First Exposure to Event Photography
I had a fascinating experience today. I was the event photographer at Ruth's casual wedding party. For the longest time, I've been mainly taking pictures of mostly still subjects (natural landscapes, buildings, etc.) in an outdoor setting where light is typically abundant. Today, I had to take photos of people in a completely different setting (moving subjects, indoors, with varying degrees of light). I have to admit that I was inexperienced. But I learned a few things. It was an excellent opportunity to hone my photography skills.
Lesson 1: on mind game
I'm an introvert. I don't mind approaching individual strangers. But, approaching a group of strangers talking amongst themselves? That was uncomfortable for me. It was out of my comfort zone. I was disappointed that I wasn't proactive enough to invite people to take group pics. Of course, it doesn't come naturally to me. But I could've done better. In retrospect, if I had changed my mindset, I would have been able to overcome that mental blocker. If only I keep in my mind: “today's an important event for Ruth, and I have one job — to capture and memorialize the space, time, and people at today's event.” If I can keep that in mind, it would've been easy to overcome my reluctance to approach groups of people. I would have been able to capture more attendees.
Lesson 2: on candid pics
Instead, I took pictures of people discreetly, thinking I would capture some candid shots. But candid pics are tricky, aren't they? In this particular event, there were a few obstacles to taking good candid pics: 1. We had a buffet. People often don't clear their empty plates after they finish eating. Empty plates don't look great in pictures. People who are eating also don't look great in pictures. Those are unglamorous. I would have been upset if I saw a photographer taking a picture of me eating. Yet, that's the exact mistake. 2. People sat in a circle, making it difficult to include everyone's faces in the pictures. It's not nice to take pictures of some faces and some backs. 3. I couldn't easily position myself discreetly in a good angle to take good candid pics. The space was quite packed, and if I moved to a particular angle, people would notice. Then, it won't be candid anymore.
In hindsight, it would have been nicer to just invite people to take group photos so they could prepare themselves and appear glamorous.
Lesson 3: on lenses
I'm using a Sony Alpha a6000 mirrorless camera. I bought two lenses today. One is a 35mm f/1.8 prime lens. The other is a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. The reason I brought a prime lens is because I know it takes crisp pictures. It has a shallow depth of field. It might be great for an event. And it is for specific settings. The reason I brought the other lens was that the fixed focal length of the prime lens could pose a challenge when taking group photos. The field of view is not large, so it might be challenging to fit everyone into a pic.
During the event itself, the 16-50mm lens proved to be a better choice. Prime lenses are too static. To take good pics, one has to move around. And there isn't much luxury to be found in the area. A photographer has to be quick. Moments are fleeting. A prime lens also has a shallow depth of field. That becomes a problem when people stand in front of one another. Some people will get the focus, while others will be blurred. Good composition is challenging to achieve because it highly depends on the photographer's positioning since zooming in and out is not an option. Lastly, as mentioned, the fixed focal length makes it hard to fit many people in a picture.
A telephoto lens is probably the best because its long-ranging zoom helps with sub-ideal positioning rather than having to move here and there.
Lesson 4: on camera settings
Shutter speed has to be fast. People move. A slow shutter speed can create blurry pictures when there is motion. Fast shutter speed freezes actions.
One strange thing I noticed was the different apertures on the pictures I took. That's unusual because I had set my camera to aperture priority mode. I intentionally set my aperture to a low setting so that I could achieve a higher shutter speed. Should I have used shutter speed priority mode, though? To answer that, I need to do some experiments.
1/80 shutter speed isn't enough. A quick googling tells me that 1/100 to 1/200 should be fine.
I was disappointed with the pics I took. Nonetheless, it was a good learning experience. I've tried to learn photography multiple times in the past. However, the concepts don't stick as well when I don't practice them. As always, hands-on experience beats theory classes. Event photography is a different ballgame than landscape photography. I now have a higher appreciation for event photographers. They must be highly attuned to the environment in which they operate. They have to consider their positions, their subjects' positions, the lighting, the turn of events, and so on. They must constantly adjust to capture the best moments, allowing event owners to cherish those meaningful and memorable events forever.