Tips for Photographing Festivals in India

Festivals, rituals, community celebrations and cultural events are among the most exciting events for shutterbugs to capture.

- Mrinmoy Choudhury

They are a great way to learn about the local culture, customs and people and portray a foreign culture and country with lively photographs. Photographers are naturally drawn to colourful and vibrant subject matter, and most festivals are just like that, colourful in every sense of the word. There are colourful floats, costumes, crafts, food, and merchandise, and you will also find many colourful characters among the participants in the festival. But because festivals consist of moving performers or participants and large crowds of spectators, they are also among the most difficult subject matter to photograph seamlessly. In most cases you only have a fraction of a second to choose an interesting subject, focus your camera, choose your settings and press the shutter. To make the most of your festival experience as a photographer, you need to be ready to make quick decisions about when and what to photograph. A little preparation ahead of time will go a long way and help you make amazing pictures.

In a country like India where people of vast religious and cultural differences exist documenting the ongoing festivals which come to knock doors almost one every month is a fun challenge most photographers would take up. We shall discuss some of the basic preparations that will help you to photograph a festival better than you would have without any sort of preparation.

Choosing the Right Festival