Party time
Top Tips
Sparkler
Christmas Pudding
Partying Outdoors
Dance Floor
Office parties - Fluorescent lighting
Top Tips

Parties are great for taking photographs – here are a few top tips to remember so you make the most of the occasion!

Timing: Taking photos at the start of a party means everyone is looking their best, so this is the best time for more formal shots. On the other hand, taking photos at the end of the party can be good as well.  If the party has gone well, everyone is buzzing and that can really come over in an image.

Background: One thing that can really spoil a photograph is a poor choice of background, so take care to look around and behind your subject as well as at them.

Posed or unposed? You don’t want to miss made-to-order ‘staged’ opportunities, but try to get a few candid shots too like game players in the heat of battle or dancers be-bopping to some ‘golden oldies’. In a party setting, candid shots can often capture the spirit of the occasion and the personality of the subject far better than a formal, posed shot. Keep your camera at the ready for spontaneous photo

opportunities:  Groups v couples: Taking photos of couples works really well. When taking shots of a single person, try to get into the habit of using your camera in the upright portrait position. Take a few moments to frame the shot, zoom in a little and exclude unnecessary background clutter. This makes for a more intimate and compelling image. Taking photos of groups is okay, but there comes a point where you can’t tell who everyone is, particularly with large groups. When taking group shots, consider whether the foreground will add anything to the final image. The temptation is to take a full-length shot, but if there is nothing of interest at ground level, consider moving in and photographing from the waist up only.

Lens:  Use a short zoom or telephone lens. This will enable you to take some group shots and still allow you to catch a few frame-filling close-ups without standing right on top of your subjects.
Sparkler

  Sparkler

The picture of the child outlined in light was created using a long exposure, a single sparkler, a torch and two children. This is a simple but effective trick. The main subject adopted the pose and the second child crouched behind and moved the sparkler through the air, following the outline of the main subject. The torch was used for a few seconds at the end of the exposure to add a small amount of light to the subject’s face.

The white balance was set to Daylight, to give the sparkler light an orange tint; use of the auto setting would cause a whiter, more harsh light which is less in keeping with the mood of the picture. An exposure of this length will create significant ‘digital noise’. This appears as tiny red and blue specks on the photo, but this is easily removed in Photoshop.
Christmas Pudding

 Christmas pudding

Seasonal still-life images are great shots, and what better than the Christmas pudding? This shot was taken on a long exposure and you will need a manual setting to get the exposure for a shot like this.

The longer the shutter is open, the more flame action is captured, and a tripod is crucial for this type of shot in Night Scene mode adds action to this image, and the movement of the dancers combined with the disco lights adds a great effect.
Partying Outdoors

 

Partying Outdoors

For this picture, the exposure was taken from a close-up of the subject’s face using the Spot Metering function. The same principle applies to taking photographs in candlelight. Set the White Balance to tungsten, indicated by a little light bulb symbol – this accentuates the red/yellow of the flames, creating a warmer feel to the reflected light on the subject’s face.

When taking photographs at dusk, background objects lit by the remaining ambient light appear bluer than normal, adding to the night-time atmosphere. 
Dance Floor

 Dancing girls

You will be surprised by what can be achieved using a compact, and when you select Night Scene mode, the opportunities are vast. The slow shutter speed that is automatically selected in Night Scene mode adds action to this image, and the movement of the dancers combined with the disco lights adds a great effect.


 

Hey Mr DJ

With an SLR like the E-300, you have the option to expand the ISO setting to 1600. At such a sensitive rating, you can shoot in very low light and capture the atmosphere of disco lights.

This shot was taken by handholding the camera at 1/8th sec, which takes a bit of practice, as you need to limit movement.
Office parties - Fluorescent lighting

 Office parties – fluorescent lighting

Most offices and public buildings use fluorescent lighting and, with the introduction of low-energy fluorescent bulbs, so now do many of our homes. In many indoor situations, there are often combined lighting sources – fluorescent lighting and camera flash – and in these situations, the White Balance can usually be left on the Auto setting; the camera will identify the flash as the prominent light source and balance accordingly.

If, however, the fluorescent light is bright enough, you can turn the flash off. and shoot without the on-camera flash if possible, as a well-lit room will produce a picture with a more even light -and avoid the harsh shadows associated with on camera flash.  This is one situation where Auto-White Balance simply won’t do. Using your camera’s menu, select the White Balance icon that corresponds to fluorescent light (there may be more than one).

If your camera has a Custom White Balance setting, this will allow you to store an accurate reading in your camera’s memory, which will correspond exactly to the fluorescent lighting in your home. Once stored, you will be able to recall this exact setting via the White Balance menu when required.
Top