Advice on Shooting a Party

ianbarber

ianbarber

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Ian
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My brother has asked me if I will photograph his wifes 40th birthday party in January.

This is not a commercial session (no money passing hands) I have agreed to do it as a favour for him but at the same time, it would be nice if I can produce some images that look better that simple snap shots.

As this is a new area for me, I am looking for some advice please especially as there is going to be a DJ present and I am guessing the lighting is going to be mixed.


My equipment consists of:
  • Nikon D3s
  • Nikon 24-70 f2.8
  • Nikon 50mm 1.8
  • Nikon 70-200 f2.8
  • Nikon SB-900 Speedlight
  • Various Lumiquest modifiers
Am I best to just stick the camera into Aperture Priority Mode, the SB-900 into iTTL and bounce or does anyone have any other suggestions.

Ian
 
I'd probably use the 50/1.8, but I guess the 24-70 shoots pretty well wide open and you have the D3s - king of high iso cams! I'm not really a fan of priority modes, but I guess you could try manual mode (1/125s or 1/60s @ f/2.8) with auto iso enabled.
 
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I'm really surprised that people have this kind of kit and don't know how to use it!
Your final suggestion is the one to go with Ian - 24-70 - SB-900 and bounce. It will produce a better quality of light than available probably. I'd really have to be there to make a final decision!
 
I'd go 24-70, manual exposure like a stop under, this should give you options of having some DoF for groups

the fast prime will be great for candids but they may be limited

parties are tricky because its not a first dance type situation where you get some awesome shots (but can be almost intrusive) then b****r off, nor is it proper club work. I think some middle ground is required. Details are worth grabbing as they will be things no one else is likely to get.

oh and warning portable djs often have awful lights :D
 
awp said:
I'm really surprised that people have this kind of kit and don't know how to use it!
Your final suggestion is the one to go with Ian - 24-70 - SB-900 and bounce. It will produce a better quality of light than available probably. I'd really have to be there to make a final decision!
Click to expand...

afaik Ian is commercial tog so its a bit out of his normal remit
 
Hi Ian,

My feeling on this is not to use any form of priority mode on your camera. It will be all over the place in such a situation and will likely give you some undesirable/unexpected results if light levels are low. Instead use Manual mode on the camera and set your flash to TTL (not TTL BL). As suggested above, if you are using the flash on camera then try to swivel it and bounce it of a ceiling or wall - up and to the side of your subject is probably best or even behind you if necessary - rather then straight up into the ceiling. That way you will get a little more 'shape' to the light on your subjects. Watch out for what you bounce off though - a strong wall colour will tint the flash - but you may have little option there...

Now you need to think about the Manual exposure for the ambient constant lighting levels in the room - how do you want to expose for that..? It's often good to allow some ambient in the image too - to add depth to the image rather than an explosion of flash which obliterates all the ambient.

ISO800, f4 @ 1/60 is a rough starting point for incandescent lighting - I'd start around that and alter your shutter speed/iso accordingly. Underexposing the ambient will add more mood.. and slower shutter speeds will allow more ambient and 'atmosphere' especially with the DJ lights and so on...

If your use on camera flash in this way and you are moving around you will likely need to keep altering your flash compensation - don't be surprised to be all over the place on this -2.0 to +2.0 depending on the scene - Four chaps in black jackets filling the frame will likely cause the TTL flash metering to try and 'overexpose' the scene - so instinctively you might want to then set a negative flash compensation, and vice versa.

There is likely a mix of lighting colour temperatures to consider too - you might want to set your camera white balance to match the ambient in the room and now is the time to use the coloured gels which came with your SB-900! Set a tungsten white balance and use the amber gel for incandescent lighting, or use the green gel and set your camera for flourescent if that is dominant in the room.

Don't forget to shoot on RAW to give chance to alter white balance in post...

Once you are settled in, why not play around with slow shutter speeds ('dragging the shutter') with the DJ lights and experiment with first/second curtain synch...?

If you are shooting a group watch their front-to-back positioning. If you are around f4, you may find that depending on your focal length; even a step or two behind or in front of each other and they won't be in focus...

Lots to think about, but just some suggestions. Have fun!

Ash.

http://www.lightflow.co.uk
 
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Excellent reply Ashley.

Some very useful answers there and alot to consider as you say. Using front / rear sync was something I havent thought about as it is not something I use alot of in Landscapes as you can imagine si I think I need to get a bit of reading in on the best way to use this. Might look at David Hobby site to see if he has anything on the subject.

Ian
 
You're welcome Ian,

I'd advise not looking at the strobist site. Before long you'll have three SB-900's all triggered with pocket wizards, hanging from the ceiling with justin clamps, gelled-up with a rainbow of colours and you'll be £2000 worse-off with a big grin on your face...

