help! last ditch info needed for huge poker tournament!

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hollow_crown

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Hey All,

Long time lurker here again! I recently bought the Sony A200W kit from eBay that is the 18-70mm standard and also comes with 75-300mm lens too. I have to take photos for a 3 day poker tournament in Nottingham this Monday - Thursday and obviously these need to be magazine quality for the company employing me to pay me. I've taken a few shots so far but nothing major like this, I really need info on how to set the camera up to the best quality!

The shots will be indoor mainly in a crouded room, quite dimly lit. However for the first day there will be a few outdoor shots.

The event is at Dusk Till Dawn and a pic of the room the event is in is here:

http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/cardroom.php

Thanks,

hollow_crown
 
sounds a bit iffy to me, i'd be rather peeved if someone was taking photos of me at a big tournament considering the payouts available..

aperture priority or shutter priority dependant on whether you want to open your glass up as wide as it'll go and have an appropriate shutter speed or shutter priority to minimize camera shake or capture the movement

either way ramp up the iso as high as you feel comfortable with based on how much noise you'll get.

at the end of the day though noisy sharp images are better than motion blurred smooth images :)
 
I hate to be the one to say this, but what are you doing taking on a job where you don't know for sure if you can deliver what the client is after? Most people practice for a few years before taking on paid work, have backup kit, and know it all inside out. I've been taking photos for about 8 years and I still don't think they'd be up to magasine quality!

I'm sorry if this is sounding very rude, I honestly don't mean it to sound that way, I just don't think you know what you've let yourself in for. And there'll be plenty of people on here who will be a lot less polite about this than I!

Dimly lit places are a bit of a nightmare, you need big apertures, which generally equates to expensiveness! Perhaps look at getting a cheap prime, something like a 50mm f/1.8, and practice a LOT! Big apertures, high ISO.....it's a start at least!
 
Take a flashgun if you're allowed. Probably just need two settings in your head all night, one for when using flash, and the other wide open / super high ISO for ambient light.

They'll probably want mood shots showing off how many people turned up, etc. Take a tripod and do some long exposure shots of the room (similar to the one on that link, but with people in).

Obviously talk to them prior, find out what they want and what the etiquette is for shooting people during play, what you're allowed to show, etc.
 
hollow_crown said:
Hey All,

Long time lurker here again! I recently bought the Sony A200W kit from eBay that is the 18-70mm standard and also comes with 75-300mm lens too. I have to take photos for a 3 day poker tournament in Nottingham this Monday - Thursday and obviously these need to be magazine quality for the company employing me to pay me. I've taken a few shots so far but nothing major like this, I really need info on how to set the camera up to the best quality!

The shots will be indoor mainly in a crouded room, quite dimly lit. However for the first day there will be a few outdoor shots.

The event is at Dusk Till Dawn and a pic of the room the event is in is here:

http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/cardroom.php


Thanks,

hollow_crown
Click to expand...


you have balls of steel

you have a flash gun right?
oh you don't have a flash gun
maybe the flop will give you a flash gun?


get there early and chimp like a freak and shoot raw
get hold of some white business cards so you can bounce your flash.
take spare batteries.
take 4 x 4gb cards
get paid upfront
find out what shots are acceptable (can you shoot over his shoulder etc etc)

and finally if you **** it all up will you be in need of new knee caps?

i have a mate who films similar events for SKY and he is a big chap, he doesn't play about in these places.
if you can't cope do not bluff
 
This is big boys land and is for those with the proper gear, back-up gear, who know how to use it, who know when to take a shot and when not to, can be so unobtrusive you don't know they are there and are good at reading people.

Short on any of the above then don't do it as you will have dug yourself one very big hole.

I shoot sports celebrities (mainly football and boxing) at events. The celebrities themselves can be difficult sometimes but in amongst this I have to deal with the drunks, some idiots, cage fighters (most of whom are quite nice to talk with funny enough), the awe struck 'Wow, I'm shaking hands with ...... " etc. Then there are the managers, promoters, hard men etc. Unless you have really good people skills and your camera is like an extension of your hand and eye then don't even think about doing this.

