Girls in cocktail dresses, guys in sharp suits, parties that are carefully built around a theme...I live all year for it. Each December a several of my friends host a cocktail party entitled A Classy Affair, and this year I brought along the camera to document the occasion.
This was a really fun event to shoot. It was the first time I'd ever shot a party, which can be a very good or very bad experience. People can be really awkward and uncomfortable when a camera is presented in front of them in such a small space. Or on the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those who will stay in front of your lens all night.
Additionally, I was able to borrow a flashgun, which I had rarely used before this night. With such low lighting (and odd colours too, since several lamps had red bulbs temporarily put in). The flash was vital getting definition and proper colouring.
I got plenty of cool pictures that evening, but these are some of my faves:
I've seen this type of picture done before, and usually it doesn't work at all. But I think this one turned out well in spite of itself. Quite unexpectedly, I happened to turn on these ladies just as they were snapping one of their own pictures. The fact I managed to focus perfectly on the outstretched arm is nothing short of a miracle, especially in low light.
Every good party has a live DJ. I like this because the lamp was focused on the left side of the picture which creates really interesting shadows on Adrian's face. Plus the shutterspeed was slow enough that the records are slightly blurred.
This happened towards the end of the night (shocking, I know). I love the colour in this picture, because you can see the effects of several different lighting sources. I was bouncing the flash off of the wall to the left, while a red bulb cast a glow from the right. This picture almost has a bit of a 3D effect, which creates some really interesting depth and texture. The only, ONLY thing that bugs me is the white electrical plate sticking out behind Dave's head. I've spent time in Photoshop trying to get rid of it, but all my efforts thus far haven't worked out very well*. Sigh.Still learning.
*I ended up finding a suitable method for removing the white plate, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
16.12.08. Cropped to 3X5, slight colour correction, slightly increased exposure.
16.12.08. Slight colour correction, slightly increased exposure.
16.12.08. Cropped to 3X5, slight colour correction, slightly increased exposure, increased black clipping.
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