Summer is the season for festivals...and great photos! Festivals present a fantastic opportunity for you to improve your photographic skills, there's so much going on, so much to look at, so much to photograph! There are just so many interesting subjects to shoot: performers, spectators, costumes, stages, food, family, friends, and many many more! Each festival presents a different opportunity to improve your photography, practice the "rules" of photography, and use your creative skills to break the rules! And there are tons of free festivals to go to each year, so you don't even have to shell out any dosh to get these great photos. What could be better?

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<div><a title="::: CARNAVAL ::: by petite1976, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/petit1976/2250614582/in/faves-11472810@N00/">[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="600" height="386" alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Festival-2.jpg"]</a></div>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><em>::: CARNAVAL :::</em>
Photo by petite1976</p>
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We've included a few tips below to help you prepare to shoot festivals this year:
<ol>
	<li><strong>Do your research before the festival. </strong>
The Internet is full of information regarding the latest festivals, but it can't hurt to check out other sources too. You may visit a museum or a cultural center and look at their calendar of activities...cultural festivals often present a plethora of photographic opportunity.</li>
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	<li><strong>Be an early bird.</strong>
The early bird catches the worm, right? Try to get to the venue an hour or two before the event to catch the preparation of the participants. You're more likely to capture the excited faces of performers and spectators as emotions are running high before everything kicks off. Getting there early means you can take a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the location and look for a good spot to position yourself for the actual performance.</li>
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	<li><strong>Focus on the colors, patterns, and decorations that make the festival unique. </strong>
Performances come alive with costumes, props, and embellishments. These details can make your photos come alive too! Be attentive to how the performances unfold and be ready to capture all the action!</li>
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	<li><strong>People, people, people.
</strong>Although the festival you are attending might be a musical, cultural or holiday celebration, ultimately every festival is people. Capturing the emotion on the faces of the people at the festival is key to capturing the vibe of the festival. Get as close as possible to the subject capture as much expression as possible without being intrusive. Performers in particular will show lots of emotion and energy on the day, so take advantage of this perfect opportunity to preserve this emotion with photography.</li>
	<br class="spacer_" /><li><strong>If you smile, they will smile. </strong>
Most performers plaster a smile on their face while on stage. If you do the same too, chances are they'll pose for the camera! The same goes for spectators, if you smile politely or ask to take a photo (while still smiling) your more likely to get a positive response, even from the camera shy.</li>
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Although festivals might be chaotic, busy, and full of people rushing around...if you take a moment to stand still within the excitement and observe everything that is going on around you the photo opportunities will practically leap out at you!

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<div><a title="All smiles by Babak Fakhamzadeh, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2841247649/in/faves-11472810@N00/">[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="600" height="459" alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Festival-1.jpg"]</a></div>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><em>All smiles</em>
Photo by Babak Fakhamzadeh</p>
One last thing...it's a festival...have some fun!