Posing Guide

Posing Guide: 21 Sample Poses to Get You Started with Photographing Weddings 5.9K 303

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41Comments Previously in this posing guide series we took a look to posing women, posing men,posing children, posing couples and posing groups of people. In this article let’s address a popular photographic event – wedding. I would like to state from the very beginning, that weddings in general are a major commercial industry to many professional photographers. Shooting wedding photography professionally is a much, much bigger topic than just 21 sample poses. The aim of this article is only to provide you with some initial guidance and ideas to take some nice bride and groom pictures. 1. The wedding veil is a superb accessory for a bride’s close-up portrait. You may want to use manual zoom to focus on the eyes, otherwise the auto mode will focus on the veil’s texture.

2. A very good opportunity for a great picture is photographing the bride or both newlyweds in the wedding car.

3. The romantic and passionate kiss is another must-have shot from the event. Definitely try to capture both faces including the eyes. Without that you will probably produce a dull shot.

4. Very easy and kind pose. The newlyweds simply and naturally embrace while bringing their cheeks together. Take care that the bridal bouquet is nicely placed and turned towards the camera.

5. Another beautiful pose with the groom embracing the bride from the back. The newlyweds may look romantically at each other or straight to the camera. Or they might kiss for an even more affectionate pose.

6. Just a slight variation of the previous ones, keep the newlyweds close together, but find a way to get a shot from an elevated angle.

7. In weddings you can’t really go wrong by asking the newly weds to kiss for a shot whenever there is an appropriate moment. They won’t complain anyway!

8. If possible, arrange an outdoor shot, take some pictures of the couple from a distance and use some open space in a background.

9. Absolutely easy and a bit more formal pose, creates a calm and intimate mood.

10. The groom holding the bride in arms, easy to pose, however be careful choosing the right shooting angle â€― both faces should be visible.

11. A pose with the groom holding the bride works not only from a distance, but makes a very nice pose for a close-up as well.

12. Certainly a staged pose â€― the bride falling into the groom’s hands. But if the newly weds are responsive, poses like that could work out extremely well.

13. Weddings don’t need to be and sometimes really aren’t at all that serious. Don’t be afraid to make some fun, ask the newly weds to loose their shoes and just run around a bit and snap some frames.

14. Never forget that there often are good opportunities shooting from the back.

15. A fun pose with the newlyweds kissing passionately. Pay attention to the wedding dress: It shall look free-falling and natural, as opposed to stuck and creased under the groom’s leg.

16. A gorgeous pose for a bride’s portrait. The bride should sit on the ground (or a very low stool) with the wedding dress nicely arranged around her. Shoot from above with the bride looking slightly upwards.

17. Fun and simple pose, the newlyweds clinking champagne glasses. For a more creative shot you could get real close and focus on the glasses, leaving the portraits blurred.

18. Another creative way to play with a shallow depth of field. Use the widest possible aperture and keep the groom in a distance from the bride. Focus on the bride, leaving him slightly out of focus.

19. The newlyweds dancing is just another must-have shot. Take pictures with the bride and groom facing towards the camera, making both faces clearly visible. They may look to the camera or at each other.

20. For some creative results, don’t concentrate only on bride and groom. There are many interesting corresponding objects to shoot, and these photos especially will make the event’s photo album far more engaging. Thus, take separate shots with single objects. Examples are the wedding bouquet, jewelery, clothing details, champagne glasses, wedding rings, wedding car elements etc.

21. The final point isn’t about posing proper, rather just an idea for a post production. Most probably you will have a bunch of photos from the event, so use them to make a small collage (or several ones). Pick only some objects or crops from other pictures and combine them into a balanced composition. Use some unified filter effects or simply convert them to black-and-white in order to achieve outstanding results. Such collages indeed are pure pleasure to an eye!

