Shooting Thanksgiving
Tomorrow, there will be turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberrys, and lots of other tasty food. Family will gather, people will laugh, and you will bring your camera out to capture the day.
You can take ordinary snap shots or you can make the images something that tells a story to the viewers. Remember E.D.F.F.A.T. (You can read more about it here.)
E-Everything. Shoot wide. Get a picture of the whole celebration. Maybe the table with everyone sitting around it.
D-Details. Close up of the food. The table setting. The football game snacks.
F-Framing. Try to take images that use a different pint of view. Maybe a wide angle close-up of the turkey or of your uncle’s foot looking up at him as he sits on the sofa.
F-Focus. Use a shallow depth of field (change your aperture to a small number) and focus on something in the foreground; throwing the background out of focus, but letting the viewer know what it is.
A-Angle. Shoot from different angles. High over the table or right down on it.
T-Time. Think about how the day changes over time. Maybe a time lapse of the table or a blurred shoot of the family football game. You could also freeze gravy being poured onto the potatoes.
Whatever you do, have fun, shoot lots, and remember why we call it Thanksgiving.
R-relevance. Think about whether a picture of a turkey or a table setting is really needed. Is this turkey truly noteworthy? Is this a once in a lifetime wedding or is this the 150th (50 years old x Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter every year) turkey or ham? Consider whether your viewers, most likely family or friends, are gathered because they desire still another turkey or ham or because they want to spend time with their loved ones. Take pictures of what you think you viewers are interested in, which is mostly likely the people, not the food. Years from now the photos of people will be the ones that elicit memories and smiles.
I-interaction. If you are at a family gathering then you are with *your* family. You aren’t a dispassionate paid photographer that someone has hired to document the day. You are a member of the family. Take some photos and then put the camera down and join in the festivities. Your viewers, again most likely family and friends, care much more about *YOU* than the photographs. And that is something to be truly thankful for.
Both of your points are valid, but I am trying to help people who like photography and maybe want to document the day for their scrapbook or something. I agree, you take your pictures, but you HAVE to be part of the festivities.