5 event photography tips to take Candids at your next event

Nowadays candid style of photography is being popular. Besides, taking the candid shots in an event can be tricky and are quite different ballgame than other types of photography because bringing a camera into a scene automatically changes people’s behaviours. So it becomes hard to get good, honest, candid moments. The challenges that come with the event photography whether that means capturing a night party, a wedding, a musical party or a conference can be challenging. Below are the 5 event photography tips to help a photographer improve their candid photography.

Look for the moment

Event photography is all about capturing the moment. This is the time you will find people are laughing, enjoying and engaging each other. Capturing these moments is what makes for the great photos that everyone loves to see it. For special moments in events, you will need to be prepared well in advance and have everything set up so you don’t miss the shot. Also, try to look for the individual moment in a sea of faces. Find the people who look animated and zoom in for close-ups. And don’t forget to shot the wide variety of people and setups. 

A moment to be captured

Be quick

While taking any kind of shots timing is everything and it’s very important to be quick. The candid shots of people will only work if they don’t notice you pointing the lens at them. This is especially true in environments where people are aware that there’s someone taking photos. So, you need to be quick while taking candid shots. And try not to worry if you miss the shot, just move on and try to capture it later. Another good tip is to use live view on your camera if possible which lifts the shutter up before the photo is taken, reducing the sound of the exposure.

Use a long lens

The best way to take candid shots without making people feel self-conscious is by using long or zoom lens. It helps to keep a good distance from your subject, making it so that they don’t even realise you are taking a photo. You will capture shots as if you are right next to them. The next benefit of using a long lens is it throws the background out of focus making your subject target.

Long Lens

Avoid flash

Don’t kill the relaxed mood and joyful moment with the bright and startling flash. Using a flash can unflattering shadows and emphasise paler skin tones giving visitors a washed out, pale appearance. Besides, if everyone is watching for flash then they are not giving you many opportunities for the candid image. If you are aiming for candid shots try to photograph without the flash. You can also increase your ISO setting or widen aperture. By doing this you will be able to take well exposed photos in low light conditions. You can achieve a shallow depth of field and focus more precisely on your subject rather than on its surroundings.

Keep moving and use burst mode

A scene or facial expressions can change in the blink of the eye. The most effective way to get the finest photo is by shooting in a continuous high mode known as burst mode. By using continuous mode or shooting in bursts increase your chance of getting the perfect shots as well as some amasing shots along the way. If you think something great or worthy is about to happen, use burst mode to ensure you capture the best moment. You are the one who has to move to get the angle you want. So, do whatever you need to do, try different angles and prospective, zoom in or take a wide for your best candid shots.

For more ideas and tips to take candid shots for your next event, Louise Bagger Photography will help you decide what makes powerful candid. 

10 things to photograph this Christmas

Christmas is almost here and it is one the best times of the year to take photographs. It is an energetic and exciting time to take pictures for a variety of reasons.

Here are 10 great Christmas photography ideas for you to try over the holidays.

Capture the preparation stages

The Christmas party or celebration presents many photographic opportunities, particularly during the preparation stages. It can be food preparation, decorating the Christmas tree, hanging Christmas lights and other decorations or packing for a holiday are all excellent moments to capture on camera. Often photos taken before the event are better as everything is well displayed and creates the wonderful ambiance of Christmas. 

Hanging Christmas lights 

Group photos

Group photos are popular. Have everyone gather around the Christmas tree and have them hold some presents. Use a tripod for a group photo so you can be in it. 

Christmas Group Photo

Christmas lights

Christmas lights and decorations are featured in many Christmas photographs although this can be tricky to do. Create words, shapes, pictures and analyse the light source carefully. Don't be afraid to experiment. Use the blurred or soft focus as an alternative. Having a tripod prevents many unnecessary errors.

