kris-bochenek Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Hello, I was aked to shoot baptism of a friend's baby boy, I have d40x with Sigma 70-300, Nikon 18-55, Nikon 55-200 and SB600 with Stofen mounted on it Do you think this will do or do I need to get a better lenses.Please note that this is going to be a small ceremony 15-20 people top and church allows flash photography. Please help Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Yes, your gear is fine for flash photography. Be sure to read up on dragging the shutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 how to avoid overexposure if I extend the time the shutter is open (dragging the shutter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_gillette Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 http://planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/3-dragging-the-shutter/ There are several related articles there. If you can check out the church before hand, it may help with the practicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffcauble Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Flash exposure is not affected by shutter speed as long as your shutter is under your camera's sync speed. I would assume the Nikon with SB600 has TTL metering so all you need to do is set a manual exposure at the aperture you would like and then set your shutter as slow as allowable without causing blurring from handholding or the subject moving. For example if you meter the light in the Church and it is 5.6 at 1/15 you could set your camera to f/5.6 and your shutter to 1/30 and the flash would illuminate the subject and the rest of the photo would be underexposed by a stop. I'm sure others can explain it better but the most important thing to remember is that aperture is for the flash, shutter is for the ambient light. That keeps it simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Kris--you should not be getting overexposure if dragging the shutter with flash. It is a specific technique to end up with correctly exposed flash images which also have some of the ambient or background light showing up in the image, to avoid black or very dark backgrounds. Go to planetneil.com, under Techniques, and read the article about using on-camera flash. If you are very new at this, I would recommend that you use Program with the flash on TTL (not TTL-BL), and learn how to compensate the flash so you can control it during the ceremony. If flash is allowed and you can move around and get close to the proceedings, you will not need a tripod or anything and need to concentrate on following what is happening and getting clear shots. A baptism is sometimes busy and crowded, and at other times, you are restricted and nobody but the family can get on the altar. It depends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Hey thanks, Craig, for linking directly to the pertinent part in the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 but the gear should be fine, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffcauble Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 If you understand how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l_e Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Seriously? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 The gear is fine if you are going to use flash. The primary reason is because the use of flash means you can use the medium apertures (f4, f5.6, f8) and still get good, well exposed pictures if you apply some skill. If you didn't use flash, you would be well served to get faster lenses, which will help a great deal in getting good exposures while keeping blur to a minimum, as well as keeping the ISO down. Your current lenses are not considered fast for zooms. The image quality produced is not the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 > but the gear should be fine, right? < What is your particular concern, which has not been addressed? On the practical side (adding to the creative Dragging the shutter to get Church Ambient Light): in a small Church and Flash Allowed, (and assuming reasonable ability to roam discretely), I would likely do it all with the 18 to 55 looking at driving that lens at around F6.3 to F8 with the Flash and Stofen. Outside, in open shade, for example, I might get creative with a longer lens and some selective DoF. The only `gear problem` I note is: what is your second camera, should your D40x fail? and do you consider this necessary? WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Oh hello Nadine . . . are we trading thoughts again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_gillette Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 No thanks needed. I "found" Planetneil from a forum thread at some point, just passing it on. :) It can be hard to find good sources of information with so many sites out there. Planetneil is one of the really good ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 Thank you all for help William I did not consider second body but it's a good idea to take another D40x Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 William--apparently. Great minds, and all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Kris, you`re welcome. What you might like to try is a few Available Light shots in the Church, especially of the Child at the Font etc. . if you use the kit lens at the wide end, it will have the fastest aperture and pump up the ISO, the warm tones from the Church light will be nice, I think. I mean to do this as well, and AFTER you have the Flash shots, as ``extras`` if you like. . . So you need to practice your release technique at a slow shutter speeds and timing when the child is most retrained and moving the least. FYI, similar but on a different subject, but using a kit lens in low light sans flash: [Jun 09, 2008; 04:51 a.m.] http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00PlCx WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 William, One more thing to ask what lens would you recomend for me to get within a $300-500 range I am thinking something fast and something I can use on multiple