How to Photograph a Child’s Birthday Party 70Comments 70Comments A Post By: Darren Rowse

Check out our new eBook – CLICK! How to Take Beautiful Photos of Your Kids

I’ve been asked by parents of children to photograph their birthday parties numerous occasions and each time it has been a lot of fun. Photographing children isn’t always easy – and photographing ‘the birthday party’ presents it’s own unique opportunities and challenges as a photographer. Birthday Parties present us with a lot of emotion, interaction, color and energy in a child’s party – the highs and a few lows of life are all present. On the challenging side of things – children’s parties can be chaotic places with moving subjects, lots of clutter and often little time for those organizing them to pick up a camera and take a shot. Here are a few tips on Photographing Children’s Parties that come to mind:

1. Designate a Party Photographer

There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a party and realizing that while the camera was out that no one bothered (or had time) to pick it up and take some shots. Give someone the job and release that person from other party duties to just take photos. This way you’re guaranteed to get some shots and will have something to remember the day with. It is also good because it means others are able to relax and enjoy the party and that parents can rest assured that the photos will only be used responsibly. Get more free weekly digital camera tips like this by Subscribing to our Newsletter or News Feed.

2. Get a Child’s perspective One of the most important tips I can share is to get down low when taking photos of children. The biggest mistake I see in party photos is adults taking shots from a standing position looking down onto a scene. While you might take a few shots from this perspective the majority of your photos should be taken at eye level of the subjects you’re shooting.

3. Mix up Your Shooting Angles and Focal Lengths

Having said this – it can inject a lot of life into party shots if you do mix up your shooting angles and focal lengths at a party. Try some shots from standing up high (get on a chair even to accentuate it – this can be great for group shots) but also get down really low and shoot looking up at kids. Also try a range of focal lengths ranging from wide angle shots that take in the whole party scene through to zoomed shots of kids and party elements. Mixing it up like this will mean you end up with a more dynamic and playful series of shots at the end of the day.

4. Adjust White Balance Settings Most children’s birthday parties happen inside (at least in part) where lighting can be tricky. In most cases there will be some artificial light which can leave your photos with different types of tinges. The easiest way to overcome this and ensure your shots are true in color is to learn to use your white balance controls. This is the subject for another post but most modern digital cameras have a variety of automatic settings that will give you some easy settings for different lighting situations. Before the party experiment with white balance and get your setting right.

5. Look for the Party Details Another way to add interest to the shots is to focus in on the details of the party. I find that many of these shots are best taken before the guests arrive and might include shots of the cake, photos of balloons and other decorations, photos of presents stacked, shots of a set party table. Often it’s good to get in nice and close to these elements – fill the frame with them (to the point where they even become a little abstract). You’ll find that these types of shots look great scattered through an album between shots of people.

6. Use Bounce Flash or a Diffuser Speaking of lighting – you’ll probably need some sort of extra lighting if your party is inside. You can help to eliminate the need for this by increasing your ISO setting a little but unless you have a lot of natural light or an extremely fast lens you’ll probably need to use a flash. If you have a flash hotshoe you’ll probably get the best results if you bounce the flash off the room or walls or if you use a flash diffuser of some kind so that the flash is not as harsh on your subjects (a common problem with many party photos).

7. Know the Party Plan In order to capture all of the important moments in the party you should know how it is planned to run. Know when everyone will be sitting down, when the blowing out of candles will happen, when presents will be opened etc. This will mean you can be well positioned for each event just ahead of them happening.

8. Shoot Candidly Most of your party photos will end up being candid ones of children and adults interacting with one another around the different party activities. I’ve written on candid photography previously but you’ll probably want to take a couple of types of candid photos during the party. I tend to take quite a few shots from the edge of the party using a longer zoom lens. These shots are largely of kids interacting with each other, playing, eating etc. The other thing to do as the party ‘warms up’ is to actually get into the party and shoot from within it. In these instances you will find a wide angle lens more appropriate and you actually join in the circle of activity (ie sit with the kids, play the games, eat the food) and photograph the children as you do this. At times it might even be appropriate to make taking the photos a game of sorts – getting them to pose and then show them the results on your LCD.

