Ava Make Up Essentials

Any tips for shooting prom portraits?

I have been asked to shoot the portraits at a local prom. I am a relatively experienced photographer (I have worked as the right hand assistant to a wedding photographer, and have been shooting for nine years), I would just like some tips from knowledgeable photographers who may have shot proms before.

Public Comments

1. shooting nine years - your to modest - i like that - most people here own a camera for a month then want to go pro?? so just the usual, 2 bodies, 2 or more batteries, plenty of card/s, shoot eye level, create some facial ratio to give depth (use off camera flash/strobe/s), maybe have a powder brush handy for those will shinny faces be organised, be confident congrats a
2. Well, I imagine shooting proms would not be that dissimilar from shooting weddings, as far as I can figure. If you know how to shoot a wedding, you should already know how to shoot a prom, it's almost the same situation. There are two conditions you will likely experience, capturing candids during the prom itself, perhaps shots at the entrance of couples coming and going, OR set up individual, couple, or group portrait sessions. You'll be indoors, shooting available light which means you'll likely need a fast telezoom, a superwide zoom, and maybe a normal prime. Jack your ISO up as far as you can without going too ridiculous with the chroma noise and shoot wide open for low light performance without flash. For the formal set-up shots, you'll likely need a good lighting rig of either low temp continuous like the daylight balanced fluorescents, or strobe heads with modifiers, stands, backdrops, etc... If this is a formal sort of gig, count on covering all of those bases as a part of your general planning. If this is simply an impromptu sort of personal thing for friends and whatnot, or not really formal at all, just shoot what makes sense. You've already seen what event shooting is like, if you've worked as an assistant to a wedding photographer, and for many a prom is "the" event. So treat it as such. That's all I've got. I hope it helps... Peace Hey look, thumbs' down ratings....haven't seen one of those in a whole 2 minutes....I suppose someone will have a better answer. I can't wait....
3. Over 30 years of prom shooting here. Do couples full length using one umbrella light, basic wedding pose, girls flowers towards the camera, boy alone and girl alone if desired. Table shots, but they don't have to be at the table...dummy table or chairs OK, just get table number in the corner of the image for your ID later. Do candids and king and queen using on camera strobe. Do not show faculty eating or drinking. Offer free formals to the faculty.