A Fun New Photography Game to Play at Your Next Event

Have you recently been hired to photograph a large event? Are you nervous about being around large crowds? And do you feel as if large crowds will somehow affect the quality of images you produce? 

I've been there. A few times, actually and it can get a little stressful. But fear not because I have come up with a game YOU can play to restore your self confidence photographing large crowds. It's called Hide-and-go-snap! 

Hide-and-go-snap is a fun and quiet game that you, the photographer, play when you're photographing large events and also small ones too. You simply hide behind and against things or people which can include the following;

• walls (my favourite!)

• doors (oh gosh, these turn out gorgeous)

• tables

• chairs

• windows ( I love this one, the reflections from windows are stunning)

The benefits of playing:

1.  Your pictures will look more professional. Because you're photographing people that don't know they're being photographed, you'll produce more authentic expressions. Authenticity mixed with foreground blur in your images is great when you want to make the picture personal to the subject but retain professionalism. Foreground blur is pretty much always a good idea. 

2. You'll have fun and gain confidence. Photographing from secret locations that no party guests are visiting or hiding behind walls or windows to capture a fun moment is fun! Not to mention it's also quiet. When you're just starting out the event, naturally you'll get a little nervous. So when you hide away for a little bit to observe the event, you'll loosen up, take pictures behind things, look at how nice it turned out, feel a sense of confidence then sooner or later you'll find yourself photographing in plain sight! 

How to Instantly Improve Your Event Photography

Hey everyone! 

Glad to know you're reading. And I'm also happy you choose me to learn from! You're going to learn exactly the same techniques I use when I photograph events. And you'll be able to implement those quickly because all of what I do is pretty simple but the results are amazing!

I wasn't always good at photography but I became better each time by looking at other peoples work. This would become my  inspiration and photo techniques. I would study their picture and figure out where they were standing, the angles in which they took them, the distance they photographed from, etc. Then I review the information of the photo and that's how I came up with my own set of techniques/ideas below! 

1. Stand behind people/things

This technique is my favourite during events. It's a simple trick I use when there's lots of people around. I'll point my camera into a concentrated area of people and I'll quickly look for someone right in front of me to use as my foreground blur, then I look for someone that is either significant to the event or someone who stands out in the crowd. Now is when I focus on this person and snap my photo. But before I snap, I wait till I see them with a smile or other positive expressions!

The benefits of standing behind people and/or things are; 

• You'll create a visual story. 

• You'll be less noticed by guests and it'll be much easier to capture authentic expressions

2. Photograph all the details

I love photographing the decorations at events. It's always beautiful and it's great for your clients to look back on and reminisce about all the details of their event. It's special memories for your clients to cherish for a very long time. That's why its so important to take all the pictures you can of the small intricate details. Sometimes people are busy having fun and miss out on those details.

When I take pictures of the tables, decor, centre pieces, etc, I make sure that I'm using my 50mm 1.8 lens. It's my favourite, favourite, favourite lens!! It lets me get in a little closer to my subjects and has a beautiful blurry background that I love so much! Use a steady hand to take your picture and be aware of your surroundings because you don't want people in the background. Sometimes it's not possible but try to get photos of details without other people.   

The last and most important thing is to edit. I use Rooke & Roover Camera Raw and Photoshop. You can also use PicMonkey.

If you try out these techniques/ideas for your next event, you'll see a dramatic difference in quality of image. This will easily transfer into confidence behind the lens. 

Good luck,

Jessica.

Thanks for reading!