An introduction to what to expect when photographing an event, from a Melbourne Event Photographer.
Event photography, awards nights, gala dinners, conference photography - they don't strike many as the most exciting things in the photographic world. Couples smiling in front of a white background or worse, one of those dappled grey sheets from 1990's community TV? It doesn't have to be. If you have a good event planner on board, and of course a photographer who knows what to expect and how to get the best from it.
Over the past few years I've photographed events from intimate parties of a few friends and family, all the way up to gala dinners with 1000+ guests and international acts performing on stage. So, if you have an event coming up, there's a good chance it fits somewhere in that range. I hope this post goes a small way to helping you get the best out of it if you haven't photographed an event before.
OK, first things first (really? Yes, that's how it works): You are not there to shoot for your portfolio! You are there to record the event, allow everyone to enjoy themselves and actually see the entertainment they came for. Yes, you want to get shots that are worthy of your folio - but remember that the event wasn't put on solely for your benefit.
That means don't go spending 20 minutes posing people, it's not a fashion shoot. Don't stand front and centre blocking everyone's view for the duration of the main act, and lastly, by all means talk to the AV guys, but don't expect them to blitz the room with white light for you after they've spent days planning and rigging hundreds of lights.
Enough with the negatives, here's how I go about it..
Let's get the gear out of the way. Chances are it's going to be dark, so high ISO and fast(ish) glass are the order of the day. Personally I take the following to near enough any event:
Cameras;1D Mk IV5D Mk I (yes the first one - it's awesome) + battery grip
Lenses;70-200 f/2.8 L IS24-70 f/2.8 L15 f/2.8 fisheyeI also have a cheap and cheerful 50 f/1.8 that occasionally comes along for the ride.
Flashguns;580 EX II430 EX
A decent tripod - Manfrotto 055
Occasionally my laptop if required.
Bottle of water/some sugary rubbish to keep me going.
I carry a camera over each shoulder for the whole night, usually the 5D gets the 580 flash and 24-70 (full frame means I can fit more in at 24mm than if it was on the 1D) and the 70-200 goes on the 1D.
Recently I picked up a smaller bag, just enough to hold batteries, cards, the 430 flash and whichever lens I don't have mounted to a camera, that's the little fisheye for most of the night. This is great because I can keep everything on me, all the time so can swap lenses whenever I want.
I could get some lovely fast primes that would help in the really dark venues. But, I think for events, the versatility of a zoom counts for so much more.
Arriving at the event:
You'll be there before any guests are, so this is the perfect time to shoot the room setup. If the room is lit, grab your tripod and get some nice, clean, long exposure shots of the whole room, showing branding on big screens and the stage set. You may want to shoot a separate exposure if the big screens are blowing out, so you can blend them into the final image later.
Take a simple, evenly exposed shot of the room first - basic stuff, low ISO and smallish aperture to keep everything in focus. Once that's in the bag, you can get on with any 'arty' extras you want. In the wide room shots, I sometimes like to add a bit of flash to highlight a table or piece of branding in the foreground.
If the room isn't properly lit yet, you can still get good close up shots of the tables, centre pieces, branded menus, etc. Use this time well, because chances are you won't be able to get anything later once the guests are in.
The guests are here:
Go time. If there's a red carpet then it should be fairly clear where you need to be. If there's a scrum with other photographers, try to stake out a good spot either near the start of the carpet (so you get guests' attentions first) or in the middle of the media wall so you have a good chance of eye contact and a clean background. Be confident, and let people know what you want. Just don't be a **** to other photographers, you all need the shots and if you shoot more events, you'll be working alongside the same people next time.
I use on camera flash and 90% of the time point it straight at the subject (ducks for cover). The ceiling height in most venues makes bouncing flash out of the question. You can get all kinds of modifiers that purport to soften the light from your flashgun, but I'm yet to be convinced of their worth in these situations. The old newspaper mantra of, "light, tight and bright" is the order of the day.
If there's no red carpet, or once you're done shooting it, grab a few mood shots of people mingling. Wide shots of the space filled with people, and a few candids of guests swapping stories over a drink. I like to use the ambient light where possible for these, to be less intrusive and catch 'more mood'.
You may want to take some posed shots of important guests, possibly including event sponsors' logos. If you do, be quick, without rushing. Have your settings ready to go so you can confidently walk over, take one shot (or two for blinkers) and know you have it in the bag, and the guests can get back to enjoying their cocktail. Tip; make sure your auto-focus is set to one-shot - this means the AF-assist beam on your flashgun will fire. Very handy for dark rooms.
