Eventful

Weeks ago, friends of ours asked me to take photos of their daughter's first communion. We all belong to the same church/school, I take a lot of photos, and they knew they'd have family there to deal with, so it would help to have someone else in charge of commemorating it. It ended up being last weekend, the weekend when I was at the peak of being sick. We had plans to go out to eat for my birthday, I had just sat through the second 3 hours of baseball games of the weekend, I was tired, and I plain just didn't want to. But I'd promised, they're lovely people, and her brother is one of C-man's bestest friends, so I put on my new red shoes, packed up my red camera bag with lenses, Kleenex and water, and headed off to mass.

 

The light in the church stinks; it's all yellow and goopy looking. So it's a bad trade-off between yellowish photos or blurry ones. The altar carpet is bright red, which complements nothing. There are flowers in all the wrong places blocking any decent shots. The old man in the pew next to me kept wanting to take the end seat when I'd get up to take a shot. And there were people getting in my way with their cameras on auto and their inappropriate flashes flashing. (The audacity of them to want a shot of their own child!) But as I was on a mission, I threw a few appropriately placed elbows, laid down in front of the baptismal font, and started to shoot. And while it admittedly didn't come out all that fantastic, because I was more focused on being able to hold my head upright and the camera straight, this child is so stinking cute, it couldn't turn out totally bad.

And I learned a few things for the future. So here are my completely amateur lessons I'd like other amateurs to know, too. And if you aren't the photographer, keep these in mind. It'll help loads!

• First, let the photographer tell you which shots you're going to do. Trust the subjects on who needs to be in the photos, but the person taking the photo can best see how they should be arranged. I don't care if Aunt Carolyn isn't speaking to Uncle Bob. If they look better next to one another, tell them to pipe down and smile pretty. (I didn't have this problem, I'm just saying if you do...)
• Talk about what is really important shot-wise. For this family, it was the moment the host went in the mouth.

• During the event, the parents are more concerned with the 20 family members who have flown in to be there for the big event, so aren't thinking all that clearly about photo ops. Regardless as to which side of the lens you're on, think about a list in your head. And then the photo taker should still suggest more "Hey, let's grab Fr. Jerry!" or "What about the Grandmas?"
• Pay attention to your surroundings, and line up in a place where there isn't weird stuff in the background. The bird ornament coming out of your sister's head looks bizarre, so try to avoid it if you can. And when there's a child's namesake flower right there, take advantage of it.

• In group shots, be open to directing. "Hey sister-in-law, get your hair out of your face." "Grandma, stop talking and smile for just a second." Trust me, you'll be thankful for it. (Plus, if they aren't your family, it's not like you've got to go back to the house and eat turkey sandwiches with them.)
• Squish together. It looks weird if there's a gap or a space, so play nice so you don't look like a jackass for all posterity.

 

• If you're a talker, shut it. Having photos with your mouth in contorted positions because you had to say that one last thing isn't something you want recorded.
• Allow time for the guest of honor to be pulled aside. Let the photo taker get a real portrait of her eyes. Get that goofy smile. Stand on a chair to get a better angle. Whatever it takes. Just get her away from the others for 5 minutes so you can really get what you need. I didn't do enough of this, and am really sorry, because the ones I did were my favorites.

• Have a few lenses with you. One was the right size, but way too slow. So I got aggressive, created an open space, and used a bigger lens so I could get better color. And if you've only got a point and shoot, for the love of God, turn your flash off and use one of the manual settings. (The manual will tell you how, I promise.)
• Don't forget about the cutest details: veils, hands praying, stolen giggles when she thinks someone isn't watching, these are truly the best shots.

• And my all-time favorite event rule: Start with a clean memory card, and hold the shutter down. Long gone are the days of film and expensive processing. Delete is free. Take the darned shots! (And don't mock the person taking them. You'll be thankful later.)