More seriously though - it's a fantastic site - you won't go far wrong with Mr Hobby!
 
as an aside, Ashley whats the score with your site has someone squatted the domain as I went to have a look see and it was a generic holding page type page
 
That sounds about right, but as every place is different you have to adjust :)
Personally I would used f8 over f4, its easier to correct noise than subjects not being in the depth of field (e.g. multiple people etc)
 
Took a load of photos at NYE round at my sister's place. Only a house party but we did have some decent DJ'ing gear ;)

A lot of the time I used P mode in conjunction with my Jessops flash gun and lightsphere collapsible pointed directly up.

For more artistic shots i.e. getting the movement/blur of the lights I used manual mode, dragged the shutter and used 2nd curtain sync flash.

Images I took can be seen here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=260056&id=630857049&l=af9e96082d

I'll apologise now as the party was a little messy and I was rather drunk :lol:
 
As Oskar says - all lighting conditions are different, but you have to start somewhere when you walk into a room and it is usually where I head to depending on how many lights are on and so on...

Simon: you refer to an '8,6,4' rule. I've not heard that before, the order you suggest though is a total of three stops out in comparison (Two stops from the aperture and one from the ISO). This will likely be killing the ambient level available in the shot and making your flash work 8 times harder to gain the same scene exposure (if using TTL) - and therefore slowing down your recycle times between shots and limiting the number of shots you can make?
 
The 864 is iso800 1/60 f4
(Use bounce flash in ttl mode)
 
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There's another wedding togger who blogs and uses bounce flash brilliantly. I don't recall his name, but well worth looking at if someone can remember him. Much more useful than DH in this instance.
 
NikonSimon said:
ah ok, my bad.

ISO800 is quite noisy though. That's why I thought it was ISO400 with f8, but I've obviously got it mixed up!
Click to expand...

on a D3S? :thinking:

more seriously I'd not shoot in A mode for this, the camera will meter and drop the shutter speed to low for this. Use 864 if your stuck but use manual
 
boyfalldown said:
on a D3S? :thinking:

more seriously I'd not shoot in A mode for this, the camera will meter and drop the shutter speed to low for this. Use 864 if your stuck but use manual
Click to expand...

D300s, but yes I get your point

Also, surely shooting the 864 rule is shooting in manual? I don't shoot in A mode for this :thinking:
 
NikonSimon said:
D300s, but yes I get your point

Also, surely shooting the 864 rule is shooting in manual? I don't shoot in A mode for this :thinking:
Click to expand...

sorry I was refering to the OP's original suggestion he shot in A mode for this.
 
Shoot in manual, start at ISO 400-800, 1/60, f4-5.6 (5.6 will give enough dof for a small group,and f4 sufficient for individuals and couples), use flash set to rear curtain and set to ttl. If you want atmospheric light trails then lower the ISO and drag the shutter,subject will be frozen by the flash duration

I shoot nightclub photography occasionally :)

Have fun :) don't consider it work, just enjoy your night and occasionally do some rounds to take group shots
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Shoot in manual, start at ISO 400-800, 1/60, f4-5.6 (5.6 will give enough dof for a small group,and f4 sufficient for individuals and couples), use flash set to rear curtain and set to ttl. If you want atmospheric light trails then lower the ISO and drag the shutter,subject will be frozen by the flash duration

I shoot nightclub photography occasionally :)

Have fun :) don't consider it work, just enjoy your night and occasionally do some rounds to take group shots
Click to expand...

Be careful using rear curtain flash, it gives a pre-flash, and subjects will think you are done and dusted before the flash fires. Save it for the dance floor if you must, but otherwise I'd leave it off.
 
This is all fantastic advice and ive got to admit that being a noob, I've not played with full manual. Never considered using auto iso like that! Ap prio has been my friend so far.

Time to get the flash out, dial her up to M and go out clubbing! Haha!
 
NigelPaul said:
Be careful using rear curtain flash, it gives a pre-flash, and subjects will think you are done and dusted before the flash fires. Save it for the dance floor if you must, but otherwise I'd leave it off.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I'm definately careful though. And that's only noticable when the shutter's way down and I don't tend to go down that low. I tend to keep between 1/10 and 1/60 when shooting groups, I keep the longer exposures for the dancefloor and DJ shots, rather than have light trails everywhere when I'm shooting a group/couple as I think it just looks messy some times. Each to their own for sure :cool:
 
I've seen the term 'drag the shutter' used quite a lot. Can someone explain what that means please? I think I understand but just want to make sure
 
NikonSimon said:
I've seen the term 'drag the shutter' used quite a lot. Can someone explain what that means please? I think I understand but just want to make sure
Click to expand...

Using a slow shutter speed to expose some of the ambient light, usually used with rear curtain flash to pop at the end and freeze your subject/s, they will still be sharp if done correctly
 
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