Parties are great, especially if the host has excellent lighting. Lighting really sets the mood and the tone for the events to come. As photographers we must take advantage of those moods. In the shot here I was using my Nikon d7000 with a 70-200mm 2.8 zoom lens. The fast 2.8 lens allowed me to low light shoot with out losing quality. Also the zoom lens is great for that bokeh effect that we all love. This was a backyard party that felt like an up scale hotel bar / restaurant. Using a slow shutter , 640 iso , and low 2.8 zoom lens really captured the moment. I look forward to shooting a couple summer weddings with this type of lighting!