St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are a big deal in Ireland but also in major US cities like New York or Chicago. Irish or not, millions of people attend the parades or join the fun by wearing green, dressing up like leprechauns or enjoying a few pints of beer at the local pub.
The joyous atmosphere becomes impossible to resist and offers professional and amateur photographers alike a great photo shoot opportunity. For an extra bit of fun, you can quickly turn the occasion into an almost instant photo exhibition to show off to friends and family. All you need is your camera or smart phone, good quality photo paper and a printer.
For a combination of output quality, versatility and affordability we highly recommend the Royal Brites matte photo paper – a heavyweight quality paper with photo coating on both sides which makes it great for laser and inkjet printing. Laser prints will look satin and inkjet prints will have a velvety look. This matte paper renders the colors in much more vibrant tones than uncoated matte papers do. Due to the special coating, water drops that may accidentally touch the printed paper do not cause ink smearing.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind for a great photo shoot session:
- Consider your location and plan accordingly. Your set-up and camera needs will be different depending on where you’ll be shooting your photos. If your focus is on a parade, use longer lens and large aperture cameras to help eliminate distracting backgrounds. Consider becoming part of the actual parade for capturing best shots and get there early, the closer you are to the action the better the photos.
- Tell a story. Walk your photo viewers through the experience – tell them what being there looked, felt, smelled and tasted like.
- Try different angles. Move around and switch angles constantly – climb on chair, fences or bar tops for high angle shots and don’t hesitate to sit on the ground or on your knees, especially when photographing children.
- Bring a friend. While you focus on your photo subjects, you risk not paying attention to what else is happening around you. Bumping into objects or other people bumping into you can ruin a great shot so bringing someone along as a buffer will come in handy.
Once you’ve edited and selected your favorite photos you are ready to print them. Use one of the best matte photo papers around, Royal Brites® Premium Matte Photo Paper. It prints beautifully on both sides and works in both laser and inkjet printers to suit a variety of personal and professional uses. Matte photos are instant-drying once they come out of the printer and they are resistant to ink smudges and fingerprints.