I am going to shoot an evening parade with Christmas trees and Santa and the like. Do you have any helpful tips?
I have a 50 1.2 and an 85 1.2 , 70-200mm 2.8 and a wide angle which I am going to bring. I have other lenses.
Tripod and flash
Have you tested your lenses to see how they handle lens flare/ghosting from lights when it’s dark? I’ve never had a problem with mine, but I’ve always checked a new lens to make sure.
In low light I use manual mode with auto-ISO, I put the lens wide open, and I vary shutter speed to keep the ISO reasonable while keeping shutter fast enough to avoid blur. I might stop the lens down a little for more depth of field, if lighting allows. The parade might be lit up enough where you can get away with auto exposure. I would scout out the location and see what the lighting is like at night.
Changing lenses out in the open at night with people walking around is one of my least favorite things to do as a photographer. I’ve seen parade photographers in my area with two bodies, they seem to favor 70-200 and 24-70mm. I also shoot with two bodies but I don’t have those lenses yet.
When I’ve shot parades I find a spot with a couple of good vantage points near each other, like a corner where the parade rout makes a turn (so I can take pictures from “in front of the parade” without actually being in the way) that might be near a picturesque or recognizable back drop like a fountain, park, fire station, town hall, library etc. I scouted out what I thought would be a good spot, and the professionals came to the same spot.
It seems like the photographers and town employees are friendly with each other and they build some good will by taking pictures of all the fire fighters and EMT responders if fire trucks and ambulance are part of the parade.
I have the 24-70mm as well, but only the one camera. I’m not a fan of changing lenses either, but I will if I have to.
I have used the 1.2 lenses for indoor dinner events when the lights are down for a presentation and they worked really well.
I will go to the location the night before.
I’d go with two bodies, one wide and one telephoto (not too long if you are going to be close) mounted so you don’t have to swap lenses.
Maybe a speedlight if you want more people shots. I sometimes do a timelapse or long exposure from a tripod for these kind of things too.
I want to do people shots, but unclear if flash will make a good photo. When I have used flash for crowd shots you see the light fall of in an unpleasant way. I guess flash is best just for a few people and crop out the rest?
I currently only have one body.
Since it’s in the evening you will need a flash for any posed shots of people. Most only work with normal lens unless it’s specifically designed for wide angle or telephoto. You need a light source of any pictures that aren’t of the lights themselves. Street lights might work for some subjects but it’s not good for lighting for people.
It’s not hard just shoot like any other event you shoot.
Yeah, just with a lot less light. :)
???
It’s an evening parade.
In my community, we have a similar event each year; for our area, it is a huge event. Our little town has only one stop light, and our event will draw several thousand people for a parade of less than ten blocks. It is at night with few street lights.
I try to set up on the intersection or another location where I will have as much ambient as possible and minimal subject movement and average out my exposure settings. It does not work all that well. The float Christmas lights and the headlights from other floats blow everything out, and you can’t see much. Lower the ISO, and you can’t see the people, but the float lights look good. Flash is handy when it is effective, but often, it creates a mess of its own. Bracketing could work if everything was moving. Not every shot is bad bad, but most are with only a few mediocre ones. Rarely a really good one. I know what I am doing and I have good gear; it is just brutal lighting, any way you look at it.
As others have stated, go to the location prior at the same time of the evening and practice. It is street photography in the extreme.
Stay alert. Don’t get hit by a float.
Scout the location for good viewpoints and angles (same time as the parade).
Probably a good idea to carry two cameras with different lenses.
Unfortunately, I only have the single camera so I have to change lenses. I’m waiting for the next gen Z9 to come out before I get another camera.
Going to the location the night before is a good idea.
You could rent one.
You need lights, man.
shoot jpg + raw
if your camera has two card slots, use them both
do u have a speedlight???
I shoot RAW only. I am using a Z9 and I will definitely bring my flash with diffuser.
Who is your client and/or what are their expectations? The benefit of knowing what you can ignore is immeasurable. And then, remember to ignore it.
Become familiar with the route and if possible the itinerary. Go there in person ahead of time at the same time of day as the event. It will be hard to line up shots and have them actually occur as planned, it’s a moving subject and things just happen (the subject may arrive as scheduled but YOU may not be there at the required moment for whatever reason), don’t rely on planning lines of sight (and don’t promise them) unless you know exactly where a needed shot will be, or if there is a must-get background, just be ready for anything.
