Indoor party shoot

stevetiler

stevetiler

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Steve
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Hi,
Been roped into taking guest pics at a 40th fancy dress party.I need to take a pic of each couple as they com in the door.Its at our local football club and I assume the light will be bad! I have a canon 40d,50mm 1.4,17-35 2.8-4,a 430 ex2 to choose from. Dont want to muck this up so I was looking for advice on settings and maybe a "failsafe" setting if things go bad!!

Thanks in advance Steve
 
All i can suggest is high ISO, wide open at 1.4 to get 1/40sec @ 35mm ?
give it a try indoors with a lamp on and sort of experiment it might help.
i reckon your f2.8 maybe *just* too narrow an aperture to get the desired speed up.
 
Something like f/4 @ 1/60th and 400-800 ISO, Flash on TTL. Get a mate to jump in the spot before anyone comes in, take a couple of test shots to tweak it as needed. Then it's just the same for every couple as they come in.

Don't try shooting the couples at f/1.4 with ambient light, you're guaranteed to miss focus at least once. Even if you nail it, they have to be stood like soldiers next to each other to both be in sharp focus.

EDIT. Use your zoom lens so you can quickly recompose should someone come in dressed as a brontosaurus, better than running to the back of the room so you can frame it with your 50mm.

The 'failsafe setting' is the green square. ;)
 
Does the venue have a helpful wall/ceiling that will let you bounce flash or use a stofen type thing ?

If not, I would think about a flashgun soft-box and a wireless trigger. Choose your spot get the off camera flash set up and just get people to either stand in your chosen spot for a couple of shots or even get everything set up for the doorway and get them as they come in.

Whatever you do take spare batteries for the flash !
 
dont shoot wide open is what i would say...its a happy occasion and some will be "merry" when they turn so may not stand still enough for max app..and if its a club, the decor wont be great so no need for ambient light etc..
5.6, 60th or slightly higher, 400, leave the flash to sort itself..never failed me..
 
Jayst84 said:
Something like f/4 @ 1/60th and 400-800 ISO, Flash on TTL. Get a mate to jump in the spot before anyone comes in, take a couple of test shots to tweak it as needed. Then it's just the same for every couple as they come in.

Don't try shooting the couples at f/1.4 with ambient light, you're guaranteed to miss focus at least once. Even if you nail it, they have to be stood like soldiers next to each other to both be in sharp focus.

EDIT. Use your zoom lens so you can quickly recompose should someone come in dressed as a brontosaurus, better than running to the back of the room so you can frame it with your 50mm.

The 'failsafe setting' is the green square. ;)
Click to expand...

aaaye.

stofen on flash (as long as there's a white ceiling not too high up) and aimed up about 60 degrees, tweak FeV to taste.
 
You don't need to get too arty for something like this - stick the flash on the camera - f/8 - zap - job done.
 
Shot some photos in a disco last year, used settings that Tdodd recommended..

Camera: Manual, 1/60, F8 and ISO 800-1600
Flash: TTL -1/3

The flash froze the action and the high ISO took in the ambient light.

:thumbs:
 
"To arty"?? In other words make your pictures look like Aunty Mables :eek:

Push up your ISO to get some of the ambient light in. You don't want the background to look too dark. These settings work for me quite well:-

ISO = 800
Aperture = F2 - F2.8 (depending on lens)
Shutter = 1/80th to 1/125th (depending on light levels).

Keep the camera in manual mode.

The flash should be in TTL set at approx -1EV.

If you can get the camera off camera I would really recommend it - this means shooting one-handed but it's not hard. If you really want to keep the flash on the camera use one of these (or similar):-

http://dembflashproducts.com/diffuser/ - order the flip-it and diffuser

If you can get the flash off-camera the Gary Fong lightsphere can be quite useful (although generally I'm not keen on this product, it does work well in if help high up in left hand while shooting with right hand):-

http://www.bbjimports.com/product_detail.asp?id=5

Set the camera up at these settings TONIGHT, turn the lights down in the living room (keep a table lamp on) and see how you get on. It should work fairly well.

