For Shutterbugs: Carnival Photography

There’s hardly another festival on earth that offers so many interesting things to photograph than Carnival. Whether you find yourself in Basel, St. Gallen, or in Lucerne, Switzerland offers a multitude of parades in numerous cities and municipalities. You’re bound to find the perfect event for you in our Carnival guide! But before you rush off to join the festivities, we’ll give you some tips on how you can best capture the magic on camera.

Carnival is a lively and colourful event celebrated by many people. Thus, while meandering amongst the crowds during the festivities, it’s a good idea to keep your equipment load light and shoot with either a compact or system camera. Leave most of your camera equipment at home so you can stay mobile and flexible. Keep in mind that even light equipment that seems effortless to carry can quickly weigh you down when you’re carrying it around the entire day. Most smartphones nowadays come equipped with high-quality cameras that should satisfy your needs for such an occasion. Minimalism when selecting which photo equipment to bring along will provide you with maximum freedom of movement so you’ll be able to fully enjoy the festivities.

If you’d like to capture the wild Carnival festivities from a distance without getting mixed up in all the action, a zoom lens with a wide focal width is essential. The closer you are to the action, the more “wide-angled” your lens should be. However, it of course depends on what it is exactly that you want to photograph. As a rule of thumb, you should protect your fragile lens with something like a polarising filter. In the hustle and bustle of any celebration, sensitive lenses can quickly become battered and damaged. Also, besides protecting the lens from the elements, the photo filter will also improve the overall quality of your photos.

You should also remember to either bring an extra battery for your camera or a power bank for your smartphone. Continuously using your camera/smartphone (possibly in freezing temperatures) as well as a flash can quickly take its toll.

Carnival doesn’t just begin with the first parade. The costumes themselves usher in this joyous and exuberant event. Use your camera or smartphone to capture the transformation into “Alti Dante”, as they say in the Basel dialect, or into “Dummpeter.” Capturing the complete transformation from beginning to end as they transform from a normal everyday person into an elaborately dressed-up masked Carnival figure is something every friend and family member will love to see.

Even the simpler costumes are worth photographing. Putting on costumes and make-up with friends will be sure to provide you with unforgettable memories that should be held in remembrance for many years to come. If you’re looking for some inspiration for possible costumes and getups, we’ve gathered together some ideas for you here.

Take the time to review all of your photos on your computer after the festivities have wrapped up. Maybe you’ll notice some edits you can make to your photos here and there. Let your imagination run wild and play around with the costumes you’ve captured on camera by shading them different colours or just correcting small inconsistencies. Anything goes!

In order to ensure your photos don’t just sit on your hard drive and collect dust, you can use them to create your own attractive photo book. This will really bring your memories alive for friends and family alike! Thanks to the wide selection of design templates from ifolor, you can give your photos an individualised and attractive look in a photo book with a number of pages of your choice.

Of course, not only your photos alone make perfect gifts. Design a photo wall using your most cherished memories, such as those experienced while watching a parade or attending a jammin’ rock concert. You can also print out and use ifolor square prints to really spruce up your photo corner. Whether printed out as a collage, displayed in a chic picture frame, or hung with string, this format will be a breath of fresh air for your home.

Image Sources:

© shutterstock.com/footageclips
© shutterstock.com/Andreas Mann
© shutterstock.com/sfk_Foto