TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING A CHRISTENING [NO STRESS]

There are many moments in life where you would like to escape, fleeing without looking back, moments of weakness, of doubt, of stupor. That moment in which someone dear approaches you and says something like ... "I thought you could take the photos of the baptism of my beloved and only son (or daughter) in a unique and unrepeatable moment." What a great honor! At that time you would probably run and run without looking back, as if a pack of wild and hungry wolves chased you but you don't, you stay, gaping at the first excuses that come to mind. - You: "But I have no idea" - The other person: "Man, more than me and my mother sure" - You: "But if my camera is nothing professional" - The other person: "Better than mine for sure, I don't even have" - You: "But I have never done anything like it" - The other person: "I had not had a child until now and look" - You: "Irrefutable, okay, I'll do what I can" - The other person: "Thank you very much" - You: “But what I can, huh? Do not expect wonders ” - The other person: "Yes, yes, thank you very much, on Saturday at 12 we will see you there" And there you have it. In less than a minute sealed pact. Soon you recover from your stupor and go running home as a possessed to track images of baptisms and everything you find in forums, blogs, and in the 20 tabs open in your browser. But do not worry, look no further, we show you some tips for you to get out of your first baptism, so take a deep breath, recover from the shock, and let's do it, that for everything there is a first time

Do not panic

WHAT MATERIAL WILL I NEED?

First of all check and prepare well the material you will need before leaving home. Make yourself a list of the essential things and don't forget anything.

Batteries charged and ready (more than one).
Charger: You can always leave a battery charging while using the other.
Several memory cards.
External flash if you have one, it can save you in many low light situations.
A diffuser for the flash.
Objectives: All are useful for different situations. If you have more than one, here are its main applications based on different situations that you can find in a baptism:
- - Telephoto: It will be useful to approach situations that you cannot access, but instead they are not very bright, so if you go without a flash, it can give you problems in the church.
  - 50mm : In general they are very bright, if you can get close enough, it can be very useful for indoor portrait plans such as the church. Also with them you can play with depth of field to blur funds and focus more attention on your protagonists.
  - Wide angle: It will be useful for the general plans of the church inside, outside, and so on. It will also allow you to take less orthodox portraits (remember that the wide angle deforms the features in the foreground)
  - Macro: You can use it to photograph small details of the christening (the buckle of a shoe, the icing on a cake, the petal of a bouquet ... whatever you can think of)
Good shoes (very comfortable) you will spend a few hours standing and running from one side to the other, nothing to suffer!

Check the material well before leaving home

BEFORE THE CHRISTENING SESSION

What usually scares or intimidates us of these types of events is usually the number of people who attend them, not knowing where to get to take the images, the fear of losing you decisive moments, to bother, and so on. Certainly there are many aspects that you cannot control, but you do have some that you can and must control to the fullest. Controlling the "controllable" will give you much more peace of mind and security, and that will be transmitted directly in your images.

Study the place (calmly and unhurriedly) a few days before.
Approach at the same time the event will be held on the day of the baptism.
Study the light : This way you will know how much light you will have inside the church and it will help you think about the images and the maximum and minimum light that you will have.
Find the best place to get inside the church. Choose a place near the baptismal font, where you do not "bother" too much and allow to see the guests. That will be your "comfort zone", from there you can move to take other perspectives. But if you have a predefined and well-placed place where you will be, you will be calmer and more aware of what happens before your eyes.
Study the environment and look for pictorial places to make your images at the exit of the church (stone walls, on the stairs with the church in the background, a nearby park ...)
Learn the approximate sequence of the liturgy: This way you can predict the key moments when you should be next to or very close to the baptismal font or those where you can move away to photograph other angles.

Study the place before

DURING THE CHRISTENING SESSION

THE PREPARATIONS

To achieve a more complete report of the day of the baptism, ask the family if you can approach before photographing the preparations; how they dress the baby , how they feed him before leaving, the close family that may be present ... They are more relaxed moments than in the church, and will allow you to obtain images in a more calm and close way.

Shoot in RAW: If you have this option on your camera do not hesitate to use it, it will allow you to make small tweaks in the post-processing with much better results, although you must take into account that the images weigh more, so be careful not to run out of memory card space
Photography details: She thinks that the clothes have been chosen with care, as well as all the elements that accompany her: bracelets, shoes, hats, etc. So look at the details and try to get good images of them.
Find places with good natural lighting: Baptisms are usually in the morning, so you are at least lucky that you will have enough natural light. Bring the baby to natural light sources to photograph (windows), it is softer and warmer than the flash and will give you better results.
The baby and relations with his parents and family: In this most intimate moment you can get closer, tender and / or anecdotal photographs. Do not miss anything, the looks, when they are wearing it, the smiles and in some cases, the baby's cries. Everything will be great memories of that day.