And when you have ignored all of the above please let us see some pictures - when you are comfortable enough to sit at a PC again.

John
 
Hm, I don't think I'd ever consider doing something like this after doing photography for a year, I know I'm nowhere near at the level needed for a job like this, but I hope it goes well!:thumbs:

P.s jpwone, nice to see another togger from christchurch on here, It's such a small place I never thought I'd see another person on here!:D
 
I think this is an awesome opportunity.

I wouldn't be confident with the gear you mention though, I think the room will call for some f1.4-f2.8 glass.

Not sure a flash will be appropriate while players are at the table.

I would suggest:

Get there as early as possible, find out where they will be, where your allowed to be, how close you can get, if you can flash, do some test shots in the venue, get an idea of what you want to come out with, research similar venues/photos of venues / tournaments online, make sure your employer is aware of your skill level so they dont have un-reasonable expectations.

I'd assume by taking the job your confident you can deliver so have a plan and stick to it.

Make sure your employer is ok with you using shots for self promotion afterwards and show us what you get :D

Don't forget batteries and memory cards!
 
I think 'quite dimly lit' is a massive understatement looking at the link you posted.

You could very well struggle with the lenses you've got, especially if you dont have a flash gun.

Im in Nottingham, if you can sort it out I dont mind coming down for a night with some big aperture lenses, flashguns and portable studio kit to try to get some good shots for you as long as I get to keep a few good shots for myself!
 
Perhaps it went so well that he no longer requires the help of TP? :shrug:
 
bah I saw this in my email and was looking forward to seeing how it went...

:thumbsdown:
 
is it really any wonder he hasn't posted since opening this thread? he came on looking for helpful advice and got flamed by everyone, wouldn't make me come back!
 
If this was me, I would want to come back on here just to prove everyone wrong with loads of quality shots.

But he has not come back ... :shrug:

Make of it what you will.
 
I didn't offer any for two very good reasons:

1. I only just saw this thread, I find it quite difficult to reply to a thread I haven't seen!
2. I don't have the knowledge or experience to do so.

I didn't send my reply looking for an argument, I was merely stating that had I have received that general response on my second post I would have had serious thoughts about using this forum.
 
Sniffing1987 said:
I didn't offer any for two very good reasons:

1. I only just saw this thread, I find it quite difficult to reply to a thread I haven't seen!
2. I don't have the knowledge or experience to do so.

I didn't send my reply looking for an argument, I was merely stating that had I have received that general response on my second post I would have had serious thoughts about using this forum.
Click to expand...

Well I have just read it again and find nothing wrong in what I see written in response to the questions asked - if someone wants advice then they need to be prepared for the answers they receive !
 
I bet is was a git to cover, the lighting isn't exactly bright and the colours will make it fun PP'ing, especially with limited kit, I suspect flash wouldn't go down well, people gambling for real money tend to take it a bit serious.
 
Sometimes good advice isn't what people want to hear and is easily taken the wrong way. But it remains good advice.. Had I seen this thread , the equipment, the lighting and stating they have to be magazine quality....my advice would have been to run a mile. stop then run another mile... :)
 
Well, I have just re-read my advice and I'll stick by it. I don't think any of the advice (others included) was given in bad spirit but rather with the intention of making the OP aware that this was not a straight forward or novice type gig. Magazine quality images are hard enough to do when you have the time, skills and equipment to put some serious effort into each image. To turn up at a dimly lit high stress event and try to pull it off you really need all your ducks in line and a good bit of people experience.

I for one would really like to know how it went or if the OP took the general advice and moved on. I hope that if he went for it that it was a successful evening but it would be nice to know one way or the other.

John
 
Just stumbled accross this. All advice seems fair to me. This is the photo gallery of the event from the clubs site: http://www.dusktilldawnpoker.com/newsgallery.php?newsitem=102#top. The photos in there are terrible, and based on their initial post i would guess his/her photos will not have been "Magazine Quality"! The atmosphere at the event does seem quite relaxed though so maybe they got on ok.
 
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