Graduation Ceremony

<p>I'm shooting a graduation ceremony at the end of the month. It's indoor with a grad group of about 45 students, usually seated three deep. I shot the same event last year with... results I wasn't impressed with and I know what and what not to do this year. Kind of.<br>

Stats:<br>

<ul>

<li>Nikon d300, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.8 (plus a 10-20mm, 55-200 f4 (or something) and a 24mm at my disposal)</li>

<li>Nikon SB-800 flash</li>

<li>It's a large room with high ceilings (local community communiplex/hockey arena).</li>

<li>I have the freedom to be anywhere I need to be during the ceremony</li>

</ul>

<br>

It's not the easiest event ever to shoot but I know their lighting set up this year (and I can be there when they set their lights up to balance them out much better than last year) but what I'm really looking at is flash modifiers (if at all necessary?) for shooting this. I don't like the effect of direct light and I'm pretty sure the ceilings aren't going to be any good to bounce light off. What would be my best bet to use to get enough light spread evenly for closer shots (I'm not as horribly concerned over the group shots) as a modifier on my flash? What other things should I be watching for/would be good techniques to implement in a situation like this one?</p>

<p>Jina -</p>

<p>I'd go for either a Gary Fong or similar diffusor and shoot on camera or use the sb-800 as an area flash (in a corner aimed up) and trigger it with the on camera.</p>

<p>Whichever you go with - try it first.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

If you can, have time to set up, use 2 flash units positioned about 3 feet on each side of your camera. You can shoot through white umbrellas triggered by a pocket wizard or some sort of radio slave unit. So perhaps rent some studio strobes that can put out at least 400 watt seconds

I wouldn't bounce for 2 reasons, the first is the sb800 probably doesn't have enough kick to bounce off the ceiling and light up 3 rows with 45 people. The second reason is most hockey rinks have tungsten lights above the rink so your sb800 and the tungsten lights won't match as far as color tones go.

If you can bring a ladder that would help too by getting eye level to your subjects.

<p>What is your buget?<br>

http://www.borrowlenses.com/category/white-lightning<br>

a white lightning 1600 is only $29 for a week. get two of them on light stands and illuminate the entire room.</p>

<p>Heck, with that kind of power you will likely be able to bounce off the ceiling and still get good coverage. Best of all they can be remote triggered with your SB600 if you shoot in manual, and they will also be triggered by all of the P&S cameras without TTL making them have to buy your prints >:-)</p>

<p>Ugh...good luck. I shot a graduation this weekend, the second time I've done the graduation for this school. Unfortunately, the year between them was long enough to forget how awful the first time around was....I've learned there is a reason graduation photo companies exist. I figured this would be good exposure for my business, but considering the results from shooting in a dark room, at a moving subject that may or may not look at the camera, I don't think I did myself any favors.<br>

That being said-are you doing the grip & go when they get their diplomas, and shots of them sitting? I would also suggest getting a photo as they approach the podium, and another as they head away, to cover your bases. I used a second photographer to get the shots of the graduates recieving their diplomas-she shot with a 70-200 lens from the back of the room, and I perched on the edge of the stage with a 100mm to get the graduates as they walked back to their seats.<br>

Lighting wise, I think a bounce card would work pretty well if you are close to the stage/podium. If they do have a stage, you'll want to get at the same level or above it, to avoid nostril shots.<br>

Good luck!</p>