Take Beautiful Evening Photos

New Year's Eve is approaching. And of course, you plan to celebrate it with friends or even family.

To capture this festive evening, here are some tips.

Gentle Start to the Evening

A crucial tip: don't rush to the guests as soon as they arrive. Give them time to relax, have a drink, and get into the mood. Wait for a good hour before you start shooting. Begin with a group photo, which is less intimidating. Place everyone in a well-lit area to give yourself enough room for framing.

Evening Photos: With or Without Flash?

Be careful, the flash can become your worst enemy in evening photography. The flash can completely wash out your photos. It also prevents you from capturing the unique light of the evening. Not to mention the "red-eye" effect on your subjects, though this can be easily removed in post-production.

If you use a flash, prefer an external flash. This allows you to better direct its light and choose its intensity. Whatever you do, never direct it at your subjects' faces. Instead, make it bounce off the ceiling or a nearby wall. This will give a softer effect with more evenly distributed light.

Use a Longer Exposure Time

Without flash, you need a longer exposure time. To avoid moving, lean against a wall or stabilize your camera on a solid surface. Ideally, use a tripod. There are small, practical, lightweight, and very affordable ones. So don’t hesitate to get equipped.

But you can also choose to use the blurred/motion effect to convey the festive atmosphere of the evening. In this case, combine a long exposure time with moving subjects. The effects thus obtained are almost unpredictable. So, try out lots of artistic blurs to get an original and successful evening photo.

To Capture Motion Well

For those who wish to perfectly capture the movements of the evening's dancers, here are some tips.

Start by increasing your camera's sensitivity (ISO). Then, to avoid the blur effect due to movement, choose a fast shutter speed: a setting of 1/25 to 1/20 is generally perfect.

And one last tip: have fun and enjoy the evening too!