ocasions Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Well, there is fast and there is ``fast``. I subscribe the latter definition and that means F2, or faster and that means a Prime Lens. If you are still with me thus far, then I am quite firm in my view that the most useful for a range applications on multiple occasions is a ``normal`` lens: that is to say a normal Field of View. So that means, on you camera, something around: 24mm (wide); 28mm (slightly wide); 30mm (normalish) 35mm (normalish). Now looking at the Nikon line up, the passion (and advice) often is to go for one of the 50mm lenses, because they are fast (F1.8 and F1.4), and they are relatively inexpensive: but I am strongly of the view that something like the 35mm F2 is more useful, in a general sense, even though it is about a third of a stop / a stop slower. I have not used this 35mm lens. The Sigma 30mmF1.4 has a following, I have not used this lens either, nor do I know the price, but it certainly is fast (er) than the Nikon options. Sigma also have a 20mm, 24mm, 28mm all at F1.8. Now the Sigma 30mm is a DC series: and the 20; 24 and 28 are DG series. Basically both series, (Sigma say), are ``optimized for digital``, especially in regard to distortions and aberrations, But importantly the DG series have an image circle which throws to cover 135 format (i.e. ``full frame``) but the DC series is designed so that the image circle matches the smaller size of the image sensor of ``most`` digital SLR cameras. The ``most`` means APS-C format, which your D40x is, and should you mount a DC series lens on a other than APS- C format, it will cause a vignette, So my advice is a get a fast Prime Lens, around the FL of 28mm to 35mm. There are many, many reasons why a `normal` lens is the most useful as a general lens. Suffice to say almost all camera manufactures, historically, have always responded to the need for a fast normal prime, (and I do not think it is a Chicken and Egg question, I do believe it was a response to a user need), as the mainstay of the lens line up: right up until the invention of the DSLR, APS-C format, where the focus has been placed more on the zoom kit lens (17ish to 55ish) to replicate the `standard` zoom found previously on many film 35mm (24ish to 80ish). I do not think it is backwards thinking or old fashioned to consider a prime lens: the fact of the matter is, you can`t get fast and inexpensive, without going there. WW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Primes would be great, however most of them do not autofocus on my D40x even though I am not that concerned about that because I mostly use manual focus mode for my macro photography it would be a nice thing to have the only AFS equivalent is Sigma 30mm HSM do you know of any other lenses (primes) that will AF with my D40x like Tamron or any other 3rd party of even Nikon. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned1 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Are you sure flash will be allowed? Check ahead with the priest. If it is, your flash shouldn't be directed toward the baby as their eyes are very light sensitive. You should bounce it off a wall or ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 yes it will be this will be a small ceremony just about 15-20 people top. and will be after the mass not durning the priest said it would be ok to use the flash ceiling is about 20ft high so I might have to use a bounce card, but dont you think the stofen cap would be sufficient enough for this? I do not usualy shoot baptisms or weddings but couldn't say NO to them they are kinda in a pinch right now and I guess cannot afford a pro. plus this might be a good opportunity to try out my gear in this kinda situation. I'm more into nature photography and sometimes shoot candids of my family and people on the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdigi Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Kris in my limited knowledge of flash I would think with a ceiling that high you would want a bounce card and maybe a slight forward tilt of your flash head to allow more light forward. I like the Lightsphere but lately I have been using a stofen cap and or a bounce card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I'd recommend that you don't get distracted by trying to use a prime without flash for this event. If it is a small event, it will probably be over pretty quick and you will have enough to think about just covering everything. As I said, baptisms differ. Sometimes there is a lot ritual and you aren't allowed on the altar. Sometimes, it is very casual, and the officiator invites everyone there to stand around during the actual ceremony, which means you are left scrambling for position and zooming to the wide end. I would just be ready to shoot with flash, and stay alert, unless you can find out exactly what will happen. Plus, there is a bit of movement in a baptism, unlike a wedding, so if you are expecting no motion blur, you will need flash, particularly since up until the D3 and D300, high ISO was not all that great on Nikons. I don't know what the situation is though--is it during the day and is the church bright? As for a bounce modifier, it will be dependent upon the actual conditions there. Color of ceiling and walls, etc. An Omnibounce is not that much different from direct flash in a room that isn't small and white. It is, however, less dependent upon the conditions to return something usable, and is less finicky re setting it just so... If this is what you are used to, I'd use it. Unless you have time to experiment with other modifiers...and you will have to do so in the actual location, not in your living room at home. These things are different in each situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris-bochenek Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Thank you Nadine and everyone else for your outstanding help I will however be looking for to purchase at least one prime lens (not for this ocassion) that will actually work with my D40x I am shooting for Sigma 30mm 1.4 HSM as William suggested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now