Taking Pictures in a Gym

Hi - I have been doing photography for about 2 years. I have been asked to take

graduation photos of a kindergarten class but I am not sure about a few things. I

can stand anywhere I wish. And it is my intention to ask the teacher handing out

the awards on stage to turn towards me and have the kids do the same so I can

capture the shots. However, my problem is what is the best way to print them

off. I have two options, one is to take the pictures and print them off at the

graduation (there are 80 kids), and the other is to have the parents sign a sheet

with their name and address and send them to them. What would you suggest.

This is a private school so I am doing this without cost to anyone, hoping in doing

this I will be able to expand my client base. What do you suggest and if you have

any suggestions on what lens I should shoot with and at what shutter

speed/aperature that would be helpful as well.

The best lens choice depends on the camera. In full frame I would say anywhere from a 50 up to a 135mm lens would be best, probably an 85mm lens. Speed and aperature are going to depend on the amount of light in the gym, the speed of your lens and if you are using flash or not. No flash in typical gym lighting is going to call for about f/2, 1/125s and ISO800 give or take a stop. I would use whatever is necessary to get the minimum depth of field possible that leaves the teacher and pupil in focus. Even if they are 'stopping' I find that young children are rarely that still compared to an adult, I would use at least 1 stop higher then the minimum rule to get them in focus (1/focal length in full frame).

 

I would go with the solution for printing that is cheapest for you and ensures decent results since you are doing this for free. Printing at graduate sounds like it could take quite some time if there is anything like 80 prints, and since you are doing it for free I would expect most parents would ask for it.

I'm not a pro, but I am a pragmatist. I donate proffessional services quite a bit, but I'm not sure I'd go into a financial hole with the printing. your donating a proffessional photographers time and a picture. I'd ask if they will cover the cost of your paper/ink, printing, and/or mailing. At the standard cost of the print alone, they're getting a great gifty from you.

I do freebie stuff like this. But I don't offer prints. I burn CDs, which are cheap and relatively easy to do in reasonable batches. Let the parents make their own prints. Besides, they might want to take advantage of the custom stuff you can do at those Aladdin and Kodak kiosks at Wal-wart, Costco, wherever. They can add text, borders, etc.

 

In large batches I'd consider setting up an account on a website that allows parents to download high resolution photos. Saves even more effort compared with burning dozens of CDs.

 

As for exposure advice, yikes! Better start practicing now. Don't wait 'til the actual event. Get permission to take a few test photos in the gym or auditorium beforehand to check lighting conditions, white balance (assuming digital) or, if shooting film, whether the color film you prefer can handle the artificial lights (Fuji color negative films work pretty well in school lighting). If the light is really bad you'll probably want to use flash - be sure this is okay first.

I'd go with Lex, and put the images on a web site where the parents could download or buy prints directly off the site. You can usually set your own prices so maybe you break even on gas. I've used dotphoto.com and have had good experiences with them. Good Luck.

If you don't know what your lighting conditions are in the gym, mercury vapor or low pressure sodium it would be best to fire your flash.

Use your flash compensation -1 or -2, you could also go down -1 or -1 1/2 in your EV values. This is relative to how far you are from your subject. Using the negative flash comp. or neg. EV will help so you don't overexpose the skin tones.

For image distribution. you could creat a free accocunt at adorama.com.

First get everyones email that is interested.

Then all you do is create an album. You can then make the album private to everyone except those people that you email the link to. From there they are free to download or order prints as they chose.