80th bday party

[john_pyle1]

I have to shoot a 80th suprise bday party Sat night for a women's father who booked with me

last week. The party is in her home in an affluent part of town. She wants "set up" shots and

candids. I am assuming she is meaning posed shots. I have 20d canon with great l series

lenses but I have NO lighting as we are new in the photography business. What does

everyone recommend...using ambient light or purchasing studio lights or what??? This party

is a BIG DEAL and want to be professional. Thanks in advance. John<div></div>

[john_pyle1]

Original poster here...forgot to include I do have an 580 canon flash but what else do I need?

I don't want everyones face to be bright white up close. thanks again, John

[john at storybook pages]

bounce the flash. use a flash diffuser (lightshpere is a popular one). slow down the shuter and use ambient light.

 

may be too late on some of this. practice bouncing the flash before hand. go early and see what shutter speed the room lighting will allow.

 

practice. practice. practice.

good luck.

[russ_butner___portland__or]

That's pretty soon. Use a decent flash, diffuse it, bounce it & and drag the shutter (about 1/60th).

 

Russ

[timcorridan]

if its a big deal you need two of everything...

[ellery_chua___singapore]

John

 

You sound very ill prepared to take on this assignment. For your attached photo and follow up posting I sense you do not use the flash a lot or you cannot make it work sort of. If you are having problems with on camera flash, geting studio light will be even more challenging since you have to deal with manual flash and know how to set up, position ect, in theory there is some TTL control from the hot shoe mounted flashes.

 

The fact that you are assuming some things which the client has told you is also troubling.

 

If you are wanting to do this professionally, this job can either get you over a whole lot of humps real fast or make your repuatation lower than mud for this client. I assume the rate contract is a reasonable one and not a bargin basement deal - people living in high rent areas are not always so easy with their money.

 

Lights - suggest you rent not buy - unless the advance is large enough to pay for it. Paying first based on income not collected is risky. If you use your flash - test to understand how to use it reasonably well.

 

Bring more CF cards, camera and flash batts - digital its no batts or cf cards no show. Work flow needs to decided before hand - ie raw or jpgs.

 

If you go the way of renting - get them earlier and test test test but be aware that the site could have vastly different characteristics than your home. High ceiling, colored walls and ceiling, mirrors every where, no wall - its out doors under tentage. You need to have enough tech knowledge to deal with these on the go.

 

 

Did a 80 brithday a couple of weeks ago, it was interesting. There was no program given to me before hand, had to wing it all night long.

Their program as shown to be 20 minutes before the event was changed several times during event. Not that I am totally on top of my game - bearing getting to point to being able to cope with 85% of what ever curve balls are thrown at me. You will need to be very alert and cool headed on Sat - use the simplest flight path thru this job avoid complicated you never done it that way plans.

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

It's surprising that you have L lenses and you could come up with such a shot.

 

Your equipment is actually enough to do a competent job. Not the greatest but at least well exposed shots. The flash system on cameras nowadays are quite advanced and it does a reasonably good job left on ETTL/ETTLII.

 

However, do get a diffuser of some sort as this will make a difference in most circumstances. Especially indoors. I like using the lightsphere. It does blast even lighting around the whole room. Better than most diffusers but a bit bulkier. I've also used the omnibounce a lot but i have to use it on a bracket.

 

Since you actually have a photography business i don't really need to tell you that taking any paid jobs means being fully prepared. i.e. knowing your equipment, having backups etc.

[john_pyle1]

that pic was actually taken without the flash. I appreciate everyones feedback. Please visit

www.thatsagreatpicture.com to see my business. I guess my lowest comfort level is with

lighting so that is where I am studying and practicing. I think I will arrive way early to assess

the area. Please continue to offer suggestions. Thank you again.

[picturesque]

Without knowing what your client intends, it is hard to suggest lighting. At the very least be prepared to use on-camera flash with a modifier. Lightsphere is good but not if you get there and find the place is cavernous with dark colored walls and ceilings. If you have an LS bring it and another type of diffuser/modifier. For more posed shots or for family portraits and portraits of the gentleman, bring a simple off-camera set up. At the least another shoemount flash on a stand with an umbrella and a means of triggering it in conjunction with the shutter and on-camera flash. More powerful unit would be better. For the bigger groups, use the flash without the umbrella in conjunction with the on-camera if it isn't a high power unit. You'd be using the two flashes in the basic key/main to fill (on-camera) ratio. That way, you can quickly switch between the umbrella set up and candid mode, as the need dictates. If you are hot to purchase, and considering the time you have left, easiest would be to buy another EX flash (580EX, 420EX/430EX) if you already have a 580EX to act as on-camera master. The only other items would be a stand, a mounting bracket that accepts an umbrella, and the umbrella.

[afs760bf]

If set-up shots mean her dad and another person or two, and you can get a reasonable distance away, you can bounce the flash with no problem. If the setup shots include five generations of kids, grand-kids, and great-grandkids, you could have a chore on your hands, since you'll probably need to shoot it at about 35mm and diffuse the light really well. I hope you have talked to the lady and know how many people and what size venue. If not, you should probably call and rehearse what she wants and who will be there. Then practice accordingly. Good luck.

[anner]

You can do a good job with what you already have (provided a wide lens is included in

your equipment). Just K.I.S.S. and bounce your 580EX at a 45 angle degree with the built

in flash card out- pics will look fine. You'll need the wide angle for large group shots in

tight spaces.

[jasonsmith]

John - I offer this as constructive critisism so please dont take me the wrong way. I dont know whether you took the photo posted but it is obviously underexposed, poorly composed and very amateur-ish. If someone is paying you guys to shoot their event you will have to do a lot better than that.

 

You dont need studio lights for a party - particularly one with a lot of seniors and kids their. As with most situations where you have little control over the lighting you will definately need a flash. I would use the Canon Speedlight fitted with a Stofen Omni Bounce on TTL. As you are shooting digital you can review the images imediately and tweak the exposure if you need to.

 

As it's an 80th - make sure you gets LOTs of photographs of the father, family and friends together.