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The action, costumes, colors and performances at festivals, special events and reenactments make them a ton of fun to attend and photograph. Taking snapshots is easy, but if you want to turn your snapshots into great shots, you have to pay careful attention to everything that’s going on around you, as well as realize the importance of your camera settings and lens choice. After all, you may get only one chance to photograph the event.
That was the case for me when I photographed the Chinggis (whom we used to call Genghis) Khaan Cavalry Ride show in Mongolia in 2024. Sure, I had great fun and worked hard to get good pictures, but going back to the other side of the planet (a two-day trip) for this yearly event wasn’t in the near future for me.
If seeing 500 real-life Mongolia soldiers, outfitted like soldiers of 800 years ago, charging into battle isn’t in your future, don’t retreat from reading this article. You’ll find tips here that will help you take command and charge right into taking pictures at festivals and other events close to home. Ready to go? Let’s ride!
Make A Plan, Choose A Location Before you start shooting, you need to make a plan of what you want to photograph and where you need to be to get the best vantage points. If possible, before you get on site, contact the organizers and ask questions about the event, including the types of activities and the number of performers, a timetable of activities and access to the field or arena (which may be restricted, as it was for me in Mongolia).
Of utmost importance is asking about the direction (north, south, east, west) in which performers may be positioned. On an overcast day, that may not matter too much. On a sunny day, however, that information will help you choose a position from which to work. In most cases, you’ll want the sun at your back, so your subjects’ faces will be illuminated.
Important Camera Settings Fast-paced action, moving subjects and unexpected maneuvers require point-and-shoot photography. No, I’m not suggesting that you put your camera on Auto and point and shoot, by any means. What I’m suggesting is that you know how to adjust your camera settings in an instant, maybe without even looking at the camera, so you can effectively point and shoot and not miss a shot. If you can’t do that, you may want to practice on your living room couch until you can.
To stop fast-paced action, you’ll need a shutter speed of at least 1⁄500 sec. You can keep that shutter speed constant if you choose shutter-priority mode. In that mode, even if the light level changes, the shutter speed remains the same and the ƒ-stop changes automatically to get a correct exposure.
Using high shutter speeds may mean using higher ISO settings if you don’t have a fast (ƒ/2.8) lens or if you’re shooting on an overcast day or in low light. I took all the pictures at the Mongolian festival with my ISO set at 400. If it had been bright and sunny, I would have set my ISO to 100 because I always choose the lowest possible ISO setting for the existing lighting conditions. By doing that, I get the cleanest possible image with the least amount of digital noise.
A high ISO setting lets you use a smaller aperture than a low ISO setting. The smaller aperture provides good depth of field, so you have a better chance of getting subjects in front of and behind the main subject (your focus point) in focus.
When it comes to the image quality setting, I recommend shooting RAW files. With a RAW file, you can recover up to a stop of an overexposed area. With a JPEG file, overexposed highlights are much harder to recover, if not impossible. If you do shoot JPEGs, bracket your exposures to make sure you have at least one good exposure.
The focus mode you choose is also important. When photographing moving subjects, the AI Servo mode (Continuous Focus on some cameras) tracks a moving subject right up to the exact moment of exposure—helping to ensure a sharp shot. For stationary subjects, you can switch to the one-shot AF mode, which locks the focus on the subject and won’t let you take a picture unless the subject is in focus.
For capturing action sequences, like capturing the peak of action during an event, set your camera on rapid frame advance and take several shots.
Key Zoom Lenses When you shoot a festival or other event, I suggest using two camera bodies if possible, one on each shoulder: one with a wide-angle zoom (17-40mm) and one with a telephoto zoom (70-200mm IS or 100-400mm IS). With those lenses, you can get wide-angle and telephoto shots of the performers. If you want to “get closer” to your subjects, pack a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter.
If you have only one camera, consider investing in a big-range zoom that goes from wide to tele, something like a 28-300mm. Or, if you’ll be changing lenses during the shoot, be super-careful—dust and other particles love jumping into open cameras and sticking to the filter that’s over the image sensor, resulting in marks in the final images. With that in mind, bring a blower or other sensor-cleaning device to clean the filter.
As you can see, dust was the real enemy during the festival. That’s why I never changed lenses. I used my 70-200mm for this event, and took this picture with it set at 200mm (above, right).
Be Aware Of The Background Check out the groups of warriors in the background of this image (left). As you can see, they’re not intruding into the space of the foreground warriors. That separation enables the foreground warriors to stand out and not get lost in the scene.
Therefore, this image is the result of judicious composition, watching the background carefully, choosing a wide aperture (ƒ/5.6) to blur the background and shooting at exactly the right moment.
Be aware of the background when you shoot. It can make or break a shot, and it’s just as important as the main subject.
Set Goals Before you take your first shot, set goals for the shoot. As the event progresses, of course, you can change them. If you have a certain set of goals, you’ll know what pictures you really want to take.
At the Mongolian festival, I wanted to get the one shot that every professional horse photographer (I’m not one of them) wants to get: a shot of a horse with all four hooves off the ground. So, I kept my eyes open for that opportunity and, following the tips I offered for capturing fast-paced action, I got the shot.
Here’s a “setting goals” story: At one of my workshops, I asked one of the participants, “What’s your goal?” He said, “I want to take 700 pictures a day.” My reply: “I want to take three good pictures a day.” Think carefully about what you want to capture and how to get those shots, rather than shoot haphazardly.
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.
