The secrets of photographing a party

There's nothing like a party for great photo opportunities. And with Christmas and New Year's Eve right around the corner, party season is currently in full swing. As an event photographer, I've covered numerous parties over the years, from wedding receptions to family birthdays. Here are a few tricks I've picked up along the way.

Be prepared for low light

Parties present some specific challenges--most notably, lighting. Odds are, no matter what the lighting is like, it won't be what you want.

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There's nothing like a party for great photo opportunities. And with Christmas and New Year's Eve right around the corner, party season is currently in full swing. As an event photographer, I've covered numerous parties over the years, from wedding receptions to family birthdays. Here are a few tricks I've picked up along the way.

Be prepared for low light

Parties present some specific challenges--most notably, lighting. Odds are, no matter what the lighting is like, it won't be what you want.

For compact cameras If your tool of choice for the event is a compact camera, then spend a few minutes configuring it before you actually begin taking pictures. A great place to start is in the Scenes Mode menu.

If the event is in a darkened room, such as a reception hall or someone's living room, look for one of these options: Party, Night + portrait, Night Scene, or something similar. These modes typically offer a slower shutter speed (to capture more of the ambient light) combined with flash to illuminate your subjects. This is an improvement over your camera's regular flash mode, which often overexposes the subject while turning the rest of the background black. Keep in mind, however, that this type of scene mode uses a longer exposure, so you'll need to hold the camera steady when you press the shutter button. Also be prepared for signs of subject movement, such as blurring, for fast moving folks during the exposure.

You can increase your odds of success with a few additional tricks. First, increase the ISO setting to 400. This helps extend the range of your flash and makes the camera more sensitive to ambient light. This will also help control subject movement during exposure because the shutter speed will be a little faster.

If your camera offers a Face Detection feature, now is the time to turn it on. This technology not only tells the camera's focusing system to prioritize party goers, but also sets the exposure for them instead of the background. (If your camera doesn't offer Face Detection, here are some tips for getting similar results.) Finally, turn on the image stabilization feature, if available. This helps prevent camera shake during long exposures.

For SLRs Like point-and-shoots, many current SLRs also offer a night-portrait scene mode that will automatically adjust your camera's settings. But if you're willing to fiddle with your camera's manual settings, here's a good place to start: Turn on the flash, go to Manual exposure, then set the aperture to f/5.6 and the shutter speed to 1/30th of a second (or 1/15th of a second if the ambient light is very low). I've used these settings for years at wedding receptions with great success.

If you have a shoe-mounted flash, point the flash head toward the ceiling and bounce the light for a much more natural appearance. This technique is most effective if the ceiling is white, and not too high. Colored ceilings absorb light and change the hue of your shot. And with super high ceilings, the light may reach the surface, but it's unlikely there will be any oomph left on the way down by the time it reaches your subject. I've also had good luck with the $60 Gary Fong Lightsphere. This accessory mounts on the flash and diffuses light without having to bounce it off the ceiling. Another advantage to the Lightsphere is that you don't need a flash bracket. Just rotate the flash head so that it's always pointing upward.

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