School pupil photos lighting

GFWilliams

GFWilliams

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,360
Name
GF
Edit My Images
No
I have been asked to take a photo of every student and teacher at school for a yearbook. This is about 750 students.

I am going to be shooting it with my Nikon D300, and SB-600 off camera and probably a reflector in front of either a studio background or the chapel.

What is a reliable setup to take so many photos?
Should I get an umbrella for my flash? if so, what type and how should I mount it?
Should I use my 50mm or my 18-200mm VR?
Any random tips?

Thanks alot

George
 
I would go for the 50mm (75mm Equiv on the cropped body) as the pupils will all be at the same distance away from the camera (more or less) and will give less distortion.

No other tips sorry, but good luck with it :)
 
Are they going to be individual photographs or groups?

If individuals and you have enough room to work with I would probably use the 70-300 at the 70mm end at about f5.6, or you could use the mid point area of the 18-200 to give you a bit more versatility.

Can you borrow (or hire) a studio flash unit and either a softbox or brolly? this would be much more convenient with faster recycling and for the number of people you are planning on shooting this will become a problem over time with your SB600.

I would probably have the main light (through brolly or softbox or bounced off a brolly) to the high left of the camera with a white reflector to the left side of the sitter to reflect some light back into the shadows.

Take a few shots with an assistant to gauge the correct exposure, use manual and set the shutter speed to 1/125. Once you have the correct exposure for an aperture of about f5.6 (you may have to alter the power of the flash head to acheive this) then leave the controls alone. All you have to do then is worry about the expression and focussing.

Try to engage with your sitters, NEVER ASK THEM TO SMILE, ask them to think about their favourite thing, sport, musical track, film, whatever, this should bring about a positive response.

Good luck, I used to like doing that sort of thing. The hard work is all in the setting up and making sure everything is correct before you start, after that it's a bit of a conveyer belt thing.
 
Following on from what Ed says, if you're shooting so many kids set the camera up on a tripod and then conveyor belt the wee shi....darlings through in rapid sucession.

You can get decent umbrellas for loose change on Ebay, you'll also need a lightstand (or a spare tripod) and an umbrella adaptor/swivel to join it all together. Another thing you're going to need is a supply of spare batteries for the flash and/or a fast recharger. Remember not to batter away taking too many shots in a row with the flash otherwise you'll fry it, always give it time to catch it's breath every so often.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top