9. Shoot out of Relationship Photographing from ‘within’ the party is fun but it doesn’t just happen straight away with many children. I find that the best shots come as the children warm up to you and their surrounds. So make an effort to meet the children as they come into the party and to be friendly and fun. This might even mean putting your camera away for a little towards the start of proceedings. Also in this I’d highly recommend that you need to be aware of personal boundaries when photographing children. Unfortunately we live in a time where the topic of photographing kids is something that makes many of us think about ways that doing so can be misused and abused. Always get permission of the parents hosting the party before photographing proceedings, always stay with the main group and don’t get into one to one shooting situations, be aware of giving those you’re photographing personal space and being appropriate.

10. Planned Shots While the majority of your shots will probably be candid shots you should also think ahead about what type of ‘must have’ sort of shots you want from the party. Consult with parents (if you’re not one of them) about what type of shots they want. These might include some group shots, cake shots, blowing out candles, opening presents, party games etc

11. Take Before and After Shots of the Party It’s amazing to see how a room (and people) can be transformed in just an hour or two when you have a group of children in it. For this reason you might want to consider what type of shots you’ll want to take before the party actually starts. This might include some of those shots that focus in on different elements of the party (see above) but also shots of the birthday boy or girl when they are dressed up and looking (and behaving) at their best. Also take a few shots at the end of the party – they could make a humorous comparison series with your before shots.

12. Shoot in Burst Mode One of the most effective ways to capture parties is to learn how to shoot incontinuous shooting (or burst) mode when your camera fires a series of shots in quick succession. This is particularly useful when shooting children as they rarely sit still but is also a good strategy for key moments in the party like blowing out the candles (which you only get a couple of seconds of opportunity to capture).

13. Include Adults in your Photos The focus of children’s parties is generally the children – but the adults attending the party can actually present you with some fascinating shots as they watch on. Sometimes their reactions to what the children are doing can be quite fascinating and its worth including them in shots – particularly those adults in the immediate family of the child having the birthday.

Preparation! 

Know The Location: Whether the party takes place in a home, party room, or amusement park;

realize that each location has its own photographic "blueprint." Prior to the date of the event...

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Determine the source of lighting (natural, fluorescent, tungsten (light bulb), or candles)

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Know the best white balance setting for the lighting. Note that when using a flash, switch the white balance toFlash, regardless of the normal source of lighting. When in doubt, use the Auto or Automatic white balancesetting.

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Determine whether you should be using any exposure compensation.

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Is bounce flash appropriate (the smaller the room/shorter the ceilings, the more appropriate it is to use bounce flash)?

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Are there obstacles that will get in the way of any birthday party pictures (columns, fixed objects, plants, etc.)? If so, plan your seating or your shooting location accordingly.

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How's the background? If it's neutral - use it. If it's ugly, maximize your depth of field (smallest possible F-stop) to blur the background.

Seating Arrangements: If rectangular tables are being used, take the birthday party pictures facing the wide end of the rectangle, using a wide angle lens setting. If you shoot any birthday photos from the narrow end of the table; use a medium aperture such as F/5.6 if you are only interested in the birthday boy or girl. On the other hand, if you want to geteveryone in the picture (while shooting from the narrow end), use as large an F-stop number as possible (optimally F/22 or higher). However, even if you do, realize that some of the guests will probably still be out of focus (hence, the "shoot from the wide end" suggestion).

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Test Shots: Take practice shots the week before the party, using what you believe are the correct camera settings. This allows enough time to see the final result on your computer. Go through the shoot-examine-adjust settings cycle until you are satisfied.

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LCD Display: Avoid using the display to check anything other than if you cut off anyone's head. LCD displays should NOT be used to confirm contrast, color, exposure, or any other critical factors. This is why the computer is needed to evaluate test shots prior to the party. If you are very experienced, you can tell certain things from the histogram, but to be safe - take test shots and examine the results on a computer (or, ideally a printer). What do you do when you look at the final images and they are less than you had hoped for? All is not lost. Sometimes it's possible to make an average photo spectacular by editing the image.

You don't need to be a Photoshop guru either! There are excellent easy-to-use packages available that will And it's even free!

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Equipment: Have fully-charged batteries, memory cards, chargers, external flash, lens accessories, and tripod ready.

