How to take the best pictures during Seville April Fair

Traveling to Seville means to visit one of the most photogenic cities of Spain. We know there are a lot of special spots you will love, and that’s why we always take you to some secret places of Seville with our photo tours. But, in addition to that, the Seville April Fair gives you the opportunity to photograph the city in its entire essence: horse carriages, women in their flamenco dresses, light of lanterns… So much life, joy and colors!

Thousands of people come from far away just to visit the Feria de Abril event in order to know and photograph the most important flamenco event of the country. If you are lucky enough to come to Seville during Seville April Fair, and want to get some amazing pictures of this international event from the best spots, check out our tips! In Photo Tour Seville we want to share some interesting ideas with you 😉

The “portada” of the Feria

If you want to take home a picture that represents the Seville April Fair in its entire essence, you need to photograph the main entrance, known as the “portada”: a huge structure formed by three big arches and thousands of light bulbs (up to 25.000).

This big door is especially beautiful at night, when the lights bulb are on. We recommend you to go there after 10.00 pm and position yourself in the middle of the “portada”, and from a minimum distance of 20 meters. Remember to bring your wide-angle lens and your tripod, which will be important in order to avoid the heads of people. Once you get all your equipment in position, set the shutter in a low speed, between 5 and 10 seconds, and close the aperture until 22. This way you will be able to star the lights without losing any lighting.

Don’t you know how to do all this? Maybe you want to join one of our photography workshops first… We will teach you all you need to know to get an awesome picture! 😉

Panoramic Seville April Fair

If you want to take a nice panoramic picture of the April Fair, you will need to go to a high position. In order to get it, try the big “noria” (the ferry wheel), which will give you the opportunity to see the Feria de Sevilla from a height of 50 meters.

The best thing about this April Fair ferry wheel is that every two minutes, it stops for several seconds, giving you the perfect opportunity to contemplate the views without moving. Take advantage when you are stopped at the highest point and take a photo in a slow speed (around 5 seconds). You will capture the light trails of the attractions and will get a really colorful picture!

People dancing “sevillanas”

We could probably affirm that “sevillanas” dance is the most attractive thing of the whole Seville April Fair, especially with women in their flamenco dresses, which are pretty and colorful. The good news is that you can find them everywhere! Whether it is inside the “casetas” or outside them, it is pretty easy to bring home photos of this picturesque dance.

If you want to take great pictures of people dancing “sevillanas”, you should be aware of the shutter speed, which should be quick in order to freeze the rapid movements of the dancers. To get this, we recommend you to set your shutter speed between 1/500 and 1/1000. In case you want to take an artistic picture, you can try to shoot with a slow speed. In this case you will get a nice trail and a blurry image of the dresses in movement. Always try to take these photos at the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is not so high and the light is warmer.

Environment of the “casetas”

One interesting thing about the Seville April Fair is the charming environment that you can find in every “caseta”. Don’t you remember what they are? We told you in this article about the Feria de Abril basic vocabulary! 😉 Capturing this atmosphere you can easily reflect the party of the April Fair, so it´s very important that you can take these photos of the moment!

In order to get this, you should carry with you a bright lens, due to the poor light that we can find inside many “casetas”. Give your lens an aperture between 1.2f and 2.8f, so you won´t need any flash and will capture photos with a lovely warm and natural color. Due to the brightness of your lens you will be able to shoot in a quick mode in order to freeze the dancers without losing light. If you take nice snapshots of the people clapping and having fun, you will get a wonderful photo album that will faithfully represents the essence of the party that you are living!

Horse carriages during the day in the Feria

Another typical thing of April Fair, and also of Seville, are horse carriages. This charming transport mode is the symbol of the city, and during the Feria can be found easily. Horse carriages are inside the Fair from 10.00 am to approximately 7.30 pm, so you might want to have a look during this period and try to take some photos of them.

The best spots to take pictures of them are from the large avenues, due to there are more space to photograph and can avoid people crossing in front (not an easy task!). If you want to take many photos of horse carriages in movement, stay at 7.00 pm at the back cover of the Fair waiting for them. They will all start to go back to their farms and will pass around this point. So it´s a great chance to take photos of them with the “portada” as background.

We hope you find these tips helpful for your visit to the Seville April Fair! In case you want to get the most of your visit, and learn how to take all those pictures we have been talking about, join our photography workshops! We will be happy to show you around Sevilla and our team of local photographers will teach you all you need to know to dominate your camera 🙂

Come with us at Photo Tour Seville and find the best way to discover the city and to get a unforgettable memory of your visit!

Cover Photo by Catherine Gaa – www.sunshineandsiestas.com