New Year is the culmination of all the festivities of the previous year and mark the beginning of another year. New Year is welcomed with firecrackers, heavy shopping, parties, family outings and myriads of social gatherings. It is at this time that people converge in various worship places like churches to thank God for His riddance all year long. With all this happening around, it’s a high time when photographers get a break and go on a snapping spree, trying to capture all the joy around them into frozen frames.

Capturing the essence of New Year can be challenging since you are dealing with many genre of photography probably within one hour. Your skills are put to test since you are dealing in low light situation or at times too much light situations. You will also be dealing with movements in low light and special night photography like firecrackers. Here is how you can deal with some of these situations.

Taming the streets

The streets are packed with families, vendors and all sorts of revellers who are eager to usher in the New Year. One thing that you will be dealing with is low light and a lot of movements. This is a good opportunity for you to capture movements and at same time capture great moments on the streets. Motion-blur will show that there was something going on there and the best way to capture it is by using low shutter speeds, something like 1/10th of a second or less. If you are using aperture priority or auto modes, try using ISO of between 200 and 400. But that’s not all; try capturing activities or groups that will create interest to the viewer.

The fireworks

Fireworks will surely light the skies on New Year and photographers will be there to capture them. But unlike during Diwali where firecrackers go on for a long time, New Year firecrackers last for just a few minutes and so you should be well prepared. Find a strategic point from where you can have a good view and set your tripod. Your camera should be on fireworks mode if it’s a point and shoot or set on long exposure, say 2 to 10 seconds, if you are using manual settings on DSLRs.

Parties

Low light will be the main drawback while photographing New Year parties. To overcome that, you need to keep your flash on almost at all time. It’s hard to manipulate your camera in any other way and capture both the action and the faces of revellers. However, there are times when you can shoot without a flash in which case you should use low shutter speed and high ISO. The results may be grainy photos but somehow you may be able to capture true colours and lights as they are. Lastly, make sure you look for interesting moments and people. Let your viewers know you were in a party!

The Santa Brigade and people

New Year celebrations begin with Christmas and culminate in New Year. Christmas decoration and Santas will be a common place long after Christmas and New Year are gone. During the festive season, capturing that should not be a problem but Santas are found where people have gathered and so you should use your flash and forget using your tripod. Unless you are shooting in day light, a flash is almost a must and shutter speed should be as low and 1/10th of a second or less. However, don’t shoot with a very powerful flash as this will eliminate the background details which can add a lot of value to your photo.

	Quick read: Capturing the essence of New Year can be challenging since you are dealing with many genre of photography probably within one hour. Motion-blur will show that there was something going on in the streets at night and the best way to capture it is by using low shutter speeds, something like 1/10th of a second or less. To capture fireworks, your camera should be set to fireworks mode if it’s a point and shoot or set on long exposure, say 2 to 10 seconds, if you are using manual settings on DSLRs. Low light will be the main drawback while photographing New Year parties. To overcome that, you need to keep your flash on almost at all time. While photographing social gathering in the night, don’t shoot with a very powerful flash as this will eliminate the background details which can add a lot of value to your photo.

Photos by Nathan Gitonga