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The Birthday Party Pictures List: Jot down the Must Havepictures, as well as the ones you would like to capture, if possible.

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Look At The List: As you get swept up in the excitement of the birthday party, you won't remember all the great shots youwanted to take during the birthday party, unless you refer to your list.

Capture Some Shots Before the Invasion

Calmly take some birthday party pictures before any guests arrive. Identify your most gloriously decorated areas and snap some "before" photos. If you wait until the party begins (or worse yet, after the party is over), your photos will look less like a birthday party and more like a fraternity party. If there are shiney surfaces or glass, try to avoid using the flash. Boost up theISO appropriately. If the surface is flat, use the flash. If taking photographs of lights (as above), take photos with and without flash, but check your white balance. Very often the best birthday party photos will be candids. Since most birthday photos are generally posed, candids take on a special uniqueness. Candid birthday party photos of sleeping children should always be a top priority. Why? On a purely emotional note, they are always cute, will typically produce a smile for the viewer, and sometimes even get a laugh.

However, there is an important technical side to candids, and particularly candids of sleeping subjects. The entire point with candids, is to not have the subject know their picture is being taken.

With sleeping subjects, a flash won't disturb them (at least not until the classic photo is captured). However, if your subject is awake, it is much more difficult to capture a candid birthday party photo because the pre-flash alerts the person. Therefore, if candids are your objective, crank up the ISO, use as large an aperture setting as possible, use the correct white balance, and then check the shutter speed. This is critical! To avoid camera shake (that will blur AND RUIN your photo), you don't want to use too slow a shutter speed. And how can you tell what too slow is?

Use the "Inverse Ratio Rule," where your shutter speed should not be slower than 1 divided by the focal length of the lens you are using. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? OK, quick tip review - here's 2 examples to make it easier: if you are using a 100mm lens, you want your shutter setting to be faster than 1/100 of a second. For a 50mm lens, shutter speed should be faster than 1/50th of a second. Make sense now? If for whatever reason, you are using a slower shutter speed than suggested by the rule, please use a tripod or steady yourself against an object. The great thing about using a tripod is that you can use a long focal length (200mm and above), a slow shutter speed (1/15th of a second) without a flash, and still zoom in for some fantastic candid birthday party photos! By the way, wouldn't this photo (as well as plenty of yours) look great on a T-shirt?

The Classic Shot This is one of those birthday party pictures that takes some work, but is worth the effort. If you have the time, gather the critical birthday elements... the cake, balloons, and any additional unique elements. Finally, arrange them like you would imagine seeing them at a wedding, and take the shot. Then take a few more, just in case! After capturing that "prize-winning" picture, you canshare it with other visitors, and maybe even win a prize.

Use Color

Take advantage of the one thing you have plenty of at the birthday party... COLOR! Here's a photograph secret: sometimes simply using a lot of color (or colorful objects) in the same picture is enough to make it stand out. Forget about white balance, F-stops, etc.,show me the color!

Of course, it also helps to be in focus, but you knew that already. The truly redeeming thing about the top photo is it was taken after the entire birthday party was trashed! By simply gathering up some of the "dead colorful remains," and semi-arranging them... voila, a very nice birthday party picture! And if you can add a close up shot of the birthday star's face in the picture, that's even better.

So keep in mind that although the party may be over, you can still take birthday party pictures! You just need to be a bit creative. And, to start your creative juices flowing, consider... 

The birthday star surrounded by all the presents

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Mom and dad collapsed with all the torn wrapping paper and ribbons placed (or dumped) on top of them

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A few party hats and/or decorations on the family pet

Take Advantage of Any Surplus Time

If it's your child's birthday party, they will never look better than they do before the party starts. If possible, find a spot where natural light is entering a window and POSE them and the cake for some big smiling photos. (The younger the child, the less chance for smiles, so don't go crazy.) And, by the way, there will be plenty of opportunity later to take some birthday party pictures with cake and ice cream dribbling out of their mouth. Each picture is a potential classic so if it's truly important to take each one as well as possible,there's a book that could help. It presents 500 sample photos, tips, guidelines, ideas, and posing secrets for dramatically improving your baby's pictures.