Christmas Light

Neighborhood

There is a limitless number of photographic opportunities in your neighborhood during the Christmas period. Many houses and shops are covered with Christmas decorations and shopping malls are busier than normal. So take your camera and start taking many pictures.

Christmas Decoration

Opening gifts

Focus on people's faces as they open their gifts with a view to capture their array of emotions, facial expressions, and excitement. Switch your camera to burst mode and take a series of shots, capture everything from the eagerness of getting the wrapped gift, through to the excitement of unwrapping to the joy of seeing what's inside. Also look around and shoot the reactions of those who gave the gift.

Christmas Gift

Express relationship

Holidays are a good time to highlight the importance of relationships. As you are more relaxed, the stress, hassle and pressure from the passing year can be forgotten as they spend time more time with family. It’s a chance to capture photographs that define emotional moments.  Urge them to pose together, preferably standing enable you to capture the bond between them. 

Fill your frame

Stay close to your subjects to clearly define their faces. Fill your frame with your subject either by using your zoom or and moving in closer. This will inevitably result in the photo having a greater impact on the viewer.

Festive food

During Christmas, there will be many opportunities to capture the colorful festive food that's on offer. Food photography can be great fun for the photographer especially those who love food. Use natural light and a reflector for the best results. Reflectors enable natural light to bounce onto subjects to bring out detail from shadowed areas. Reflectors come in a variety of colors.  The main food items should be the centre of attraction and focus sharp.

Christmas Cuisine

Discussions

Holidays are the time when family and friends gather together. Capture shots preferably during an animated moment while they are having a discussion amongst themselves.

Composition, Background and Bokeh

While photographing, composition is crucial to attain an image that has impact. Endeavour to be creative with your photographs. Frame your pictures differently and take the same picture from different angles. Occasionally position yourself so there are no messy backgrounds behind your subjects. If you see a better background with better light, ask your subjects to move around when taking pictures. Bokeh makes photographs visually appealing, forcing us to focus our attention on a particular area of the image.  It is the perfect project to acquire while having the carefree holiday spirit and then making home-made cards for friends and family using some of your photographs. 

Become familiar with your camera prior to Christmas and know what your camera can do. If you would like to hire an expert photographer for this Christmas in Adelaide, contact Louise Bagger Photography – phone  0412 055 668 or by emailing louise@louisebagger.com.au.  

Best father's day gifts for the photographer dad

Father's day is almost here and it's time to celebrate. If you are not sure as to what to gift your photographer dad, or one who just loves photography, then we have the list for perfect gifts to give him. Let's check it out.

1. Camera

For a dad who loves Camera Lens,  you might consider gifting him a camera which he can take on his adventures and photograph the journey. DSLR is the top choice for professional as well as amateur photographers. Its high-quality image sensors, unrivaled range of additional lenses and other accessories make it the best option for seriously getting into photography. These days every model from Canon and Nikon are pretty affordable.

DSLR Camera

 2. Camera bag

Gift your dad a new bag to carry his camera and photography equipment. You can find a number of different bags in the market. However, leather messenger bag is always a stylish choice and durable. This bag will allow him to keep his camera with him all the time, and feels very comfortable to carry on long trips.

leather messenger bag

3. Custom camera strap

You can also get him a custom camera strap. It’s a camera harness that can hold a camera. A neck strap is a great and practical option.

custom camera strap

4. Tripod

Tripod can be a lifesaver when he has to get that long exposure night time shot.It is an awesome tool to make sure he gets the perfect shot, no matter the condition or location. Travel tripod weighs less and camera can be attached to the base of the handle in several ways allowing for more flexibility.

Travel tripod

5. External hard drive

An external hard drive to back up all his photographs is a great gift. Since there is nothing worse than to lose his photos. That’s why backing up photos is really important and external drive is a great way to transfer pictures, videos and other media files safely for future use. External hard drives are now available at quite reasonable prices these days.

