Always looking for an opportunity to try something different with photography, I decided to attempt taking photos at the Moomba festival street parade in Melbourne.
I soon discovered there are numerous challenges with parade photography. Capturing great images shouldn’t be left to luck. There are many considerations to be made to ensure your effort in taking great photos is rewarded.
POSITION
The first key challenge is position, position. For this challenge I had a bit of a fail. I left my arrival until a little late and therefore had to work past hands, heads and other cameras getting in my photos. Lesson for next time, get there early and pick your location.
When it comes to choosing a great location there are a few things that you should consider; the time of day, position of the sun, obstacles and distractions can all have implications on the quality of your images.
The time of day will give you an idea of the type of light you will be working with. Many parades occur in the middle of the day which means you could be working in harsh light. Look at the parade route, maybe there are some shaded areas to work with for more consistent and better light.
If exposed to the sun it is worth noting its position. Where possible, look for where the sun is to the side. If the sun is in front of you it can make exposure very difficult and if the sun is behind you then you will find your subjects will squint as they look into the sun.
SHUTTER SPEED
Unless you are going for motion blur as an artistic choice, you will be hoping for photos that are sharp and freeze motion. To capture the scene a shutter speed of at least 1/250 sec should do the trick. For any subjects that move faster then go for a quicker shutter speed.
APERTURE
More often than not, you want to select a single subject and have it stand out in the crowd. Parades offer a lot of distraction, from the crowd through to officials and other performers. By using a shallow depth of field, the focus can be sharp on the subject whilst allowing the distracting factors to become soft and less relevant to the photo. ƒ2.8 to ƒ4.5 will suit most occasions. If you wish to have more of the scene in focus then increase the ƒ stop accordingly.
ISO
With your preferred shutter speed and aperture selected the next setting to get right is the ISO. For this setting I recommend auto ISO. In a parade your subject move quickly, depending on the direction of your shot the light levels can change, even a passing cloud can change your exposure in a heartbeat. With all that is going on, your attention is best focused on composition rather than exposure.
COMPOSITION
What makes one parade photo compelling and another dull. For my mind you need to have a clear subject. Pointing a camera at the street and taking a snapshot is not often going to provide you with a great image. Ask yourself, what am I really looking at? What is it in front of me that I really like the look of? What is it, that is interesting in front of me? Zoom in on your subject and take that photo.
Wide shots, capturing multiple subjects, on occasion can also look good. They provide a sense of scale of the parade and can document the event rather well. If it is possible, look for an opportunity to take such a photo from an elevated position. Shooting from a high point, you can get more subjects in your shot which will collectively look good as a single subject. Alas, with this parade I did not have the opportunity to shoot from an elevated position.
Eye contact will get you the golden images! The good news is that street performers, are just that, performers and they love attention. Raise your camera in their direction and if they see you there is a good chance you will get a smile.
Another great composition tip is to change your perspective, not only does standard height and elevated positions lead to good photos, getting down to the street can be used to emphasise large objects and add some wow to your parade shot.
Finally, the last tip for parade photography is to capture action. There is a lot of action that happens during a street parade. The action is the story and there are many great images to be had. Taking action up another notch is to capture interaction. An image is much stronger if you can capture this type of action.
The best advice at the end of the day is just to get out there and do it. Sure, you may make mistakes, but that is how we learn. You will know for next time, what worked and what didn’t. Before you know it, you might be selling your photos for editorial purposes to the highest bidder.