Bottom of Form Play around with different perspectives when photographing candles on a birthday cake. Of course, the "standard" is where the entire cake fills anywhere from 50% to 90% of the frame. But everybodytakes those.

Use a creative angle and have the cake over-flowing the frame. Remember, you can always crop the final photo to accomplish different looks.

Most people use the flash when taking birthday cake photos. Why? Since many people turn out the lights before the cake's grand entrance, the scene is dark to begin with. And, if you are inexperienced with a digital camera, it will probably be on "automatic," and the flash will fire whether you want it to or not. Set the camera to a non-automatic mode, use a high ISO setting, and if needed, use a tripod. If you don't have a tripod, set the camera on a solid surface, aim & focus, and take the shot. If the shutter speed is slower than 1/60th of a second, do not attempt to take the picture while holding the camera. If you do, you will probably fall victim to camera shake and therefore a blurry photograph.

Tips for Shooting the party:

1. Capture the “before” Make sure you arrive at least 30 min early to the party. If a client is hiring you to photograph the party then there is no doubt they have invested blood sweat and tears into making it perfect (or at least hired a party planner to do so). Therefore it is vital that you capture ALL of the little details before the guests with teeny tiny messy hands arrive. Plus you can use this opportunity to get creative with your shots, candy jars from above, bundles of balloons, etc.

2. Move toward the light Don’t be afraid to ask the client to open blinds and curtains for indoor parties or even move “main events” such as the cake eating to the shade for outdoor parties. This is another reason to arrive early to the party, you can scope out the best light, make a plan and ask to move things around if need be. Clients hired you to capture the crucial moments of this important day, therefore they will trust you, just ask!

3. Follow the fun Follow the party girl/boy! See and capture the day as they are experiencing it. Sure its necessary to get the shots with grandma and birthday party girl/boy, etc but the ones my clients always love the most are the ones that capture the moments they didn’t even see. If he/she is sneaking cookies or a lick of icing, capture it!

4. Get the guests This is where that whole “possible new clients” thing comes in to play. You don’t need to say a word to the parents they will probably ask; but, if they dont no worries…just interact, have fun and capture the children, just do your normal child photographer thang! I personally include digital files in my birthday party package and by capturing the child guests this allows for the mom of the party girl/boy to print off a pic and toss it in the thank you card for the guests. One thing leads to another and bam possible new clients’ interests have been peaked and maybe just maybe they will call you when they need a photographer next!

Remember to cover your basics, such as pricing yourself right and setting up a time limit upfront…photographing child birthday parties can be a fabulously fun and heartfelt option to offer your clients that they will be happy they had!!!!

10 Photography Tips for Better Party Photos Dec 24 201147 CommentsBy Isaac Gube 

Taking photos at parties, or any social event for that matter, can be tricky but fun! In this article, I’ll share some of my most guarded techniques for taking awesome event photos. If you’re in charge of taking photos at your next holiday party, Christmas party, birthday party, office party, or any other type of social event, these tips will hopefully help you get better and more interesting event photography shots.

Introduction Those of you who’ve been coming to this site for a while might already know that I take photos professionally. When I’m not working on Design Instruct, I work as

anevent photographer, so I’ve covered more than my fair share of parties and events. In this article, I’ll assume that you’re already familiar with the basics of photography. If not, whenever you encounter a term or concept that you’re not familiar with, check out this overview of Photography-related topics on Wikipedia. With that said, below are some photography tips to keep in mind at your next social event.

1. Add Depth to Group Photos by Not Shooting Dead-Center When I first started taking photos of groups of people, I noticed that they tended to arrange themselves into a straight line, shoulder-to-shoulder, as though they were taking a class photo. Or, if people were sitting on a couch, they would always expect me to take their photo from dead center. And, in my experience, these situations often end up in a boring photo (at least in my book). In a dynamic and fast-paced environment such as a party — with lots of people and not enough room or time to have a group arrange themselves into an interesting configuration — it’s the job of the photographer to make the shot more interesting.

