try rear flash sync and slower shutter speed ( 1/4" to 1/1") for cool effects. lastly, candid and don't look creepy when taking the shots.
Candid shots: what about those who don't want their picture taken, and resent the candids?
Candid shots: what about those who don't want their picture taken, and resent the candids?
Candid shots: what about those who don't want their picture taken, and resent the candids?
Great tips! To which I'd add, just to round up:
9. Shoot a lot! Do not be afraid of shooting. At times, it is useful to shoot and immediately re-shoot: people change their expressions, faces move, and you get more chances to obtain the right image by shooting more.
10. Have your camera ready. I know countless people who go to parties with half-empty batteries, half-full memory cards,... It does happen, so think about it in advance.