Tag Archives: Events

Events – what do you photograph?

Run for the water

• Run for the water •
Participants in a charity New Year swim race to the sea
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Run for the water By Netkonnexion on Flickr External link - opens new tab/page

Every event has a theme.

Nevertheless there are lots of reasons for photographing an event. Don’t just snap away. A reason for taking photographs gives you a perspective for your shots. You can tell a story with a main idea.

Have a focus for your shots

If you have a specific reason to capture something it gives you a reason to look at it in a particular way. If your idea is to capture the fun, you are looking for smiles and enjoyment. If you are looking for love, say at a wedding, then your eye will pick out the looks, the coyness and the adoring glances. The way you look at an event is the way the capture the action.

If you have a lot of photos to take, with one reason to take them you have a storyline. The only way to create a clear story is to crystallise it around a single idea. If your pictures have a mixed or unclear idea overall then the story will be mixed and unclear too.


The moral is, despite the theme of the event, you are the person creating the story. It is the way you tell the story that is important. So make sure you know what you are trying to say about the event. Then pursue the pictures that depict the story you want to tell.

The picture story here…

The pictures on this page were taken today at a fun-based charity event. Everyone gets dressed up in fancy dress and goes for a sponsored swim on New Years Day. While it is about raising money for charity, the event is about fun. I tried to show the fun and the smiles in the short photo-story.


By Damon Guy (author and Photokonnexion editor)

Damon Guy - Netkonnexion

Damon Guy (Netkonnexion)

Damon is a writer-photog and editor of this site. He has run some major websites, a computing department and a digital image library. He started out as a trained teacher and now runs training for digital photographers.
See also: Editors ‘Bio’.