From my experience, a step to one side from the center of the group will impart a feeling of depth to a group photo. This happens because one side of the group will be closer to your lens, thus adding depth and creating a more captivating composition. Try it out!

2. Create Interesting Photo Effects with Jaunty Angles A jaunty or canted angle (also known as a Dutch angle, among several other terms) is a photography technique that you can use to develop an aesthetically-pleasing composition from an otherwise dull scene. Jaunty angles give your photos a feeling of being dynamic and alive.

Using jaunty angles is tricky because it can add a feeling of confusion to a photo if you don’t keep the composition in mind. However, once you get the hang of it, it’ll add a really great effect of making your photos look livelier and full of fun — and that’s exactly what we want when we’re snapping at parties. In addition, I find that you’ll often be able to get the best angles of your photo subjects using jaunty angles.

In a nutshell, I like to pick a focal point in a photo that I want to highlight. Then, I keep that focal point level, tilting the camera accordingly. For instance, if I find someone’s eyes attractive, I’ll use that person’s eyes as my focal point. I’ll align their eyes so that they’re level, while the rest of the photo isn’t.

Sometimes I’ll see photographers just tilt their camera to one side without really keeping the composition in mind, making their photos look disoriented and unsteady. Through my own trials and errors (and there have been many), I’ve come to the

conclusion that there’s a right way and wrong way to use jaunty angles: It’s not enough to just tilt your camera to one side. To learn more about jaunty/Dutch angles, check out the following links: 

Dutch Angle Photography

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Flickr group with examples of dutch angles

3. Try Using Props This is always fun. People seem to love this and it often brings the party together. In my experience, props can be anything from a hat, funky glasses or a fake mustache.

For instance, In a Halloween event I was shooting, I printed out business cards with different kinds of "smiles" on the back of them. Then I had people hold it up to their mouths as a sort of impromptu, quasi-costume.

At first, people didn’t really know what to make of them, so I would say, "Hold it up to your mouth!" And when they start getting it, most would react somewhere along the

lines of "Ohhhhhh! That’s awesome!" That reaction is a great thing to capture in a photo. Another example: I often wear unique glasses in shoots, and sometimes people will come up to me just so they can take a photo with my glasses on them.

No matter what prop you choose, don’t force it. You don’t have to use props. But if you have a good idea, people will love it and your photos will have that little something extra to make them that much more memorable.

4. Take Portrait Shots (Even at Parties) I sometimes take portraits of people I find interesting at parties. Anyone who looks interesting or unique, I’ll pull them aside and do a quick "photo shoot" with them. The trick is to make them comfortable enough in front of your lens that they let you capture them in an honest moment. If they’re having fun, it’ll show. If they’re having a bad night, they’ll let that show too. It’s about attitude and emotion, and if they trust you, then you’ll be able capture these things.

These mini "photo shoots" literally last for only a few seconds. I say "Hi." I tell them I want to take their photo. And if they let me, I let them do their thing in front of my lens.

Taking portrait shots of people you don’t know demands a little more from your social skills than just being able to point and shoot. You’ll be surprised at how difficult it can sometimes be to single out a person from their group of friends, especially if they don’t know you very well (or at all).

5. Always Be Ready for Candid Shots Candid shots in social events are tricky to capture because bringing a camera into a scene automatically changes peoples’ behaviors and how they conduct themselves. So, it becomes hard to get good, honest, candid moments. This is especially true in environments where people are aware that there’s someone taking photos.

The trick is to let them get used to your presence and then, when the time is right, snap away! I realized this through street photography when I was still in the beginning stages of taking photos; I soon discovered that a big DSLR camera can change the scene and the mood.

However, there will always be moments when people forget you’re there, even if it’s just for a split-second, and they’ll let themselves go a little bit. Be ready for these pockets of candid moments and capture it with your camera.

6. Always Look for Action Shots Look for the action! People dancing, people clinking their drinks, food being served, and so on. This all makes for interesting photos.

A photo will always be still. That’s what makes it special. It’s literally just a splitsecond of light captured in your camera. However, that doesn’t mean that a photo can’t be lively!

