Just a beginner

[ttibby]

Hi, I am just about to do my first photoshoot and have a couple of

questions about lighting.

 

First, the shoot will be indoors at the bar where the band plays.

There are already 3 follow spots and 6 flood lamps that I can use,

if I take out the Gels they will be white light. They will be on

constantly, not like a strobes, does that make a difference.

 

I can position them to get rid of the shadow, or I can use them in

any combination or with color gels to get a shadow effect. Should I

do a White Balance everytime I make a change to the gels or to the

positions of the lights.

 

Should I still use my hot shoe flash, The recycle rate is a bit

slow. I bought a generic to tide me over untill I could afford the

540.

 

The lens that I will be using is a bit slow, 28-105 3.5:4.5 on a

Canon 10D. Maybe will also use the 70-300 3.5:5.4 for some shots.

This will be my friend and his guitar, maybe drums in the background

of some shots. But the focus will be on one person only.

 

I'm in the process of buliding and equipment bank, but I also have

an itchy shutter finger. Any help would be appreciated if you can

help me make this shoot a little better. I am not too worried as I

am doing it for a friend, but I still wouldn't want to make him

waste his time!

 

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

Cheers,

 

Eric R Thibodeau...

[kbreak]

Use your flash, drag the shutter to something like 1/8th second to pick up the colored lights.

 

Now forget the technical stuff and just worry about getting a flattering photo of your friend.

 

That's the important thing anyways.

 

www.kevinbrake.com

www.kevinbreak.com

[asimh]

here are couple of threads regarding this if you want yet more info.

<p>

<a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/179133

">link 1 (idk if you have to be registered to view or not)</a><p>

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009NM4

">link 2</a>

[ttibby]

I guess the best experience is to bite the bullet. All your info has helped. Kevin, I checked your site, you have a great portfolio. There is no guest book though so I couldn't sign it. But I'll give you Kudos here.

 

Thanks guys.

I'll post some of them here and maybe you can give me little critiques on them, if you have the time!

 

Cheers,

 

Eric R Thibodeau...

[sc21]

I've shot in a few clubs for a friend's band and the best lens you could use is the 50mm f/1.8. It's very sharp and fast, and a great people lens, especially on the 10D. (The 28mm 2.8 would be my second choice.)

 

Metering was a problem for me, since this was with an EOS-1, but with the 10D you'll be able to see what you're getting with the histogram (set it for 4 sec, at the lowest brightness of the screen to save your battery).

 

Depending on how much they move, you'll want at least 1/60th sec - more if they're jumping round crazy.

 

Straight-on flash is awful for stage shots - takes away the ambience and molding. If you use it, set it for second-curtain sync (and maybe Av, all the way open, to bring out the background).

 

Finally, shoot RAW (beg and borrow for enough memory cards), bring an extra battery, and watch the band for those moments of connection, like looking at each other, or leaning into each other, or holding up their guitars at the end of the set, and so on. Getting a light behind someone's head gives a great halo effect, too. And don't forget backstage before and after shots.

 

Good luck!