New Year’s Eve isn’t just a party. It’s the party of the year! So, capturing great pictures should be a goal for you to remember the fun that you had. But, you need to know how to take pictures in low-light and in fast-moving conditions. So, here are some New Year’s Eve Photography tips to ensure that your pictures of the talk of Facebook.
Low-light and Red Eye Reduction
First of all, get a camera where you can adjust the ISO. You’re going to be taking most of your pictures in low light so you’ll need to have a camera with a high ISO. This will also help with the shakiness of pictures. The pictures could come out a little noisy at higher ISO, especially if you have an older camera, but it could give the pictures some character.
Always come prepared with extra memory cards and batteries. You’re going to want to take a lot of pictures since it could take 30 pictures to get one to come out correctly. So, just be prepared.
Use your flash. Most of these parties are probably only going to have a minimal amount of light so a flash is necessary. Take pictures between five and six feet away. This will ensure that you do not wash out your subject, but it’s also not so far away that you only expose a small section of your subject. And, usually this is only the eyes, making for not very attractive pictures.
Use the red-eye reduction mode when taking pictures of your friends and family. While this can be corrected with software, it’s best to avoid the problem altogether. Try different camera settings. The night mode will help with times when you can’t use your flash. Also, try using the multi-frame capture mode so that you can get a series of photos. This is especially fun when capturing people on the dance floor.
Stay Zoomed Out!
Use a slower shutter speed. This allows you to hold the shutter open for a bit before you actually take the picture. This will help you illuminate more subjects on the floor.
Always stay zoomed out. Zooming in will make any low-light photographs more noisy and could ruin all of your hard work.
Find an interesting background space. For example, if a band is playing, try framing them in the background while your friends are dancing on the dance floor. And, try a variety of angles. Stand up on a chair and shoot towards the crowd.
Taking Amazing New Year's Eve Pictures
Every once in a while, turn off your flash and try capturing your subjects under the lights that are actually on or the light from the band. You could also try capturing silhouettes by focusing the ceiling lights or setting your camera on the silhouette mode.
Above all, have fun. It’s your night! To ensure that you do have fun, try some of these techniques beforehand and know your camera. It will allow you to dance the night away while still capturing amazing photographs.
Misty Faucheux - Misty Faucheux has been a freelance writer for over 10 years, and she has written for both online and offline publications, including ...
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