New Years Eve 2022

I think it’s safe to say, I’ve learned a lot of lessons after serving as the photographer for my last two family holiday parties (Christmas and now New Years Eve).

1. Event photographers work for their money. I remember thinking how “unreasonably” expensive it was to hire a photographer. Now I take it back. Not only do photographers spend all those hours at an event, they have to go home and clean up the photos. Even if somehow, you capture the most perfect photos that need absolutely no editing (completely unrealistic but just go with it), you’ll still have to sort through all the photos and delete all the unnecessary images. Now if you do have to edit photos, well that’s just another can of worms.
2. Double check your camera settings. I assumed that my photos were coming out dark because it was night time and there wasn’t enough light. After reviewing all my photos, it turns out that I had accidentally manually made the photos darker by turning the exposure compensation dial into the negative.
3. Hide the wireless remote commander when taking photos. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see my rookie mistake.
4. Be aware of how you hold the camera. Aka avoid accidentally turning dials or pressing the button that switches on eye detection.
5. Family need an easy way to not only see the photos but save them. Although my website is a great way to see the photos, turns out it’s not the best way for them to save any photos they like.
6. Practice makes perfect. Mistakes are part of the process.
7. Just have fun!

Despite all the work involved and all the mistakes I made, I really did have a lot of fun being the photographer for the family parties and I’m excited to see how I improve in the years to come.

Is it really a Portuguese New Years without a roasted pork? I had a lot of fun photographing this little piggy from start to finish (though eating it might have been just a little better).

Your standard portraits. While some people are naturals in front of a camera, others are shy or self-conscious. For those who are camera shy, it helps to be able to direct them on some poses and make them feel at ease. This is something I need to work on.

I’ve found that my favorite photos to take are those when no one is looking! In my opinion this is the best way to catch those raw emotions.

Dogs… enough said.

Look at that bokeh!

Can you spot the rookie mistake? Swipe for the answer.

Who takes photos of the photographer? II took things into my own hands and these were the results (clearly the NYE alcohol may have kicked in by this point).

Most important lesson I learned… have fun!
Happy New Years!