Let me start with the client's email to me the morning after the event. Yes I deliver quickly.
The pictures are great. I really love the clarity; especially those that are up close. Please send me an invoice so I can submit payment.
thanks again!!
When I cover a party I have a shot list in my head. As I work through the list I notice that I become more and more relaxed as I tick things off the list.
I have learned over time to cover an event in phases that allows me to be sure I have the "safe" shots and then slowly I can add the photos that add to the package.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2800, ƒ/4, 1/100 |
Phase One
Arrive early and start taking photos of the location. Most likely the hosts have spent a little money on the food and the caterer has done their best within the budget to show their best.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 5600, ƒ/4.8, 1/100 |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 5600, ƒ/5, 1/100 |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 4500, ƒ/5.3, 1/100 |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 6400, ƒ/5, 1/100 |
By arriving early you can have more space to work as well. No one is really there and this gives you the ability to backup, move close, and change your angle to get what you like for representing the food.
All the food shots I did with available light. I am not trying to do the cover of
Southern Living Cookbook so I am not shooting the photos at the lowest ISO and lighting the food to make it look it's very best. My purpose is to show the food as it looked for the event.
I try to use available light as much as feasible. All the food shots were done with available light.
Phase Two
I work the room trying to get photos of the people interacting. During this time I might use some flash to fill in the shadows. I want to be sure the photos are solid and not me pushing the limits of the situation, which might not work.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/80 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/80 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
As you can see this is where I might have the guest pose for a photo. I am encouraging them to get closer to one another. Now if they do not want to get too close I just capture them with a little space or when they want to show a true friendship you might see them holding on to each other.
I try and shoot these just a little loose for two reasons. First if you shoot too tight and they want an 8x10 print then they may not have enough excess to crop the photo from long side. The same can be true for a 5x7 except this is where they don't have enough from the short side to crop. Keeping it loose allows for different dimension prints.
Second, I like to show the environment. I think this is one of the largest mistakes made by amateurs. They come in so close the pictures no longer have any context. Whose party are they attending anyway?
Why Flash?
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 900, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 500, ƒ/5.6, 1/80 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. They are outside on a porch with an overhang that has a white ceiling. |
During the second phase I am occasionally shooting available and then quickly adding a flash. The reason is the flash will help fill in the shadows. With darker skins their is a tendency to loose the face details if you are not careful. Notice the difference in the skin tones of the face of this lady and you will see how the lower photograph is technically nicer. I prefer the expression of the first photo and wish I had the flash on for that photo and then it would be perfect for my taste.
As one who is always advocating getting the flash off the camera, unless the budget would have allowed for a photo assistant to walk around with my flash the guests would most likely bump into a light stand and maybe get hurt and/or damage my gear. So I stayed with on camera flash for this event. However, I did bounce it and never shot with it directly pointed at the subjects.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/60 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 4000, ƒ/3.5, 1/500 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 400, ƒ/4.8, 1/80 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/4, 1/250 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 800, ƒ/5.6, 1/125 and Nikon SB-900 bouncing on the ceiling with no diffusion dome. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 3600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash. |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/200 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/125 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 3200, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
Notice in these two photos I have switched to an ultra wide-angle lens the Nikon 14-24mm ƒ/2.8. I love shooting with these lens to help give context and put the viewer as if they are standing right their on the porch and part of the conversation.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/200 and no flash |
Notice in this photo below I went just a little wider than the photo above. The one above is shot at 24mm and the one below at 19mm. I love seeing the three women in the back in three different conversations. You can just tell everyone is enjoying themselves and having moments of their own.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/200 and no flash |
Using the 28-300mm lens I can zoom in as I have done below with the photo of the guy listening to another person. This was zoomed to 300mm and let me look across the room just like you would if you are there to catch glimpses of others enjoy conversations.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/250 and no flash |
You need some overall shots to capture how many people came to an event. This is everyone gathering for a few comments at the cocktail party. I shot it with the Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm to capture as much of the room as possible. I am holding the camera as high as I can above my head and angling it down to show the room almost like a security camera would do in the corner of a room.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 2200, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and Nikon SB-900 bounced with no diffuser. |
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/200 and Nikon SB-900 bounced without the diffuser |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/125 and no flash |
Phase Three
Usually there is a point that I have photographed most everyone in the room a few times. I have the event covered if I were to stop working. This is where I am now freed up to start looking around for more interesting photos.
Now in Phase Two I did some of these photos, but this is where now I just look for moments and may push the limits of the situation. A good example is shooting with the Nikon 28-300mm zoomed to 300mm shooting available light. Even at ISO 12800 inside you might be hand holding at really slow shutter speeds.
I did this and had to toss a lot of the photos because of camera movement or the subject moved. It would be common for the subject to start laughing and toss their head back in the process and I get a blur and nothing is sharp. This is why I often wait to do these shots in Phase Three, but I might mix a few in Phase Two.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 11400, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 10000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2000, ƒ/5.6, 1/160 and Nikon SB-900 bounced with no diffusion |
Since I have pretty much everything the client needs, when the chef asked for a photo for himself it was easier to meet this request towards the end. I could have done this in Phase One, but he was very busy then.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 5000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 4500, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
With the photo of the man in the center and the people around the table I moved a little back and forth until I used him to block the light behind him. This is the president of Georgia Tech talking to the new tenured professors.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm, ISO 11400, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
In this photo below you can see the dining room from above. Hopefully this gives you the reason why you arrive early to take photos of the food. Where do you stand to get those photos now?
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| Nikon D4,14-24mm, ISO 10000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
In the following two photos notice the slow shutter speeds and high ISO settings. The top photo was shot at 250mm and the lower one at 210mm. Either of these would normally be shot at a minimum of 1/250 shutter speeds to be sure there is no camera movement. In the lower photo I am shooting at 1/40 shutter speed. While I can do everything as perfect to capture this moment all it takes is for the lady to move slightly and it is a blur. This is why I shoot this type of photo without a flash and ISO 12800 in Phase Three. I am taking larger risks. If I did this in Phase Two the number of photos I would be giving the customer would shrink drastically.
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 8000, ƒ/5.6, 1/100 and no flash |
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| Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 12800, ƒ/5.6, 1/40 and no flash |
The Seasoned Pro
It takes years to really know how to shoot in this way. Besides dividing up types of photos I am also pushing the limits of the flash and available light.
Notice I am shooting inside at really high ISOs and using flash. Why would I do that?
Read this early blog post of mine to answer that question here.
Shooting the way I did for this event is very complex, but the results I think speak for themselves. I think I captured real moments with very little intrusion. This is why clients hire me, not because they just need a photographer. They need a photographer who will come in and not come to them complaining about not enough light and basically creating problems.
Before my client even saw these photos they were excited to invite me back. They liked how I work was their comment to me as I left. If it is that evident they see a difference in how I work as compared to other photographers and they haven't even seen the results, then I know it is my years of experience showing in how I carry myself.
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