Top 5 Photo Taking Tips: Documenting a Las Vegas Event

“If you didn’t take the picture, you weren’t there.”

– Garry Winogrand

Aside from the obligatory selfie and SNACCgrams that are taken every second, every minute, every hour of everyday – there is the photograph. The photograph or picture portrait documents and memorializes an event by creating a visual memento that in turn brings back snippets of small talk, conversational eurekas, and festive shenanigans for those who were there. Those who weren’t there can fill in the blanks with their imagination (sans the bad fashion!).

Here’s a little anecdote that helps to drive the point home that it’s not the camera, but rather the talent that resides behind the camera that frames and captures a moment in time that will either live or die with the swipe of a finger.

“A photographer went to a socialite party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said, ‘I love your pictures-they’re wonderful. You must have a fantastic camera.’ He said nothing until dinner was finished, then: ‘That was a wonderful dinner. You must have a terrific stove.’” -Sam Haskins

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

The given of today’s social media-driven world assures that, whether you are the one staging or attending an event, it will be covered. But in what light? I am not talking ambient lighting here, but rather portrayal. How will your event be showcased through the lens of a third party over which you will have no control? Unless Annie Leibovitz is covering your soirée (which you know and I know isn’t going to happen), don’t let your Las Vegas event be compromised with Snapchat filters or diminished by the eye of an amateur, whether the photographer is you and your iPhone or not.

As a Las Vegas DMC, we, too, have had our own internal discussions on what we post on our social media platforms in regards to photographs and imagery. Trust me on this, we too have our apprehensions as do our clients about what can and cannot be shared. Although I’m far from a Kardashian, I have learned a thing or two about photo taking as of late and I am still a work in progress on capturing that Instagram worthy moment. Here’s what I do know; there are a few tried and true techniques for taking pictures that are proving to be helpful to me and hopefully will be of help to you also when documenting an event.

How to Take a Great Photo

1. Pay attention to light. “This may sound obvious, but so many people overlook it (I’m guilty as charged). It sets the mood, gives shape to things and tells a big part of the picture’s story.”
2. Move in close. ”Don’t be shy about cozying up to your subject. Focusing on the details will make the image more compelling.
3. Play with angles. “Instead of shooting straight on, try taking two steps to the left or right, or snapping from a lower angle.
4. The great photo may happen when you’re not planning it. “Sometimes candid shots have the most power.
5. Take more photos than you think you need. “Less is less. More is more.”

Las Vegas as a tourist and business destination provides an amazing canvas and backdrop to document your noteworthy and cringeworthy moments! Take advantage of the landscape that lies before you while here in the “Entertainment Capital of the World” and create your own Kodak (make that Instagram) moment that will last a lifetime. And remember, what happens in Vegas ends up on YouTube!

Say cheese,

Belinda

Sources:

Winogrand quote: Halle, Howard. “Garry Winogrand.” Time Out New York. 3 September 2014.

Haskins quote: Rannals, Lee. “How iPhone5s Affects the Photography Industry: Exclusive.” redorbit.com. 20 September 2013.

How to Take A Great Photo –  NYC-based photographers: Daemian Smith and Chrisitne Suarez