Photograph the baby's preparations and their surroundings

Take advantage of natural light

Photograph the details

IN THE CHURCH

If you have made the preparations a few days before you will know what is the best place to place yourself to get the best perspective of the baptism. If you have also learned the sequence in which the liturgy will happen, you will have the ability to anticipate events.

Take advantage of the first moments (which are usually prayers) to obtain images of general plans of the church with the guests.
Move with discretion .
Be attentive to the key moments of the baptism , missing the moment of the baptism itself is something that can NOT happen to you, so pay close attention and do not say goodbye.
Approach all you can without disturbing.
Identify the main “actors” and give them prominence: Baby, priest, parents and godparents.
Take advantage of the punctual natural light that enters through the windows as much as you can.
Be careful with the ISO : Try to keep it to the minimum possible so that your images do not lose quality, but with speeds high enough so that the images do not get moved.
Do not use direct flash to photograph the baby.
Do not miss detail : For the child's parents it is an important and exciting moment, and do not doubt that they will convey emotion in each of their gestures. Your job is not to lose detail of those moments.
Take many photos , do not cut yourself, you will have more time to think about other occasions.
Forget the automatic: You have different shooting modes for each of the situations that may arise. Practice with them before the day of the baptism to get better results.
Don't panic: Surely you will do much better than you think. Once you start to press the shutter the photographer inside you will do the rest

Stay tuned for key moments

Position yourself strategically for the decisive moment

Portrays all the protagonists

After christening A baptism is a day that brings together very different people as far as ages are concerned. You will probably have boys and girls and also older people in the family. Take this moment to portray people in a group, the baby may have at that time even with his great grandparents, providing you with images of great contrast and value for the memory, so do not forget to photograph all the relatives of the baby and the baby.

Find yourself an ally: Surely you will not be the only or the only one who will be interested in making these images wonderful, so ask for collaboration. Find someone willing to help you find people to pose, in charge of gathering them, or telling you who is who. It will be much easier for you and you can focus on what you really know how to do
Find a suitable background for group portraits : In the church you could not choose the light or the background, but now you can find a place with good light conditions and a pleasant background, which does not distract the attention of the people portrayed, in which no light poles or anything unusual comes out of their heads
Find a place with good natural lighting : Avoid hard lights that create shadows under the eyes or make unwanted backlights or grimaces of disgust in people in the group. If you have too much sun, look for a shadow.
Close the diaphragm : In group photographs it is important that everyone comes out well focused, so close the diaphragm that allows you the light you have.
It portrays several generations together, it is a unique and unrepeatable moment.
Take several shots: There is always someone who blinks or yawns at the most inappropriate time.

Try to find an appropriate fund and try to take advantage of the outside for group photos

TREAT

Cheer up. If you have reached this point, the "worst" has happened so relax, enjoy and give free rein to your imagination and creativity. These images are no longer "obligatory", these are pure pleasure, so if until now you were not having too much fun (sure yes) it is time to start doing it.

Look for spontaneous situations and forget about the inns: For example, children are an inexhaustible source of great images of this type and we all love them.
Try different frames, plans and perspectives .
Practice your composition and put what you learned into practice.
Photograph the details of the christening (cakes, balloons, baby's name, flowers ... everything you find photogenic).
Do not stop moving, walk, observe, look through windows, frame between flowers or climb a tree, look for different and original images.

Photograph the details of the treat

Search for spontaneous situations

AT HOME

The baptism is over and you've had a better time than you expected. Maybe you even wanted more and you see the photos and, did you doubt it? You have amazing photos!

Adjust small defects of light or framing but without going over. If the image is not worth a little, you can do it for it.
Make a good selection: it is the most difficult but if you do it right you will be surprised by the results.
Try to explain a story with your series of images.
Do color and black and white tests.
And finally ... Not everything is Photoshop or Lightroom, here you have a good selection of other free image retouching programs.

Photographing a baptism is stressful because of the responsibility that suddenly falls on you, we are not going to fool ourselves, but the opportunity to photograph something like that is unique. It will allow you to work in situations where you control few things, you will practice your photographer's gaze, and you will test your ability to anticipate events, your spontaneity and your originality. You are going to have a better time than worse, and it is an opportunity like few to practice, so nothing to get nervous about it, opportunities like these you will have few, so Take advantage and squeeze it to the fullest! And you know, if you liked it, it has been useful or do you think that someone could benefit from these tips for a “stress-free” baptism. And as always, thank you very much for reading and sharing!