Here's an example of Gary Fong off camera:-

3471931570_a3f97ffa3f.jpg

Settings slight different from above but ambient light better than most places (1/60, ISO 400, 50mm at F1.8)

Here's an example of Demb flip it on -camera

4596393686_b88a7d7ae4.jpg

(ISO 800, 50mm at 1.8, shutter at 1/200 - slight faster than usual but the door behind her was quite bright).

Really HTH

Ryan
 
Just reading some of these replies - why are people shooting at F8 in low light?? I find that really bizarre tbh. And F8 isn't particulary good for isolating your subject either. OP - you have some fast lenses there - use them!!
 
ryanyboy said:
Just reading some of these replies - why are people shooting at F8 in low light?? I find that really bizarre tbh. And F8 isn't particulary good for isolating your subject either. OP - you have some fast lenses there - use them!!
Click to expand...

only reason I can think of is to maintain some more detail in the rest of the image, or to compensate for bad focusing.
 
The reason for suggesting f/8 is that it would appear (because he is asking the question) that the OP doesn't have the experience you or I have and would be much safer using on-camera flash and f/8. He's also not going to have the nice background you have in your wedding shot at a football club, so maybe best not to show much of it.
 
You can begin with:
Manual mode
ISO 800-1600
F4-5.6 max
Shutter 1/60-1/125
Use your zoom lens as it is easier to zoom in and out
On camera flash (ETTL) with bounce card, flash pointed up the ceiling. Direct flash doesn't look nice.
shoot RAW so you have better adjustment leeway
 
markw08 said:
Shot some photos in a disco last year, used settings that Tdodd recommended..

Camera: Manual, 1/60, F8 and ISO 800-1600
Flash: TTL -1/3

The flash froze the action and the high ISO took in the ambient light.

:thumbs:
Click to expand...

I can't believe ever recommending f/8 for something like that. For a wedding reception type shot then 1/60-1/100, f/2.8 and 1600 ISO is my typical starting point. Bounced flash takes care of the shortfall.

<------------------------------------------------------------------>

But the exact settings do need adjusting to take into account the actual ambient light levels and the desired visual effect. Do you want shallow DOF or not? Do you want the background dark or properly exposed?

One thing is for sure - I'd set the background exposure manually, so it wasn't fracking about all over the place as the guests arrived wearing all manner of attire.

Practice beforehand would be a wise precaution, if you are able, unless you have the confidence to know what adjustments to make on the fly.

For failsafe, shoot raw and switch to P (for Panic) mode with evaluative metering, and hope. Check your histogram and look for clipped highlights in the preview image. If you want to adjust the brightness of the background you can use the EC dial. If you want to adjust the brightness of the subject(s) then use the FEC control. Do not use Av mode under any circumstances. Try to position yourself so that there is nothing in the frame that will reflect flash light straight back at the camera, such as windows, mirrors, large expanses of white wall or anything else that could screw with the metering.

Here's an example with my 30D with a manual exposure at 1/60, f/2.8, 1600 ISO and bounced flash at +2/3, no edits except white balance and some sharpening. If this is close to the look you want then at least you have a starting point from which to work....

20080829_203028_2990_LR-3.jpg


You might also want to think about focal length, subject distance and perspective. Will you be fighting for elbow room and need to get in close with a wide angle, or will you have a clear shot from a little further back and be able to narrow the FOV and exclude a lot of the background? I don't need the answer, but you should give it some thought.

Good luck. :)
 
Thanks for everyone who took the time to reply!!! The generosity of the TP members is second to none!!!

Some great info for me to digest and practice...gonna go to the club and suss it out before the party...hope they wont mind!

Thanks to Ryan and Tim for posting up their images...if I can get results anywhere near them I'll be very happy!

Regards Steve
 
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