shooting high school grad

Hi.

 

My high school grad is in a week. However, due to the highly limited

budget, the equipment I have is a Canon Rebel G, a zoom with f4 at

wide end and f5.6 at other. The only flash would be the on-camera

flash. I had being looking to get the 50mmf1.8 for half a year now,

but without success. The lighting will be tungsten. To offset the

ugly orange color and red eye, I had decided to use the Kodak B&W

400.

 

The main effect I want to avoid is the "deer in the headlight". By

using the default "Program" mode I will get that effect. Perhaps I

can use flash+Av, which would expose the background. Or I can just

use Av which "should" give me a correct exposure. But which one

would yield a result that's more pleasing on a BW film?

 

Could anyone give me some suggestions as to how to shoot the

occasion well? I will not be shooting any of the speakers. Only

posed/candid of me, family, friends, and the dance. For the dance, I

did think about using a color film and a slow flash sync to get

those psychedelic colors.

You might want to also try for one roll using something like Delta 3200 or TMZ

for some available light candids. They're quite grainy, but can yield some

very interesting looking shots.

 

If the lighting is tungsten, why not also get some tungsten balanced film like

Ektachome 320T or Fuji NPL?

What about renting?

One of the reasons I had decided to use BW400 is due to I have a roll of the stuff.

 

According to the Kodak website, (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/f15/f15.shtml#push%20processing) the film can be pushed from 400 to 3200.. a 3 stop push. How is the image quality?

 

For how long can the 3200 Delta be kept in a fridge?

Delta 3200 does not need to be refrigerated.

 

Lemme find a sample pic of Delta 3200 one sec...

As for the tungsten film, they are rated quite low (320). With a max of f4, I'm already starved for light. Furthurmore, against all advice, I do have to buy film from a drugstore. The high shipping cost to Canada makes Adorama and B&H unrealistic. The local store has fairly low price on films, for example, 4.92USD for a roll of 3200 Delta, compared to 4.49 from B&H. The store does not carry tungsten films.

 

Renting equipment is completely out of question for my parents. As I'm not out of high school yet, they do still have the final authority.

Here's one... not the greatest, but shot in quite low light...<div></div>

You don't say whether you will be using a tripod. Trying to expose for the

background will result in extremely slow shutter speeds. You will not be able to

handhold (assuming that the light levels are low) especially given your slow lens. Even

with a tripod you can find it difficult to stop subject motion (second curtain sync

helps - people tend to relax after the flash- but this is not an option for your built in

flash).

 

If you are handholding then set the shutter speed to the flash sync speed, set the

aperture to maximum, and use the flash to expose the main subjects. This will result

in a dark background. Pose your subjects a several steps in front of a uniform surface

like a wall and the effect is not unpleasant. You should get enough flash to give

texture to the background without any real detail.

 

How large is your zoom ? Often large lenses block the built in flash and produce dark

half circles across the bottom of the frame. This normally affects shots taken with

short subject distances and wide angles.

 

You will need to use the flash and it would be much better if you could beg or borrow

an external hotshoe flash unit. If you intend to take more than a single roll or if you

have had the batteries in your camera for a long time you might want to grab an extra

set - the built-in flash drains quite a bit of juice.

 

I would take a few rolls of film including some faster film. You won't get a second

chance at this so it pays to take a lot of pictures.

Amazing. I just browsed the BH webpage.. and found their USA made f1.8 to be in stock. I just ordered one.. should get here in 2~3 days.