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Photographing Festivals

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Tips For Capturing The Fun, Action And Excitement Of Special Events

Tell The Whole Story
Whether it's a local festival or a safari in Africa, try to tell the whole story with your pictures. In addition to taking action shots, take details and portraits, such as this portrait of a warrior (left).

Tell the whole story with a diversity of shots, and your Web galleries, photo books and slideshows will be more interesting than if you have pictures that all look the same.

For portraits, you may want to shoot with a flash to fill in shadows on a subject's face, as I did for this portrait. A diffuser (to soften shadows on a sunny day) and a reflector (to bounce light onto the face of a subject that's backlit) are also useful accessories.

In addition to taking posed portraits, close-ups of interesting details, like the man's sword, hands and armor (previous page), can help to tell the story of the event.

Have Fun, And Be Courteous
Hey, don't forget to have fun at the festival! Sure, do your best to get great shots, but if you have fun and enjoy the moment, my guess is that you'll get better shots than if you're stressed out over camera settings.

Also, be mindful of other serious photographers and attendees at the event. You don't want to get in their way and ruin their shots just for the sake of a picture.

Speaking of fun, the Mongolian festival was a blast. I have fun wherever I go. Here, I'm wearing a warrior's outfit, joining the party, so to speak (left). And here's another fun shot (above right): a Mongolian warrior using his mobile phone, perhaps checking in on the latest battle plan.

Follow these tips, and you'll have all the "ammo" you need to come away with winning images from a festival.

To see more of Rick Sammon's photography, visit www.ricksammon.com.

 

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