1. Shoot RAW

Bring two empty photo chips. The first one shoot in RAW until it's full. If you do fill the first one—and it's really possible that you just might—then shoot the second one in jpg.

With that said, RAW is amazing in low light situations and is really just amazing in general.

2. Low ISO

Too much ISO means 'Grain' and 'Noise' in your photos. You don't want low quality photos, so keep you ISO low.

Pro Tip: In your settings, cap the ISO so that it never goes over 800 ISO.

3. Get a child's perspective.

Don't take all your photos looking down at kids. Sit on the ground and take photos at their level.

4. Mix up shooting angles.

Not only does mixing up shooting angles make great photos...but it also gives you something to do. When a customer is paying you to take photos of their kid's birthday party, they want you to look busy the whole time. This where mixing up your shooting angles really comes in handy.

5. Look for the party details.

Cake, presents, decorations, food, you name it.

6. If you have one, use a diffuser.

Bringing a whole set of soft boxes is really unnecessary and only good for a photo-booth situation. Without any extra light source, you're risking some low quality photos ... because you really do want to avoid making your ISO higher. Unless you want your customers to complain about the photos being "grainy" and "dotty."

So ... the solution is to have a diffuser on your camera flash. With that said, you would need to have a flash and a little diffuser.

If you have a flash but not a diffuser, you can actually make a DIY diffuser with a white balloon, or even some white cardboard.

7. Candid! Candid! Candid!

I have taken some really cute photos of kids saying cheese; however, kids are actually the master of being cute on their own. So walk around and try to catch the cute moments.

8. Know the party plan.

Whoever hires you may completely forget to give you the details, so be sure ask what the party plan is.

9. Do some planned shots!

When the time is right, let all the kids up for a group photo. Make sure not to forget anyone! Also, good luck keeping them still.

10. Shoot in burst mode.

Especially when doing Candid shots, shoot in burst mode...also known as continuous mode. However, if you're going shoot in burst mode and in RAW format (which you should), then you are going to need a really big memory card. I'm talking like a 120GB or even 400GB (They also need to have a high speed to keep up with your camera).

Also, probably cheaper and less devastating if one breaks. You can get a bunch of smaller one too. About 12 GB each.

If you don't have one yet, consider shooting some photos in .jpg instead of RAW for now and safe up for a bigger card.

Now go take some photos!

Thank you!

Thank you for reading my article. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please feel free to read my other articles here on Vocal. I write about both personal and political things, so whatever you are looking for, I’ve probably written about it.

About the Author

Yes, I realize I have the same name as an amateur sleuth. No, I haven’t read the books … although I have played most of the Nancy Drew games. I am simply someone who is addicted to writing. In the day I work as a photographer and waitress … but at night, I write blogs for everyone to enjoy. Does that make me a superhero? Probably not —but I can dream, right?

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