A Madi Gras/Masquerade themed party highlighted our daughters 8th grade graduation party recently and being a good parent and wanting to document the event I forced myself to break out the white seamless and a couple of flashes. Yup, I forced myself….NOT….what better way to get some simple portrait time in, make people happy and add a few shots to the portfolio. A built in and willing crowd combined with some colorful attire created a wonderful environment for me to have some fun and the girl of honor as well!
This was one of the first times I have ever used umbrellas to light with. I think maybe once or twice before to try it out but I have always relied on a beauty dish, softboxes, Flashbenders and/or grids. I did not have to worry about spill at all and the results turned out very clean…aside from footprints on the paper. The main as a shoot through and one bounced for fill.
I did not take any candids at all, the camera stayed with the tripod which was really nice. I did have a compact with me in case I went traveling but it never was used. Since I was a host I wanted everyone to have lots of fun. I must comment on how the proceedings got started for it is quite humorous. I was lying low, making sure no one felt pressured to have their picture taken, helping serve and replenish for the first one hour and forty-five minutes. We are talking almost half of the party. My Godson, who is 6 started showing me his camera, this progressed into sitting on the floor with him and helping him take pictures of the crowd dancing, which led to me showing him my camera that was set up across the room on a tripod, tethered to a laptop. He proceeded to stand by my side for the next two hours snapping away and he even had a little tripod with him! And without any prompting, as soon as I started showing him my gear the line formed!
Real Dance Moms. They smile, they are friendly and they like to have loads of fun!
A whole bunch of cuteness
A little craziness
Lots of Beauty
Couples
And I would be remiss being in a room with a bunch of dancers if I did not get my sparkplug to give me a little dance shizzle
Going tethered worked out great. Allowing everyone to see the photos as they were taken was a big hit, especially for the kids. Definitely something I will be trying to do more of with on location shoots that are stationary. And the umbrellas? Yes, I will be utilizing this simple and very effective light modifier more in the future, though I still love my beauty dish.
Congratulations to all the graduates. And thank you everyone for a great time!
Thanks for stopping by! Till next time…
Twilight and Dusk 