I could shoot the whole thing with just those two primes, barring any required reach or FOV advantage. At 1.2 it just opens up the possibilities, at the expense of depth of field of course, so I would prioritize more shots at a greater subject distance to avoid overwhelming bokeh in every shot for a client that wants to convey the presentation and atmosphere of the event.
Medium teles force you to make space between you and your subject, so manage your working distance–only consider subjects/scenes >X feet away and position yourself accordingly, look for opportunities to layer interesting foregrounds and backgrounds to open up your compositions and create depth and space, compose with bright lit-up backgrounds, and just think on a larger scale in terms of subject distance than a wide-angle would afford, you will see the great shots if that’s what you focus on. Of course get the great closer-up bokeh shots too, just don’t get hypnotized by aesthetics when the job you need to get done requires more. If you do have a wider lens it’s probably larger and not as fast. I would opt for the faster speed and smaller lenses over the greater field of view.
There will be plenty of holiday vibe family and performer portrait opportunities everywhere you look. If these are on your shot list, prioritize a flattering direction of light on the subjects’ faces for all portraits. Running around, cuteness abounds and you want to get it all, but if it’s a streetlamp directly over their heads it’s not going to be a keeper. Get it if that’s what you have in front of you, but plan and think ahead of time as you move around where the great light is, everything shot in it tends to also look great, especially portraits.
Get a shot list, underpromise and overdeliver
Wear comfortable shoes that will perform as needed
Keep your hands and batteries warm
Watch out for condensation when moving your equipment from warm to cold air
Take advantage of moments to pause and take in the event without a camera in your face
This sounds fun, good luck.
Thanks for the reply,
I asked the client what their expectations are. They just want shots the can put in the local paper. I could not get more specifics other than “journalistic shots”
I am familiar with the location, just not at night. I am going there tonight to take test shots.
I have the wider lenses for the Christmas tree and people around it and establish shots. There will be some time before sunset that I can use the longer lenses.
Your tips on composition are great! If I use brightly lit backgrounds, I can use the flash to fill in the faces.
I will definitely prioritize the light! A well lit picture is worth a thousand poorly lit ones. I will look for that tonight when I am there for a scene eval.
Fortunately, it should not get colder than 45 degrees
Thank you so much! There is enough here I need to read it multiple times to get it all.
Journalistic shots = a clear and obvious subject/center of interest, bold compositions, peak action (the most demonstrative moment of a movement or gesture), a story (juxtaposition of subject and scene, what’s happening and the people experiencing what’s happening; people interacting, emotions, reactions).
Newspapers don’t like printing too much black or high contrast, try to keep your shots bright and balanced in terms of exposure across the frame, or snap a brighter alternative to a must-have but dark shot.
As it’s for a newspaper that deprioritizes single candids/portraits, they want more of a story–unless it literally is the story, like the mayor or a participant, or if they are themselves a story, like a local celebrity.
Look at similar events from past editions if you can, to see what kinds of pictures they ran.
Really try to avoid providing the client with any previews on the spot if asked, they may just want to know if you got a particular shot, if you did, describe it and reassure them that you got it. Maybe that’s just me.
Formally end the coverage with your handler/contact if they are on site, find them or call them (not text) and say thanks, do you need anything else, so they know you’re done or in case they have any last minute requests. If they are not on site I usually shoot an (time-stamped) email or text to say I’m done. I do not ask if they need anything else if text is the only way to communicate.
Thank you so much! That helps a lot.
I don’t have many options for the part of the parade that happens after sunset. I just went to the site at the time I am supposed to shoot and it was very dark. Hardly any light. No street lights, just some Christmas lights wrapped around some trees.
I am going to go much earlier to capture as much as I can when there is available light.
I saw similar events from the paper and they were all earlier in the day.
I won’t provide previews. I just have a deadline, which I can easily meet.
They are on site, so it is a great idea to tell them I have finished and if they want anything more.
They did say they want close ups of people, but they did not say anyone specific. Just people I find interesting. That is one of my strengths.
