Murder Mystery Work Party

The evening

This was a quarterly social at my workplace. The theme was Western.

I was meant to be participating, but having just recently purchased my camera, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of becoming the designated photographer for the evening.

The actors playing the suspects were the most memorable. They all had unique personalities and stories to tell.

The best part of the evening was when they taught the owner of the company and a few of my coworkers a little dance, and attached some suspect items of clothing to them, without letting them or the audience see. The dance started and when they did a twirl they had large plastic posteriors on display.

A woman in a dark costume holds a small white dog beneath strings of coloured lights

A woman in a blonde wig leans against a post under pink stage lighting

Photographing it

The lighting was an absolute treat at this event. I’m still very new to event photography, but the multicoloured moving lights in the room added so much character and flair to all of my photos. Selecting just a few to be my favourites was a serious challenge. The full-frame R6 II with the 50mm f/1.8 was also by far the best low-light camera I’d ever held and used and was marvellous for the job. It handled the challenging lighting like a champ.

My favourite photo just has to be the group photo of the actors. There were plenty of incredible candid shots, but for that last image I had them pose, the lighting was spot on, and I got to dial in my settings for the sharpest and prettiest image.

The atmosphere and quality of it all was incredible. Unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures after we left the building and explored a small village with evil dressed-up characters trying to scare the guests. I’ll have to try to capture that next time.

A man in a striped cowboy hat speaks into a microphone while costumed guests stand behind him

Three costumed people pose under green stage lighting, including a seated woman in a blonde wig

Solving the case

While I had put absolutely no effort into actually solving the case, I believe my team came the closest to guessing all of the details correctly. Most teams had guessed who the murderer was, but we also had to guess the motive, location, weapon, and method correctly.

It was a great and wholesome event!

A small white long-haired dog looks towards the camera under colourful event lighting

Provider of very many gently loving bites to my hand