Event Photography: You’ve Been Asked to Shoot an Event… Now What?

You have been taking pictures for a while.  It’s turned from a passing fancy to a more serious hobby.  You have taken the time to learn your camera, what the various settings do, the relationship between aperture and shutter speed, and you’re feeling quite confident.  Your friends and family like your pictures and finally that moment comes, “I have an event coming up, could you photograph it for me?”

Before they could finish the question, you’re practically screaming “YES!”  It’s your chance to show the world you’re a photographer, mingling with the crowd, and capturing the images of the day.  Then it hits you.  This is no longer for fun, and people are expecting results.  Well have no fear, because we are going to give you a few hints to get you all set and ready to shoot that event.

1. Know Your Equipment

Sounds pretty simple, right?  But there is more to it than that.  Do you shoot with spot or matrix metering?  Aperture or shutter priority?  Flash or no flash?  Let’s break it down a bit.

Modern DSLR’s have amazing features that were no even possible back in the days of shooting film.  So take advantage of that.  Let the camera do the heavy lifting.  Does that mean shoot on “P” or program mode?  No.  While it may leave your net exposure pretty perfectly, your images will be either flat, or motion blurred or both.  I like to use aperture priority and matrix metering.  It controls the depth of field that makes an image pop, and the matrix metering does a good job at sampling the most important part of the photograph.  That being said, there’s no need to be rigid in your use of settings.  If you are composing a shot that has some tricky lighting, or something specific in the image you want perfectly exposed, a flick of the switch and you spot metering along with manual mode is your solution.

You also don’t need to bring every piece of equipment that you own.  Depending on the event, I will carry two  bodies, one flash, a wide angle prime, a wide to medium zoom and a long lens.  If the event is in a small space, it’s amazing what you can do with a 35MM prime or a mid zoom, say a 24-70MM.  That all depends on point number two.

2.  Know Your Event

In order to be prepared, you need to know your event.  This includes not only the event location, but also the attendees.  Is it outside in a big space, or in the back room of a bar?  Will there be 15 people or 500?  How long does the event last, and how long would you like me there?  Does the client want candids or formals or table-shots, or all three?  Don’t be shy about asking questions about the event.

Let’s say you’ve been asked to shoot a child’s birthday party.  Part of it will be indoors and part outside.  Since your modern DSLR has the ability to take a great picture of a black cat at night, you don’t need a flash, right?  Not so fast!  Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t.  Even outdoor photography can sometimes benefit from using a flash as fill light.  If the event is in a bar, it will most likely be quite dark.  So knowing how to use a flash is very important.  I prefer to bounce a flash whenever possible.  A nice ceiling is the ultimate diffuser.  If that’s not an option, I prefer to use an on flash modifier.  Again, let the camera do the heavy lifting and if you are using a light modifier, shoot TTL mode and adjust your exposure compensation accordingly.

Knowing all of the details of the event will set you up for having the right equipment with you.  You don’t need to carry everything you own!  If the event is being held in a large space, a long zoom is fantastic for capturing unobtrusive candids.  A wide angle lens is great for capturing the atmosphere of the entire event in one shot.  For smaller events, a mid-size zoom or even a 35MM prime lens could be all you need.

3.  Know What to Do (and What Not to Do)

First and foremost, keep in mind that you are capturing the images of the event.  You are not shooting for the cover of People magazine.  There is no need to barge through crowds and shove a huge lens in someones face for a shot.  Be kind, and smile, yet be confident.  You are there to photograph the event.  A simple “excuse me,” will get the job done and get you where you want to go.  If someone waves you off, just move on.  There are a lot of people who don’t like having their picture taken.  The flip side is if someone stops you and wants a particular photo taken, stop and do it right away!

People have a posing gene.  What I mean by that, is whenever they realize that they are about to have their picture taken, they stop whatever they were doing and strike a pose.  That isn’t always what you want as an event photographer.  When this happens, I tend to lower the camera, smile and say, “… just keep doing what you’re doing, pretend I’m not even here.”   Be quick.  If you see something you’d like a picture of but need to direct a little, a simple “Hey, can I get a quick one?” will do the trick.  Take a quick picture or two and move on to the next shot.  The second part of being quick is that you need to be ready for the unexpected shot.

Learn from each shot.  We all take a look at the LCD and see the shot we just took, but are you looking at it or learning from it?  The LCD is for composition only. Is someones eyes closed, or is it out of focus or did you accidentally chop someones head off?  The most important part of that little screen in the back is the histogram.  Know how to read one and learn from it on the fly.  The most basic premise of photography is capturing light, and the histogram tells you everything you need to know about the light you just captured.  It is the best tool you have to review the exposure of a picture.  I learned that the hard way once.  I shot an entire event off by at least full stop because I only looked at the histogram once.  So be sure to look at the histogram, review, learn, adjust and shoot again.  It will become instinctual.

Most importantly, have fun.  If you do not appear to enjoy what you are doing while you are out there, the guests will see it and you’ll be “the crabby photographer” that everyone hates.  All of the guests at these events are potential clients, so always be at your best!

Event photography can be rewarding and fun.  It opens the doors to potential future work.  By keeping in mind the three simple hints, you will be well on your way.