Photographers take a lot of shots per event. Even the most skilled professionals take thousands of photos, and in the end they really only use a small portion of them to give to their clients or add them to their collection. This shows you just how perfect the photos must be if you want to have the highest standards.
On the other hand, when you learn all the essentials of photography, you will have to take a lot of shots and practice constantly before you have enough experience to take amazing photos. This is especially true when it comes to photographing events, there are a lot of other things involved apart from photography itself, and since most events include a lot of people, you will have to learn to deal with this aspect as well.
Still, here are the things that you can avoid doing right from the start, as you don’t have to learn this from experience. This is why I’ve gathered a few of the most common mistakes event photographers make and why you should avoid them yourself.
1. Not knowing how to position yourself
Photographing events is a specific style of work. This is not like going out into nature, taking a whole day and shooting photos whenever you feel like it. When it comes to events, there is always a clear timeline of how things develop and how people act according to these timelines.
You must learn the whole timeline and what will happen during the event. Additionally, if, for example you are photographing a wedding, it’s essential to know how each of the smaller events within the whole event take place. Learn the traditions in order to know what to capture and in what way.
This is how you can create your timeline and prepare in advance for taking shots you want and adjust your camera on time.
2. Standing too far away
Details are what make a photo interesting and good-looking and you cannot catch any details if you are constantly taking photos from a large distance. This is especially true when it comes to taking event photos where there are a lot of people. When you take shots like this, you will only get a huge pile of people with nothing clearly showing. Although it’s nice to do some shots from a larger distance, most of them should usually be closer and more intimate. A lot of people try to zoom, but this is also wrong, as you cannot capture the natural closeness without actually standing near your subjects.
3. Bad focus
One of the things that simply cannot be changed after you’ve captured a photo is the focus you used. No post production can fix this. This can sometimes be especially difficult, because you will have to react fast and get into the right position very quickly. Every time you set the focus poorly and try to take photos for which you are not prepared, your camera will automatically try and refocus, or it will completely ignore the subject you are actually trying to emphasize. Focus is actually one of the things that requires a lot of practice and experience for you to perfect and learn how to quickly set-up everything you need. You need to learn to recognize the right focus, depending on the movement and the distance of the subject.
4. Not doing any photo editing
You might have read somewhere that there are photographers who “don’t do any post editing”. This is simply not true – everybody does this and it’s the current standard in the photography world. No matter how good your photos are, you can make them a lot better by editing them yourself or hiring somebody else to do it for you.
In the end, here are some tips that concern all photographers and not just those focusing their work on events. Always make sure that you have backups, spare batteries and additional storage, so that you don’t ruin your whole session because your camera is not functional.
This article was written by Isabella Foreman.
