A few tips for those of you who shoot ceremonies.

Ceremonies are important to people. Whether this is a graduation, a wedding, a signing of some sort: there will often be a hushed silence.

A silence you do not want to disturb. So today’s tips are about blending in and behaving appropriately at such venues.

• First, dress in a non-conspicuous way. You do not want to be the centre of attention.
• Ask the person in charge what you can do. Can you walk around? Use flash? Click away?
• Ask if flash is allowed
• If it is, bounce that flash rather than use direct light.
• If it is not, you may still be allowed to use the focus assist on your camera’s flash. That’s the little red line pattern your flash can cast to help focus, and you can use this even when the actual flash function is disabled.
• Turn off your camera’s focus beep.
• If you have a Nikon SB-900 flash, turn off the “overheating” beep.
• If you use off-camera flash, ditto: disable the beeps (notably on Nikon flashes)
• Use a camera with a quiet shutter. I will grab my 7D if I want a quieter shutter sound. Some people even wrap their cameras. If you have a pro body such as a Canon 1D or 1ds, select the “Silent” shutter mode.
• Use a longer lens and shoot from farther away.

By using these common-sense precautions, you can give yourself and all other photographers a good name.