Saying that, I think it's easy for people to be bogged down and typecast into an event shooter. Yes, you're the life of the party and your photos are a hit on facebook but trust me, after a year everyone is pretty much over it (especially you) so in the meantime you should be getting into landscapes, portraits, urban shots, anything else etc as much as possible so you have some skills to go on from when the events are getting boring.
This is not to say that events aren't a great source of revenue - they really can be, I still shoot up to 10 events a week for great rates (30-80 per hour). I just think that you shouldn't be putting all your photographic energy into shooting your friends' birthdays (yes, 'photographic energy' does exist, by day 12 on my road trip I was really really sick of shooting).
Call me cynical, but I won't shoot events these days if they're not paid. It's not hugely difficult to find paid jobs - it's more of a social thing, the more people know that you're a photographer, the more interest you will get. I was lucky to be able to start off with getanightlife, but if you get some decent event shots in a little portfolio on facebook or a website you can start from there.
Anyway, now to the photo. There are literally thousands and thousands of photos I could use as examples here, but I'll just show you a nice one that I got last night:
The best thing about this photo is that it's not edited! Event photography is a discipline where you'll be getting loads and loads of images, so you won't be wanting to go through and individually or even batch edit 200 shots every time you shoot an event (cough cough romanceinmypants).
There's a few simple bits of gear you'll need to shoot events.
Any DSLR - I have a Canon 450D
A mid-range zoom - I have a Canon 17-85mm but a cheap kit lens will do just fine.
A speedlite flash - You might think it's too expensive, but these flashes are crucial. May as well get one and learn how to use it now, and you'll be reaping the benefits for years to come.
A flash diffuser - I've linked that to an ebay auction - these are about 5 dollars and extremely handy. Best 5 dollars ever spent - just make sure you buy one that fits your flash.
There's a few simple things you'll need to do to shoot an indoor event.
Attach the speedlite to the top of the camera, and place the flash diffuser on the end. Sometimes it's a snug fit, but mine is a bit loose so I just use duct tape to keep it in place. Tilt the flash head up 45 degrees and turn it on auto. This is what it should look like:
Turn the camera on to its manual setting. Set the aperture to its lowest f/number (should be about 3.5 or 4). Set the camera to ISO 400. Shoot on JPEG, with a +2 saturation if possible (tutorial here). Once you have all this, you're pretty much set. All you have to worry about now is composition and shutter speed. This will depend on the amount of ambient light, and I will usually go between 1/2 of a second and 1/50th of a second. I would be using 1/2 (looks like 0"5 on the camera) at a dark club, 1/6th at a bar with a few lights around, 1/20th in a normally lit room and 1/50th in a bright indoor room. The beauty of digital is that you can just try out different speeds and see what looks best on the screen. You should be aiming to have an even lighting of subject and background. This is why you need to shoot manual, on auto, the camera will just choose 1/60th and your subjects will just be in front of a boring black backdrop (cough cough romanceinmypants).
The photo example here was shot in front of a decently lit bar at 1/5th of a second. The camera and flash diffuser set at 45 degrees did the rest.
So getting the lighting right isn't too hard, and you'll be able to master it pretty easily after a little practice. You still have to worry about composition though! Event photography is usually something that really doesn't benefit from empty space. I love to fill the frame with people, it looks great. I try to get heads about 1/4 of the photo from the top, and fill the remainder with body. I usually shoot portait (vertical) with 1 or 2 people, and landscape (horizontal) for 3 or more. I also find its much more attractive to shoot on your lens' widest setting (mine's 17mm) and get pretty close in to the subjects, rather than standing further away and zooming in. Shooting like this, the flash will do a much better job and it gives the photos better perspective.
So there you have it! Follow these instructions and you should be able to get great event shots straight off of your camera, no editing required. The diffuser cap is great for softening the shots and an absolute must-have, especially at $5!
Good luck.
Cheers,
Tal
Turn the camera on to its manual setting. Set the aperture to its lowest f/number (should be about 3.5 or 4). Set the camera to ISO 400. Shoot on JPEG, with a +2 saturation if possible (tutorial here). Once you have all this, you're pretty much set. All you have to worry about now is composition and shutter speed. This will depend on the amount of ambient light, and I will usually go between 1/2 of a second and 1/50th of a second. I would be using 1/2 (looks like 0"5 on the camera) at a dark club, 1/6th at a bar with a few lights around, 1/20th in a normally lit room and 1/50th in a bright indoor room. The beauty of digital is that you can just try out different speeds and see what looks best on the screen. You should be aiming to have an even lighting of subject and background. This is why you need to shoot manual, on auto, the camera will just choose 1/60th and your subjects will just be in front of a boring black backdrop (cough cough romanceinmypants).The photo example here was shot in front of a decently lit bar at 1/5th of a second. The camera and flash diffuser set at 45 degrees did the rest.
So getting the lighting right isn't too hard, and you'll be able to master it pretty easily after a little practice. You still have to worry about composition though! Event photography is usually something that really doesn't benefit from empty space. I love to fill the frame with people, it looks great. I try to get heads about 1/4 of the photo from the top, and fill the remainder with body. I usually shoot portait (vertical) with 1 or 2 people, and landscape (horizontal) for 3 or more. I also find its much more attractive to shoot on your lens' widest setting (mine's 17mm) and get pretty close in to the subjects, rather than standing further away and zooming in. Shooting like this, the flash will do a much better job and it gives the photos better perspective.
So there you have it! Follow these instructions and you should be able to get great event shots straight off of your camera, no editing required. The diffuser cap is great for softening the shots and an absolute must-have, especially at $5!
Good luck.
Cheers,
Tal
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