External hard drive

6. Lens

A high quality camera lens will make a significant improvement to the image’s quality. Find lens that suits his style of photograph. Prime lenses work well for the portrait and street photographer, wide-angle lenses are best for landscape and architecture photography while telephoto lenses are ideal for live action sports and wildlife shots.

Camera lens

7. Photo book 

Create a printed photo book with 'World's Greatest Dad' on the front to showcase his works. Fill it up with photos of you, him and family members as well as some of his finest images taken. Inspire him with the stunning photos.

Printed photo book 

It's easy to make Father's Day special by simply showing you care. And Father's Day is always a good time to update your dad's photography kit. Whether you choose to celebrate Father's Day by sending your dad a gift or greeting card, the important thing is to let him know just how much he means to you and how much you love him.

Lastly, a great gift idea may be is to take his photographs instead of him taking one. So if you need help in this area, contact Louise Bagger Photography via email at louise@louisebagger.com.au or via phone at 0412 055 668.

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Why Your Business Needs Professional Photography?

Running a successful business is not an easy job. You have to worry about different aspects such as payroll, product development, rental expenses and government taxes. However, the main aim of your business is sell the product/service. Without sales, your business is doom to fail, and the hardest part of sales is getting the attention of your customers.

For example, let’s talk about that big McDonald’s board down the street. We all know, it’s sells fast foods which is fried and unhealthy. But whenever you look at that advertisement board, you crave for the juicy Hamburger and those hot, juicy, well-lit fries on the side. There is visual stimulation and all the ingredients are shown in a flattering way. Even just imagining the image waters your mouth, isn’t that right?

What above example presents here is that how a good photograph can affect one’s perception of any product. And the same thing can be used for your business. When you are using visual advertisement to promote your product/service, it should be presented in a good light. If the presentation is not visually appealing, people will start questioning its authenticity and quality.

That’s where professional photography comes in and shows its importance for any business. Every business can benefit greatly from professional photography, even yours. Find out why you need one?

1. A picture is worth a thousand words.

We have often heard this phrase in our life. And it is true. A single photograph can describe the whole scenario. Take for instance, in how many words can you define a McDonald’s burger? I can write an essay on it. But a single picture of that burger alone is worth all those words.
Today, consumers are more inclined to buy products that they find visually appealing. To target such a consumer base, your best option is to use a professional photographer.

2. Media represents your business.

Many business owners tend to take photos for promotional purpose themselves. Whether you take good photographs or not is not the issue here, professional photographers are there for a reason, and it’s for a good reason.

Beautiful Photographs Speaks as We Eat

Remember, your photos has power to represent your business. Low quality and unprofessional photos suggests the business/product/service in itself is of low quality as they (you/company) can’t even take professional looking images, so how can they (you/company) provide high quality business/product/service to the customers.
The photos on your website play an important role when it comes to making strong and favorable first impression on your customers. So, trying to save little bit on cost will only end up hurting your sales and revenues even more.

3. Connect with the customers.

Stock photos are a great alternative for a business when they feel a photo shoot is out of the question. However, stock photos are helpful only in few cases, they lack authenticity and your customers cannot relate to them as stock pictures don’t represent your business.
Whenever a consumer decides to visit your website, they want to get to know you. The best way to communicate is to show your customers actual photos of your business, team/staff and products taken with the help of a professional photographer.

4. Helps in building web presence.

Yes, image plays a huge role in building your web presence. When your potentials are searching products/services similar to yours on the internet, SEO optimised images of your products/services can will pop up in the search results. It will help drive new customers to your website and significantly increase your web traffic. Beautifully taken images help in engaging the customer and keep them on your site for longer period of time. Attractive and relatable photographs have the ability to encourage customers to choose your website over the competitors.

