Whether Venice, Rio de Janeiro or Cologne: Carnival is teeming with photo-worthy motives - but how can you capture them effectively?

Carnival photography - equipment and camera angles

If you're going to take pictures at carnival, consider what equipment you're packing beforehand. Here are some tips:

1.The right lens

If you throw yourself in the middle of the turmoil, it is best to use a wide-angle lens so that you can see more than just red noses on your photo afterwards. If you intend to portray costumed people in a particularly original way, use a normal lens. In order to be as flexible as possible, it might even be worthwhile at Carnival to attach a zoom lens to your camera, even if the image quality is not quite as good as with a normal lens.

2. Tripod - yes or no?

If you want to photograph indoor events, grey skies or dusk with as much freedom as possible, a tripod is of course practical or indispensable. We recommend a one-legged tripod so that you are more flexible and the party people don't stumble over you.

Alternatively, you can take photos with flash, but sometimes the moving mood goes flute. Motion blur caused by longer exposure times can make a picture look particularly dynamic.

3. Camera settings

If you are taking pictures by your loose hand, set the exposure time to 1/60 second. If your hand is particularly steady, try 1/30 second. The longest possible exposure time gives you more freedom in the aperture. Open your aperture as wide as possible so that a lot of light falls into the camera. If you shoot in RAW format, you can correct the white balance, which is difficult to adjust afterwards in changing lighting conditions. If your camera has a continuous-advance function, use it. Carnival is a time for dancing, rocking and marching. A scene selected for photography can change from second to second. If you have ten instead of just one or two photos of a situation to choose from, the chance of particularly good facial expressions, gestures, and motion blur is all the greater.

Taking pictures of carnival - where and what?

There is so much to see and marvel at at Carnival that you may not even know where to start taking pictures. Here we will present a few approaches:

1. Bright colours

At least here in Germany a grey sky and deciduous trees are not uncommon during the carnival season. All the more striking are the loud costumes, colourful lamellas and colourful decorations at this time of year. So go on a search for particularly gaudy, harmonious and otherwise striking colour combinations and spots.

2. Relocation and other events

You are guaranteed to find crazy, funny situations and a good atmosphere at major carnival events, traditional parades, carnival sessions, tent parties or in public places where carnival has a long tradition, such as the Heumarkt in Cologne. The best thing is: Apart from great motifs, you can take pictures here undisturbed, because a photographer is lost in the colourful crowd as long as she is dressed up.

The choice of the right place plays an important role when photographing carnival events. If you're taking pictures outside, be sure to place your back to the sun. Make sure that no large building shadows overshadow your motifs. If there is the possibility to stand elevated on stairs, walls etc., use these. Bird's-eye views are especially useful for overview photos.