The main event:
Here's the fun bit. How you go about it depends on what the main event actually is and the order things happen (I hope you read the run-sheet before you got there). You can usually eye up a few good spots to be shooting from prior to it all kicking off - I look for space up front and close to the action, as well as somewhere a bit further back. The key, is to not be in anyone's way. If you absolutely have to block someone's view for an important shot, do it quickly and move on. Also be aware of TV cameras or any live cameras feeding to the big screens.
Shoot a good range of images, tight shots of individual performers, groups and images including the whole stage and set.
The technical side of shooting will likely involve turning your flash off (depending on the act, you may be able to flash a few shots here and there). Don't be afraid of maxing your ISO, I'm happy if I can shoot at 1600 but you may find yourself at 3200 and above more often than you'd like. I use manual mode all the time, but go with whatever you're comfortable with. If using aperture priority, or another auto mode just be aware of bright spotlights coming into frame, and other lights and strobes which can drastically affect your metering.
I advise shooting in raw format, to allow more leeway for processing later and give yourself room to add your own look to the finished shots. The different coloured lights can play havoc with your white balance, but don't worry - as long as you expose your shots well, you can tweak the colours to taste later.
Hit the floor:
After the main event they'll often open up the dance floor for the guests. If there's a live band I find there's more chance to get up close and shoot, with a more relaxed atmosphere compared to the main event. So take advantage (but don't abuse it to the point of annoying the band).
When the dance floor fills up, get amongst it - I use a mix of the 24-70 and fisheye for 'party' shots. High ISO and a slow shutter speed will fill the shot with colour, and flash can be used to 'freeze' the subjects (back to one-shot AF so you can use the AF-assist beam). Try to place the stage, or centre of the dance floor behind your subjects, shooting on the edge of the floor, with a dark room of empty tables behind them might not look so great.
You can pull out all the usual party tricks; moving the camera or zooming during exposure, silly angles and super-close wide angle shots can all get people involved, and make your pictures look like you were part of the party.
n.b. You may read a lot of people telling you to use second-curtain sync flash for these situations. The reality is, when the flash fires makes no difference to the exposure levels. First or second curtain sync only effects the perception of movement in the shot (freezing the subject at either the beginning, or the end of their movement).
I use first curtain (standard) most of the time. The problem using second curtain sync with a slow shutter speed and TTL flash is that your flash will fire once at the beginning, to calculate what power it needs - and then again at the end, the actual flash used to expose the shot. This can confuse people into thinking you've already taken the shot, and you end up with a pile of images of people with their eyes closed. With first curtain, you get the shot exactly when you want it, so no missed expressions, and no confused guests. Everyone's a winner.
Heading for home:
Job done! Almost. It's 1AM, you've been shooting for eight hours and as the band winds up, you're ready for home. Whether you actually get to now, again depends on the event. Sometimes the news desks will want images in the early hours so they can be printed before you get out of bed in the morning. If this is the case, make sure you've arranged for someone representing your client to sit down with you after you're done shooting.You should know when the key shots were, so it won't take long to skim through and download to your laptop. After a quick edit, you and your client can pick the best and send them out via email or FTP (something else to confirm details of before the day).
Once I get home, I don't sleep until everything is on my computer and backed up to an external HDD. Don't feel that you have to be as paranoid as me.
My workflow for events is very simple due to the volume of images involved and the short turnaround time - I usually deliver the final images the next day. Firstly, I import everything into Lightroom, where I rename files and add all the usual IPTC data (mostly done via a preset on import).
Next a quick scan through the lot at fullscreen giving 1 star to anything worth keeping. This weeds out the blinkers, silly expressions and any obvious failures with lighting, flash not firing, etc. Then I go back through the survivors and hit 2 stars on the shots I'm happy to give the client - the best from sequences of similar shots, for example. Multiple shots that were taken for stitching or blending I mark with a red flag.
Once they're down to a manageable number I give the first of each section (red carpet, different lighting conditions) a quick process for colour, noise and so on - whatever your personal flavour. Then sync the settings across the remainder of each section. I still check every single image and usually tweak something, but the batch gives a good starting point.
Finally, bring up those flagged red and open each set in Photoshop (cmd+E from Lightroom on a Mac). For room panoramas I find the photomerge function in CS5 does an amazing job and rarely needs more than minor manual adjustment or coaxing with a bit of cloning. Blends for any room shots should be fairly straightforward. Drag the darker exposure you took for the screens on top of the bright exposure whilst holding down the shift key to make them automatically align. Hold option/alt and click to add a layer mask, this will fill the mask with black, hiding everything in the darker shot. Now simply brush the screens back in with a white brush. Easy.
After that, you are done. Export at whatever size your client requires and write up your invoice. ;)
This was only written as a very rough "what to expect" and not as a complete "how to". I hope it's of some use to you, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Automatic blog by iAutoblog
No comments:
Post a Comment