Ten Celebrity Photography Tips

Celebrity photography at events can be tricky. You have to think way ahead of time in order to get good photographs.

I pondered how I would photograph James Franco at the Palm Springs International Film Festival screening of Sal, a movie he directed. This post is specifically for event photography. I was surprised that I had no problem bringing my camera and flash unit to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Here are some tips:

1. Buy tickets for event well ahead of time. I bought my tickets for the screening two weeks before the event.
2. The night before put new batteries in your external flash unit and charge your camera’s battery.
3. Test your camera and flash unit at different settings at home.
4. Set your camera to Manual Mode.
5. Set out everything you are going to take with you before you leave for the event.
6. Sit in the first row of seats at the event.
7. Don’t feel intimidated when other photographers have far better equipment than you do.
8. Test flash unit and adjust as necessary. I found that 1/16 power in Manual Mode worked for me in a movie theater.
9. Shoot both horizontally and vertically and at different focal lengths.
10. Stay after the event to get some close-up shots.

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