Photo: Maria Falconer Event Photography
It sounds obvious really but good Event Photography, in fact all photography depends a lot on light. The camera doesn’t see in the same way that a human eye does, and what’s visible to the eye is often shadowy or invisible to the camera.
Generally I’m not one for rules, but there is a kind of rule that I learned early on in my career. It’s not infallible but it’s a damned good guide to most situations. And it is ‘The eye is always drawn to the light in a photograph’. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve photographed an event where the speaker is positioned next to a bright monitor or projection, yet the speaker themselves has no light on them at all. So to the camera they become invisible! Imagine if the speaker in this picture had not been lit, they would have disappeared into the dark background. And it’s so easy to resolve, just one spotlight will bring a speaker to life and make an enormous difference.
When I’m running Dance Photography workshops, I often demonstrate this point using some production shots as examples. In the theatre it’s not uncommon for a well meaning creative individual to combine black costumes, a black background, low light and smoke! Now this can be great in a live performance, extremely atmospheric, but it doesn’t make much of a promotional image.
Honestly the performers could be doing triple somersaults with half a dozen twists but all the camera can see is black!
These are real examples of dance photography made in the theatre, you can see that the light is very low and the costumes and background very dark. All in all the images are not very attractive.
Photos: Maria Falconer
In contrast, these dancers were beautifully lit, and you instantly see the difference.
Photos: Maria Falconer
So remember, whether it’s an event, a performance or even a headshot – LIGHT ABSOLUTELY MATTERS!
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