Each week, the StagePilot team manually reviews thousands of Meet & Greet photos for image quality, composition and lighting. Most Meet & Greet photos are well lit, well cropped and saved at a high enough resolution to print even the largest prints and canvases we offer. But, we occasionally come across photos that could be greatly improved with a few simple adjustments. Here is a list of the five most common issues we see, and how to correct them.
1. Avoid blurry photos.

Meet & Greets often take place in small, dark rooms with low ceilings. To counterbalance low light, a camera set to AUTO will lower the shutter speed below the acceptable point to hand-hold your camera (1/80th of a second), which leads to blurry photos. Add a group of fans who are jittery from wrapping their arms around their favorite artist, and you’re almost guaranteed to get the dreaded camera shake and blurry subjects.

Luckily, blurry photos can be avoided with some planning. Here’s how:

• Use a tripod. This is the easiest and cheapest way to reduce shaky photos.
• Turn on the flash. Ideally, you’re using a speedlight or off-camera flash and bouncing the light off the ceiling. If not, the built-in flash is better than nothing.
• Turn on red eye reduction, especially when using a built in flash.
• Be sure the shutter speed is set between 1/80 and 1/250.
• Set the camera’s ISO to 1600 or lower.

Keep in mind, it’s difficult to spot blurry photos on your camera’s tiny LCD screen. To be sure everything’s tack sharp, take a few test shots and download them onto your computer. Once viewed on a larger screen, you’ll know if your images are blurry or sharp. Once you’re dialed in, don’t forget to make a note of the camera settings that produce great photos.

2. Snap the photo between blinks.

With the average person blinking an astonishing 28,000 times per day, you’re bound to get a few blinks in your Meet & Greet photos. While blinking is inevitable, there are a few simple steps you can take to avoid them.

• Count to three out loud before pressing the shutter. It sounds corny, but it works.
• Build a rapport with the fans. Just saying "hello" helps put them at ease.
• Take 2-3 photos. You’re bound to get a good one, and fans often purchase multiple outtakes.
• Don’t make fans pose forever. The longer they smile, the more awkward their expressions and the more likely they are to blink.

3. Get the perfect exposure.

In our experience, fans typically do two things with their Meet & Greet photos; post them on Instagram and order prints. If the photos are dark and their favorite artists are unrecognizable, the fan is unhappy, doesn’t post or purchase prints, and often wants a refund. Even worse, you lost an otherwise smitten superfan. Proper exposure is the most basic tenant of photography, and it's easy to achieve. Best of all, it can be checked in real time on the LCD screen, on the back of your camera.

If the room is poorly lit and your photos look dark, here’s what to do:

• Set the flash to auto (or use a shoe-mounted flash or small strobe).
• Raise the ISO to 800 or 1600.
• Set the exposure compensation between +1 and +2.
• Drop the shutter speed to 1/80th of a second.
• Use a tripod.

4. Don't crop too tightly.

If StagePilot has proven one thing, it’s that fans LOVE a personalized memento of their time with their favorite artist. And like it or not, that memento can take the shape of a 11x14 canvas, a 3x7” phone case or a square print. It’s impossible to take one group shot that works perfectly for all print formats, but there are a few things you can do to accommodate most of our print items:

• Shoot horizontal (landscape) photos.
• Leave plenty of space to the left, right and top of the group.
• Center the camera on the group of people.
• Position the fan(s) in the center of the group, and the artist(s) on the sides.
• Position the camera at the height of the artists’ chest.

5. Shoot high-res photos.

The large sensors and refined optics of today’s digital cameras are capable of producing beautiful photos that can be printed at massive sizes without compromising image quality. Be sure to take advantage of everything your camera has to offer of by checking the settings before shooting. That way, your Meet & Greet photos will look as good on large canvases as they do on the screen.

• Use the best quality camera you can afford. There are plenty of great DSLR packages around $500.
• Set your camera to the highest quality JPEG. There’s no need to shoot RAW images unless you plan to edit the files in post production.
• Never shoot people with the shutter speed set below 1/80.
• Use an external flash such as a speedlight or larger studio lighting. Diffuse the light with an umbrella or softbox, or bounce it off the ceiling.
• Use a tripod.

Follow these five tips and you’ll walk away with crisp, bright, print-worthy photos with no extra time or effort. Does your team need one-on-one photo help, gear recommendations or just a quick StagePilot tutorial? We’d love to help. Shoot us a note at support@stagepilot.com to set up a quick call or Skype chat.

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