Be mindful of the movements of the party. Where are people walking around? Where are the people dancing? Who is the liveliest group of the party?

7. Shoot in RAW Image Format (If You Can) This is more of a suggestion. You don’t have to shoot in RAW format to get good photos. In fact, it’s more work for you during the post-production stage if you shoot in RAW format. However, with the changing light conditions of a party and its fast-paced nature, it doesn’t hurt to be able to make adjustments that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do with the JPEG image format. Things like white balance and exposure are very hard to correct (if at all possible in the first place) in JPEG format. I know many professional photographers who don’t shoot in RAW for the events they cover. They just try to capture everything in-camera and it works for them. But for my personal shooting style, I’ve found that taking snaps in RAW gives me a little more flexibility and a bigger margin of error that allows me the opportunity to compensate for my terrible technique later on.

8. Hand the Camera to Someone Else Sometimes, letting someone else take a photo can add great dynamics to your photos. If your task is to document the party, then what better way than to let someone else’s perspective take over for a more rounded view of what happened? After all, two pairs of eyes looking through the viewfinder are better than one. (Of course, you must trust this person to not drop or break your equipment!)

The beauty of letting someone else take photos is that people will react differently to the person behind the lens. For example, ask a really pretty girl to take photos, and you might get different reactions from the guys at the party. Have a very tall person take a few snaps, and you’ll get a different viewpoint. And it’s not even just for the people in front of the lens. Sometimes, if you hand your camera to one of your shy friends, it will force them to interact with people and change the dynamic of the party for him or her! I’ve found that I take pictures a certain way. I stand in a certain way. I frame my subjects in a certain way. I hold my camera in a certain way. Therefore, my photos are pretty distinct from someone else’s work. If you hand over your camera to

someone else who might do things differently, the photos will also be a little different and maybe you’ll even learn something that you wouldn’t have if you had stuck with your own way of taking photos.

9. Observe the Party as a Whole Capturing the party on camera isn’t just about the number of photos you take. It’s about a feeling. It’s about the moments that people share.

Sure, maybe not everyone will know each other. Not everyone will interact with everyone else. And it’s very easy to think that an event is just made up of these small pockets of closed-off groups of people. But you have to realize that everyone at the event has one thing in common: they are at the same place looking to have a good time. Thus, one of your tasks as a photographer is to connect these groups of people into one cohesive gathering.

I think a lot of photographers make the mistake of thinking that they should just snap away and hope for the best. However, you won’t really capture what happened at the party if you think about the photos as a series of disjointed, isolated moments. The party happens as a whole and therefore you have to treat it as such.

10. Have Fun! If you’re not having fun, the people you choose to put in front of your lens won’t have fun either, and it’ll show in your photos.

As the photographer for an event, you’re one of the few people (along with the host) who has to constantly move around the party to see and interact with partygoers. This makes you extraordinarily visible. You have to make people feel at ease and welcome at the party. You can only really do that if you’re having fun as well. So remember to put on your happy face and be friendly.

Bonus Tip: Listen to the Music! If a party has music playing, listen to it. I always think of the music as the heartbeat of the party. It gets faster as more people get excited. It slows down and mellows out as the night comes to a close. It’s the rhythm with which I choose to work. Therefore, I like to pay attention to the DJ. I pay attention to breaks in the beat. I listen to the choruses, the verses, and the moments in a song that gets me excited because, chances are, the rest of the party will feel the same way.

And when that beat drops, when the chorus comes in… I shoot away because I know people will be doing something awesome!

‘Tis the Season As I like to say: In parties, people will come and go, the music will fade, and the lights will dim, but, at the end of the night, one thing will always remain: our memories. Make them count. As the holidays get into full swing, we’ll all be coming together in our respective houses, offices and clubs to celebrate with each other. We’ll throw and attend some very cool parties, be with family members we haven’t seen all year, and the cheer and merry-making will just spread like wildfire even if we try our hardest to deny it. This is the most wonderful time of the year for a lot of us. What better time of the year than now to take photos?