Photographing a kids party.

In regard to people who don't want photos taken or displayed on social media, I have taken pics at a couple of parties for my girls, and asked parents when they drop the kids off, 1 for a contact no incase of emergency 2, do they have any objection to photos being taken, yes or no, if no would u b ok if some are posted on FB flickr etc. then get the parents to sign giving consent or, make a note of what the child is wearing etc, so as when u r editing you can see who u can us, just needs to b a sheet with the questions u are asking at the top and then lines like a petiition looking sht, sorry for waffling hope makes sense
 
Great :D So would I be using the flash head pointed at whatever I'm shooting with that? I've done studio work and know the purpose of the softbox there so I'm assuming it's just the same here.. would you suggest dialing down the power on the flash? Or is that dependent on location lighting etc?
 
I would use it in auto mode, as obviously you lose some of the light intensity with it on, if you find it still a touch to powerful, just drop the ev of the flash back a touch, I'd think half a stop should do it, then use it direct as opposed to bouncing off anything
 
Ah awesome. So how does exposing manually work with flash? Like I mentioned earlier, I've literally never used one. Would I be better in aperture priority as the flash will mean the shutter can't go above 200?
 
This may sound really daft but, I would personally do for a shutter speed of around 1/6, with a front curtain synced flash, you will freeze your subject but then allow the ambient light in, and you can get a bit creative, shutter drag, zoom burst etc, if you wanted tonjust freeze the subject I would go with a shutter around 150, have you decided which flash to go for?, the Canon will auto go into auto mode when attached, if you then go to the menu on the camera body, there is an option called external flash control, you can lower the power etc from within this option, on auto mode (ettl) the flash will detect what settings it thinks it needs to get the correct exposure, I usually find they have a tendency to overexpose, so I would drop the power back manually just a touch
 
Missed the bit about AV mode, I would shoot manual myself, as with some non Canon flashes the body doesn't take inti consideration the flash when calculating which f stop it wants, so you can end up with very varied results
 
Not 100% sure yet.. would prefer a Canon flash but will need to see how much cash is available!

I'm sure, once I've got one, I'll be back with more q's! It's really easy to get overwhelmed and feel vastly out of my depth when I don't have one here to put into the different settings and see what happens!
 
If you get stuck with anything feel free to drop me a pm, I was thinking, maybe if you out your camera on a tripod, find a subject such as a mug or piece of fruit on on your kitchen side, take a few shots using your pop up flash each time changing the intensity of the flash, again from within the menu options in the camera, that will give you an idea of how varying the ev of the flash will change the image, then dobthe same this time with a small piece of paper/bubble wrap or even a cut of piece of milk bottle in front of the flash, acting as a diffuser to see how much softer the light is
 
I'll give that a go when it arrives, thanks very much Darrell :D
 
No problem, you can also do it with the inbuilt flash as that allows its setting to be changed too
 
toadstool said:
Ah awesome. So how does exposing manually work with flash? Like I mentioned earlier, I've literally never used one. Would I be better in aperture priority as the flash will mean the shutter can't go above 200?
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It's not really manual if you're using TTL as the flash is automatically dictating the right exposure. Cameras can make some weird decisions on settings with flash if you're not careful so manual exposure but auto flash is the way to go.

Don't let this get too complicated. Buy a TTL Canon flash with a two-way head, stick it in manual 1/160 f4 ISO 400 or 800, and try it out, adjusting to taste. I presume you have access to kids to practice? I predict your main concern won't be settings, it will be (or should be!) getting in with the kids, coming up with some great compositions and capturing some precious moments. Don't let the technical stuff occupy all your time, the parents who want the photos as keepsakes won't give a stuff what sort of lighting was used, but they will really treasure a well-composed, well-timed snap of their little one.
 
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Hi guys! Well, the flash arrived! And I was finally able to see the hall... it doesn't look like bouncing flash is going to work at all! The ceilings are miles high and the walls are beige :\

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I recently did a similar thing for my grand kids birthday party, I had only just got my Canon 6D so I had no flash gun and the camera has no pop up flash but shot in high iso, no problem, but you will find the face painter a great help as the kids will be either waiting in line or sitting getting the face painted so makes the photographers life a lot easier to get great snaps
 
Thanks Colin, I'm just worried with the really high windows combined with a really dull day that even a high ISO won't be enough!

I've never used flash before either and not sure what options I have when not bounced. I have the pop-on "softbox" diffuser thing mentioned earlier but even with flash dialed right down, it still seems very harsh..

I'll have a Canon 500D with 17-50 2.8 and 5D with 50mm 1.8 and a flash gun.
 
Well, the party was Saturday. The conditions weren't ideal; the lights were on and off all day, the blinds were opening and closing, one light was on then 3 were on then all were off and then back on again. A lot of the kids, although forewarned I would be there, were clearly feeling awkward. The flare from the windows towards the end was an obstacle, albeit a pretty easy one that I like the results from. I decided to crank the ISO and leave the flash. Overall? I'm pleased. I was dreading it. My mum has just been diagnosed with cancer and the last thing I wanted to do was photograph an event I was already pretty anxious about... but there was nothing riding on it. I wasn't obligated to produce anything and my conscience got the better of me; I went anyway. And I had fun. Quite a lot of it, actually!

As mentioned, I used a Canon 500D with Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 and a Canon 5D with 50mm 1.8. Here are a few of my favourites from the day. I know the processing won't be to everyones tastes.

 
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