5. Versatile assets.

You may have come across the phrase ‘Content is King’ when trying to promote your business online. And photographs are also a big part of that content. They are powerful and versatile form of content. High quality and well-thought out images make your website engaging. They can be featured in blog posts and articles. You see thousands of beautiful images shared online every day, especially on various social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Imgur and Twitter. You should do the same for your business in order to build a strong brand presence on the internet.
Plus, photos can be used in brochures and flyers. When you invest in professional photography, you provide yourself with new ammunition to stay on top of your competitors.

When it comes to building up a business, professional photos are a must. Keeping that in mind, you shouldn’t rely on stock photographs all the time to showcase your business. So, find a recognised, experienced talented professional photographer like Louise Bagger to take photographs for your business and events. For more information, contact her via email at louise@louisebagger.com.au or via phone 0412 055 668.

15 Best Corporate Photography Tips You Need To Know in 2017

Corporate Photography doesn’t mean you should take photos of men and women in suits and formal attire all day long. Corporate photographs need to define the whole event and tell the story with the main theme in between. There are two types of corporate photography, which includes event and portrait photography. Event photography means taking pictures of employees and guests attending corporate events such as conferences, galas and parties whereas portrait photography means taking pictures of employees for websites and magazines. Here we will provide 15 Best Corporate Photography tips that you need to know for 2017.

1. Corporate photography is not only about shooting pictures of glamorous men and women attending parties all the time. The photographer needs to get accustomed with the event so that he/she can tell the story and theme of the event through the photographs. Note down the decorations beforehand and all the angles that are suitable.


2. Even if you are there just to take photographs, try to blend with the group. Dress accordingly as most corporate events require cocktail attire. Most of the corporate events have strict dress code, so just call the event and ask for the details. It looks really bad when everyone is in dressed for the event and a photographer shows up in jeans and sneakers.

3. Scout the location beforehand, and be prepared to shoot at the minimal lighting conditions. You need to prepare all the equipment that will be required for the job. If you cannot visit the venue, call the organisers and ask about the lighting and venue condition in detail. If possible ask for the photographs previously taken at the same venue.

4. Don’t disturb the conversation just to take a photo. When two people or two parties are having a conversation that seems important,any interruption from the photographer may annoy them which can lead to your bad image. However, when approached in a relaxed environment, you can get photos with all smiles and guests may even pose for you.

5. Don’t pitch in and engage in the conversation with the guests. People may not show that they are bothered or annoyed, but it is an inappropriate thing to do. If a guest wants your opinion on something, they will automatically ask you themselves.

6. Don’t drink alcohol, even you are offered one. No one likes a drunk photographer taking their pictures. A professional needs to be up to the mark at their job and drunken photography is not professional, of course! Better yet, have a good lunch/dinner before the event. If the event is long, you may miss some important shot while having lunch/dinner in between.

7. Don’t photograph people eating. No one wants to be seen while chewing food. Would you like if somebody photographs you while chewing?

8. Don’t get locked up on taking pictures of people only. Photographers needs to be creative, pay attention to decorations and interior design of the venue as the portrayed theme can speak thousand words about the event.

9. Take the best camera and equipment. It goes without saying that you will need a professional camera, additionally pick up a second one as the backup, if the first one fails. And most important, don’t forget to take extra sets of battery. You don’t want to say that your camera is dead if someone asks to take their picture.

10. External flash, unless you are shooting in a day light, is a must. Camera’s inbuilt flash is not sufficient and you don’t want to be shooting with direct flash. Make sure that you get a flash that has an adjustable head as you can bounce flash off white ceiling and walls, creating more natural looking light. If flash photography is prohibited, ask the organiser to increase the amount of ambient light in the room.


11. If you are taking photographs for magazine or website, pick a relevant environment. Photographing for business magazine at a cafeteria or natural environment doesn’t make any sense.

12. During the head shot portrait photography, maintain the subject’s alignment so that the passport type-look can be avoided. Make sure the subject is looking at the camera, posing candid is not an option in head shot portrait photography.

