Shooting at the Tumbledown Party

I don’t normally shoot events, as children and family portrait sessions are my main work, but when my friend Elisa Dry from asked me to take photos at their recent party, I had to say yes.

My daughter started going there when she was 2 and it really boosted her physical confidence as well as being a lot of fun. I also did some shoots of their classes a little while ago (some of the images on their website are mine).

Elisa was throwing an appreciation party for all the coaches, volunteers and staff that make Tumbledown such a great place. It was a good opportunity to get some individual images for the studio wall, but also get some family and kids’ photos at the same time.

The party was at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame here in Santa Fe, in their Western-themed private room, complete with wood-clad walls and low ceilings. There were no quiet corners to set up in, and it was all a bit tight on space.

I ended up setting up in front of the fire, and there being no room for a backdrop, we used the fireplace stonework instead. The room was pretty dark and there wasn’t really any space for two lights, so I shot with a single flash off-camera on a light-stand with a shoot-through umbrella.

The flash was triggered with my Alien Bee remotes, and the setup worked pretty well considering the constraints.

A fill light from the left and a hair light from behind would have made everyone stand out a little more, but this wasn’t a studio shoot.

The main thing was that everyone was friendly and happy in their shots – it’s a little like being a stand-up comedian corralling people and putting them at their ease in an unusual situation.

Being in front of a stranger with a big camera and a funny accent must seem peculiar, especially in a room full of your friends and family.

We got through all the coaches’ individual shots, the groups and some individual shots of the kids before I left them to the rest of their night.

And I got a big old plate of barbecue with all the fixings to take with me – a nice bonus.

Thanks to Elisa for thinking of me, and thanks to all the great folks from Tumbledown for making it all run smoothly.