Party event

[tecboy]

Not so great images. What can I do to make these images better?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

 

[MOREGONE]

You're using direct flash. Most of the photos have a strong shadow cast right behind the subject.

You would want to bounce the flash off the ceiling for a more natural look. Do you have a speedlight or was that the on-board flash?

 

[tecboy]

You're using direct flash. Most of the photos have a strong shadow cast right behind the subject.

You would want to bounce the flash off the ceiling for a more natural look. Do you have a speedlight or was that the on-board flash?

I tried but the ceiling is too high. It has no effect.

 

[qleak]

Editing wise you could remove the retinal reflections and try cropping in on a few of them.

They don't all have to be full body shots. I think some of these may work better as heads and shoulders shots. You have the resolution, use it

 

[MOREGONE]

You're shooting at ISO 100 and at your sync speed of 1/250th.

I would start by raising the ISO and shooting at a slower speed, say ISO 800 and 1/60th. This will give a much better sense of the ambient light and mood of the event. Since the ceiling is out of reach you will want to get your light source higher up so the shadows are being cast down behind the subject not directly behind them. It would also be of benefit to increase the size of the light source (This is one of the major benefits of bouncing, the whole ceiling is a light source) even if you're just using an Index Card or piece of paper strapped to your flash.

 

[Robin Usagani]

You're using direct flash. Most of the photos have a strong shadow cast right behind the subject.

You would want to bounce the flash off the ceiling for a more natural look. Do you have a speedlight or was that the on-board flash?

I tried but the ceiling is too high. It has no effect.

It had no effect because you didnt expose the ambiance. This is what you should do:
1. Use slower shutter (1/60 would be sufficient, movement will be freezed by flash)
2. Open up your aperture, f/2.8 would work well
3. Higher your ISO. Dont be afraid to go up to 1600-3200.

 

[Scoody]

You are shoot shots that anyone can shoot. Those same shots were probably posted on Facebook already. You have to work the angles. Make your shots look different, I did an event this past weekend, I had an assistant walking around with a speedlight on a monopod and I was firing it with a wireless trigger.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Next time go early, walk around and figure out where would be some good vantage points to shoot from. Look at the backgrounds, if you take pictures standing in a particular place what will the background look like? Get some test shots if need be to figure out camera settings etc. so you're ready when the event gets going.

Try to get shots of individuals or small groups in closer, or scenes with some people dancing, or maybe a few at tables, etc. You don't want people chopped off (look at the sides of your photos) - either get them in the frame and in the photo or out of the frame and out of your picture (or when you crop them down think about where to crop). You need to get people's feet in the frame too.

Keep distractions out of the frame (#7 & 8 lower right), objects or edges of objects and people that don't need to be there, that aren't part of the scene or adding to the picture.

Maybe you need to spend some time not taking pictures but just looking thru the viewfinder and thinking about what you see, what's in the frame. It seems like you're seeing the person/subject but not necessarily what's behind or around them that will be in the picture.

Shooting events is timing too, wait a split second til for example the one girl would have turned her head so you'd see her face in profile instead of just hair. Watch as they're dancing, is there a time as they repeat moves when they turn or move a certain way that would make for an interesting picture.