13. Remember, corporate photography isn’t about being creative, it’s about looking professional, and it’s about giving your photograph a professional look. The photograph needs to reflect the corporate look the organization possess. Don’t get carried away with too much of editing.

14. You don’t want your subject to be in bad mood because you were late to the field. Be punctual. If you keep clients waiting, it presents you as an unprofessional.

Beautiful Smiles

15. As with all the corporate photography, note down what your client actually wants and expects. Your photography may be of high class but if you don’t get what the client actually wants, your hard work and effort doesn’t have any value.

Being a professional photographer myself, at the start of my career I was told that a professional photographer has to go through many changes. And these points are some of the things I faced during early days of my career. If you want to connect with me, email me at lousie@louisebagger.com.au or ring me at 0421055668.

WY HIRE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER FOR YOUR WEDDING?

Browsing through your old photographs is always refreshing and wedding photos are the best ones. Wedding is one of the most important dates in any person’s life story and capturing those moments to remember by is as important as Living it. It is such a beautiful reminder of a strong, long-lasting love and these memories for brides and grooms to cherish for the rest of their lives. Also, it’s not just not for them but for their children, grandchildren and all the family trees.

We all prioritise what we want to invest in on wedding day. For some, the quality and availability of food and beverages is important whereas some may consider venue is important. Bride and grooms spend so much on their wedding that they should have it all photographed the way it needs to be. A professional photographer knows how to capture the emotions and meaningful moments that passes by the instant. Hiring a professional photographer is as important as flowers is to wedding and side from love it’s the only thing that last forever.

There are many reasons and facts that can convince you to hire a professional photographer your wedding but who can reason it more than a professional photographer themselves.

1. Good photography is more than just a fancy camera and huge lenses. Camera cannot read the lights and color correctly, it’s the photographer that makes it do it.  Professional photographers doesn’t use auto filters, they love to play with the natural colors manually. So, if you want that beautiful photograph your new husband or wife amazingly back lit by a red sunset, professional photographer is the way to go.

2. Wedding stories are told better in a pictorial form, and one needs experience to capture the emotions that overflows during ceremony. Just imagine the bride’s emotions when a groom extends his emotions towards her and that “I DO” moment and those emotions on her parents face, to capture those, one need s experience and true professionalism.

3. Wedding expression, is one of the main reason you need a professional photographer for your wedding. For example, if you see a cheap skill photograph, what do you think that wedding was like?  How can you juggle your memories with those low sub-standard photos? How will you remember what the flowers looked like, what will your lasting memories of the guests be on your wedding day, the amazing dress you wore for that one day.

4. Hiring a family member or friend for the photography business seems to be a good idea at first, but believe me it doesn’t work the way we imagine. There is a huge difference in professional and a hobby, and we can see the difference clearly. There always is the commitment issue, will they quit all the drinking and laughing fun, the guests have in wedding for photography? And chances are that your friend or family members won’t be present in important moments and the shots will be lost as your friend gets bored and wanders off to enjoy themselves.

5. Assurance is one the prominent quality that a professional provides that no other can provide. Professionals are always prepared for the worst, they have backup camera, batteries, memory cards and all they need to assure that nothing goes wrong. Knowing that you professionals have their back, bride and grooms can relax and enjoy their day and you can look forward to the awesome photographs.

6. Happiness is what quality photographs bring. Complimenting a bride is always a good thing on her wedding day and nothing compliments how a bride looks more than a good photograph. And as everyone says-“Happy wife, happy life”, the motto can achieved. Better hire a professional rather than regretting it later and facing a sad and angry wife.

If you are cost conscious and looking to save as much money as you can for your big date, one can always spend less on other wedding services. Don’t sacrifice your wedding photographs, because at the end of the day those flowers and food will all be gone except for the photographs. If you ever want to look back on your favorite day, you’ll always have it by your side. They’ll be the lasting proof of one of the most important event that took place in your life, so getting it right on first time should be a priority.