Gearing Up to Photograph Events
As previously mentioned, it's best to leave serious event photography to the pros. But let's say you've been taking pictures for a while and you've had the opportunity to do some event photography — enough of it, in fact, to determine that you like it and want to do more. You may even want to join the ranks of professional event photographers.
If so, you'll need the proper gear for capturing the different types of images that comprise such photography: portraits, candid shots, tableaus, action, and so on. Your specific choices depend in part on the location of the event and your preference for traditional or journalistic style.
Fast and easy-to-carry gear makes event photography easier. A fast, autofocus, motorized 35mm SLR camera makes the job easy, but there are great photographers who work only with manual-focus cameras.
For indoor events you'll need a fast lens, like an 85mm f/1.2 and, if you like zooms, an f/2.8mm zoom. The 85mm is long enough to capture good head-and-shoulder couple shots. While a longer telephoto lens can capture special moments, if you're shooting indoors, you'll probably be close enough to your subjects to do a great job with nothing longer than 85mm or 105mm.
Indoors or out, if you'll be working in crowds, a 24mm lens allows you to get close to the action and still capture all the participants. However, faces near the edge of the 24mm image show distortion, so you might want to go easy on the pocketbook and try the 35mm or 28mm lens to see if they work for you.
If you're shooting outdoors with plenty of light, you may want a 200mm or a long telephoto zoom so you can simplify your composition by including just one or two people. For the long lenses, especially if they're slow (f/4, f/5.6), you'll need a tripod and maybe even a cable or remote release so you don't shake the camera when you trip the shutter.
A 50mm f/1.8 lens is a good start for the small budget. It's not too expensive, it's sharp, and it can be used in low light. Don't use it for closeup portraits, as it distorts the face, but it's fine for full-length or three-quarter shots.
Here's a modest equipment combination that you can carry to an indoor wedding:
35mm autofocus or manual body. In the case of digital, a second camera; with film, a second camera body for different films or to minimize lens changes. This is optional for guests or nonofficial photographers, but essential if you're the only photographer at the event.
Lenses. 28mm f/2.8; 50mm f/1.4; 85mm f/2.5; or 105mm f/2.5.
Tripod. To eliminate camera shake in low-light situations or when shooting with wide apertures and slow shutter speeds.
Another modest system for working faster could look like this:
35mm autofocus or manual body. Second camera body optional; but essential if you're working alone.
Lenses. 38mm f/2.8; 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8 or other fast prime lens for low light. (The zoom lenses might be too slow for indoor available light settings.)
Tripod. For the same reason as above.
Keep in mind that your selection of lenses should match your artistic vision and give you the opportunity to stretch your way of seeing. Don't be awestruck by someone else's fancy gear, and don't buy an exotic lens just because you saw a great picture someone else took with it. If you don't have a practical use for a lens, be creative with what you have.
Some photographers have a half-dozen filters; others work totally without altering the image. You may need to experiment to find out where your heart is. The following is a basic list of filters for illustrative and traditional event photographers who are primarily shooting film. Digital photographers can produce many of these same effects (with the exception of the polarizing filter) through digital image manipulation programs.
Soft focus: Although most brides wear enough makeup to cover their blemishes, their parents don't. They usually appreciate any wrinkle-hiding help they can get from the photographer. Soft-focus filters also reduce contrast; think about using them when shadows are darker than you'd like.
Soft edge: This filter blurs the edges of images and brings the viewer's eye to the center of the picture where the subject is. It's especially useful when you need to remove an object from the edge of a scene but don't want to crop any tighter.
Star: The star filter is a traditional wedding photographer's staple, but it's not as popular as it was twenty years ago. It can be fun for things like the candle-lighting parts of ceremonies. Be sure to rotate the filter so that the lines radiating from the lights don't cut into people's faces. This filter can also muddy the image, so do some shots with and some without so you'll have a choice later.
Closeup: Unless you have a macro lens, you need a closeup filter. The +1, +2, and +3 diopter lenses are weak magnifying glasses that allow you to focus much closer. Use one or two with a long lens (85mm to 105mm) to get the scene-setting shots of small objects. You probably don't need a warming filter (pale yellow to pale pink) if you are shooting black-and-white or color negative film. If you're shooting slide film, choose one with warm tones or use a warming filter.
Warming polarizer: Useful for darkening the sky and removing glare.
Color conversion: If you want to make really good indoor pictures with no flash and you are using color film under incandescent lights, you may need a color conversion filter to balance the film's color. (Check with a photography store to find the right one for your situation.) Without the filter, your indoor pictures will be orange or yellowish, and the bride's dress won't be white. No correction is needed if the indoor light is actually daylight coming through windows and doors. Avoid shooting under fluorescent light — it's too complex to filter without additional equipment.
Vignette filter: Like the soft-edge filter, this filter brings the viewer's eyes to the center of the picture by darkening the edges of the image. It can darken all edges or just the bottom of the shot. There are also vignette filters that lighten edges, which are useful when the background is light, such as shooting against a white backdrop.
Before you start building your filter collection, consider how often you'll actually use them. If you think you might turn into a filter junkie, think about purchasing a filter holder. This handy device fits on the front of your lens. It also serves as a lens shade, but the best thing about it is that you don't have to screw the filters onto the front of the lens. Instead, you drop them into a slot on the holder. You can easily insert a filter, snap the shutter, then pull the filter out and take an identical picture without it. When shooting, you can easily switch filters to create various effects and versions of the same picture.
Unfortunately, flash plus white subjects, such as a wedding gown or wedding cake, can be a miserable combination. The basic problem is caused by the light source (the flash) being too close to the lens. Whether the flash unit is built into the camera or attached to the camera's hot shoe, it causes the on-camera flash look in your pictures. When used as the main light source, on-camera flash causes red-eye, overexposes the foreground or underexposes the background, and produces shadow-free lighting. Without shadows, details in white subjects, like wedding gowns and cakes, disappear.
Many cameras and flashes allow adjustments to lower the flash intensity, making it a secondary or supplemental light rather than the main light. The best option is to combine high-speed (ISO 400) film, weak flash, and proper exposure.
Be the hero who always has a safety pin or needle and thread in your bag. To keep you (and the couple) from fainting with hunger, bring a few protein bars. Tape, rubber bands, and ballpoint and or permanent marking pens (for making signs and labeling film cassettes) are easy to carry. Don't forget a screwdriver that fits your gear, extra flash cords, and an extension cord with multiple outlets so if you need power you can share electrical outlets with others.
Indoors, the weak flash with a slow shutter speed (1/15th to 1/60th of a second) allows the room lights to bring out the details and soften flesh tones. Better yet, pivot the flash so that rather than firing straight ahead, the light goes up, sideways, or backwards to bounce off a white wall or ceiling. For shots of objects, ceiling bounce is fine. For photographs with people, bouncing the light off the ceiling can create objectionable shadows under the eyebrows, so bounce off the wall instead.