Whenever you can, get different angles, different framing tight to wide, landscape and portrait, of the same scene/subject, work it thoroughly to give your client options. Frame a little loose for flexibility in cropping.
If some of the event is during daytime definitely get all you can then, it sounds like it might be a challenge to get good stuff after dark, but the parade itself might provide something you can work with.
If you have to use flash, try off camera with a cord or wireless, held as far away from the camera as you can reach either above or at 45 degrees or to the side and pointed back at the subject, whatever makes sense, always higher than their nose (nose shadow should always go at least slightly downward, never up).
I just shot a night time day of the dead parade. I hadn’t shot at night for awhile. No flash, just ambient light ( street and building lights) Was shooting at 1600 but quickly went to 6400+ ISO. Many shots were blurry but some real keepers though.
I would shoot with your fastest lenses to temper the ISO setting. And, as others stated walk the route around the planned time and shoot the traffic to work out your settings.
I was planning on using Auto ISO.
I did that last Friday. It was a night parade, no sky light, with inadequate street lighting, on a narrow two lane old-time urban street. 50 mm was definitely too long (on full frame) for many of the shots but I managed to place myself at a turn in the road so it wasn’t awful. I exposed for the highlights, which consisted of a multitude of Christmas lights on each float, and a lot of the shadows were indeed rather dark. The lens was a f/1.8, and most of my shots were f/2.2 at rather elevated ISO. My keeper rate was well below what I’m accustomed to. Definitely I’d use a wider lens were I to do this again, like maybe my 28 mm f/2.8, and I’d shoot it wide open.
I’d probably go 85 1.2, 70-200, and a ultrawide. If you’re far off from the parade then maybe a little longer but I feel like that’ll cover you.
Thanks. The 14-24 2.8 should be good for establishing shots.
Yeah that’ll do.
Keep it simple as you’re in a low light situation.
Go manual with auto ISO, setting what your high limit will be for ISO.
This is a parade so there is going to be constant movement. It’s at walking speed so try 1/125 shutter speed. Or try walking backwards with the subject and using a slower shutter speed.
Aperture between f2 to 5.6 depending on depth of field needed as well as available light. It’s night time so accept some noise in your images and fix latter. Idea is to get the shot. Better one with some noise vs missing the shot.
Narrow your lens choices down two lens for low light usage and use your feet to make them work. Carry both on you, maybe one in a jacket pocket so you can switch easily. Too many lens, too many choices to make and too many missed shots.
You didn’t say what the wide angle was but I’d test it at the parade time and the location to see how it looks. 24mm or 35mm will work for close up shots, just use your feet to frame how you want.
Other lens might be the 85mm for portrait type shots. Forget the 50mm. 24/35mm & 85mm should have you covered for the distances involved.
Try to have fun!
Interesting. Some people are saying use the 1.2s wide open.
I added that the wide lens is a 14-24mm 2.8 Sigma with an FTZ converter.
You think it will be too dark for the 70-200mm 2.8?
1/125 sounds reasonable. I can hand hold that easily enough and is slow enough to gather light. I will try that tonight when I test the event site. Thanks.
Too dark for the 70-200 f2.8? No, just too heavy and bulky. The event is not going to wait for you so you need to change lenses quickly so I was thinking light and can fit in a jacket pocket. Unless you have some way to be comfortable working with it. Or were you going on a second camera?
My other thought with this lens are lots of people and you may be close to them most of the time so you likely won’t get the benefit of most of the focal range of this lens. So all the weight for little use. Confirm it when scooping out of site imagining folks all over the place.
Sigma should be good between 20-24mm, probably 24 will get the most use as you don’t want folks looking too small.
I have used the 70-200mm 2.8 for several events for hours at a time and I am comfortable using it.
I will use the 14-24mm for establishing shots. I have used it for wide group shots, but I am not doing that for this venture.
I am happy with the pictures I have taken wide open with the 1.2s. I don’t think that will be a problem
Sounds like you have it covered. Good luck and have fun!
Also, if you’re walking in a parade, keep your head on a swivel. This will enable you to not only spot good photo opportunities, but help keep you safe and out of the way of people in the parade. Those float drivers don’t always have the best visibility, and you can’t get good shots if you’re dead or in the hospital.