emc

Dear photographers,

I will be shooting my first onsite portrait photos for a corporate holiday

party in about 6 weeks. This will be my first time using a background scenic

drop which raised a few questions pertinent to the setup. My previous

experience with portraits has always been natural backgrounds such as gardens,

foliage, or urban settings with brick, buildings, and cars. Lighting has always

been through the use of reflectors and off camera flash slaves (i.e. Nikon SB-

600)

1) What size background is typically used when posing 2-4 people? The

background will be a simple blue tone with white snowflakes.

2) What is the typical portrait composition or expectations for guests in

formal wear? (i.e. - 3/4 length portrait or full length? If full length, is the

background drop a seamless 10' or longer?)

3) Lighting will be supplied by two Alien Bees 800s with two medium 32" x 40"

softboxes. One will be positioned to each side of the subjects to minimize

shadows. Is a dedicated third light required for lighting the background behind

the subject? Would a 3rd Alien Bees 400 suffice?

The room dimensions are 21' x 25'. I will be using a Nikon D200 and Nikon 24-

120 lens. Any suggestions for other problems I have not yet considered are

welcomed.

Thank you in advance.

- Eugenio C.

Thank you all for your thoughtful and well guided responses. I appreciate the variety and depth of suggestions.

For this particular exhibit, I will more than likely seek out new material. A visit to the restaurant is a must as I am interested to see what their current decor consists of. My initial feeling is to present images of our coastline or something of a nautical genre in black & white print.

Thank you again.

- Eugenio

This question pertains to those have participated in exhibiting work

throughout their community or perhaps someone who has a marketing approach

that can make a helpful suggestion.

As part of a local art gallery, I have signed up to present 6 pieces in the

community in a local establishment. The business that was selected for me was

a "members only" type restaurant where predominently affluent and the likes of

business leaders dine.

I am looking for suggestions on "do's" and "don'ts" for making selections to

hang. Specifically, I would like to target the aforementioned audience with

the opportunity to possibly sell a piece and at the same time have a fluid

presentation of similar works or as "part of a collection."

1. Would you select 6 photos from your portfolio that are similar in type?

(i.e. - 6 landscapes, 6 macro, 6 food, architecture, vehicles, etc.)

2. What type of photo might fare best? (i.e. B/W, Holga, color)

3. I'm am originally from another state. Would it be a faux pas to print and

hang images from another recognized city, state, coastline, etc?

4. Would it be cliche' to hang images of food? (i.e. macros of specific fruit,

veggies, wine bottles/glasses, cutlery, ...you get the point)

5. Would it be cliche' to display images from within the city?

Please feel free to browse my member gallery for a sense of my previous work.

Many thanks,

Eugenio

(PS. - Photo.net = the mentor I never had)

Robert - I have a Sigma 17-35 f2.8 on the way. I figure I'll get a request to shoot the Holiday Party in December so I'll need it then too.

JC - Free tux rental included with the job. :) Thanks for the "no eat/smoke/drink" photo tip! I hadn't really thought of it, but I can see where it can be somewhat rude and not flattering.

Steve - Gotcha on the ambient lighting thing. I am anticipating low lighting so I'll do the best I can there.

Luca - I haven't had the best of luck with RAW. On my old Hitachi 4GB MicroDrive, the camera buffer (D100) gets full quick and leaves my camera disabled until everything is written to the card - VERY frustrating! My newer SanDisk Extreme II seems to have a *much* better r/w spped. Perhaps I'll have the 2nd D100/SB-600 over my other shoulder to fill in while the buffer clears on the first camera.

Thanks all for your comments. Only a few more days and counting until the event. I'll post some follow-up photos for your review next weekend

Thanks again,

Eugenio

Greetings fellow Photo.net patrons.

I was invited (and asked nicely) by my company to photograph one of our

upcoming black tie social and dinner events. (I am the office's official

photographer these days.) The setting calls for indoor and outdoor photography

beginning at 4:30PM and ending sometime in the evening around 9PM. The sun

sets at around 6:15 these days so I am anticipating constantly changing light

not to mention indoor incandescent vs. sunlight. I anticipate the facility

where the event is being held to be inadequately or dimly lit at best. I've

photographed 2 weddings "for friends" and had decent results. The environment

or people do not worry me as much as the settings described above.

I have not been given any specific instruction or request for photos, but the

event will feature some of the following elements: ice sculpture, food buffet

w/ carving station, outdoor fountain, horse drawn carriage, floral

arrangements, etc. In addition, VIP's and local politicians will be present.

Do's and Don'ts: Is there any particular etiquette I should follow in terms of

when to and when not to photograph? Is it courteous to request a photo of a

guest rather than just candidly snapping away? I imagine there will be a

presentation or guest speaker at some point. A tuxedo will be provided for the

event so appearance is not a concern. I may eat something in advance so that I

can remain productive throughout the evening.

Equipment & redundancy checklist:

(2) Nikon D100 bodies w/ grips & extra batteries

(2) Nikon SB-600 w/ Stofen diffusers, WB gels, & plenty of batteries (16 or so)

(1) Nikon SC-28 sync cord

(1) Stroboframe Pro-T w/ anti-twist plates (just ordered today!)

(2) 2GB cards

(The extra gear will more than likely be locked in a closet)

Ok - which lens to use? The widest angle lenses I currently have are a Nikon

24-120 VR 3.5-5.6 and Sigma 28-70 2.8-4. I'm not totally thrilled with either

of these lenses in previous situations where the light was dim. The pictures

were slightly out of focus or too soft. I would like something wider somewhere

around 18mm, but I'm not too sure there is much difference there. Should I

invest in a 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 for this event? Should I consider a super wide

angle lens such as a Sigma 10-20?

Flash usage - bounce flash with a card or stick with the Stofen? Red eye

should be minimized if not completely eliminated with the bracket - correct?

Additionally, there shouldn't be a need to enable the red eye reduction

feature on the flash - agreed? I've never used a flash/flip bracket before.

Tips there would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your insights, suggestions, "gotchas", and encouragement. I

anticipate the evening to be a success. I have a week to prepare so thanks for

the prep talk.

- Eugenio

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"Bawls Blue" - local network LAN/gaming center display

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Hmm, let's try that again...

Sam, I was in the EXACT same boat as you last week! Wow... my fiance and I are both were interested in the exact same advice you are seeking here. I will tell you right now, PACK your gear and shoot! We had both planned on taking our D100 bodies (laugh) with grips and decided a few things before we left: 1) take the grips off to make the cameras look more wimpy, 2) leave 1 D100 behind in case we got ripped off. After our trip had concluded we had both regretted not bringing more stuff. I am from Florida and I will say one thing - New York residents get a bad rap. They are some of the friendliest people I've met. Everyone I spoke with gave us good advice. Take advice on directions with a grain of salt. We asked five different people for directions and got five different answers.

An observation to add: if you're gonna bring some gear, carry it in a shoulder type bag or low key backpack. Walk around for a while. If you're there for more than one day take an afternoon to get comfortable with your surroundings. Talk to people. Ask questions. Adopt the "New Yorker" cold stare and fast pace. As soon as you do those things you'll feel like you've lived there for a while. Another thing that made us feel at ease was the fact that there were photographers toting full Canon EOS ($7k) camera bodies and much more expensive gear. Granted, I still care for my relatively older and less expensive gear, but it was nice to know that someone out there had the Mercedes while I drove past in my Chevy.

Make the most of your trip. We had a great time and wish we hadn't been so hesitant. Our apprehensiveness really limited how creative we were or where we ventured. Use common sense and approach the city just as you would your own hometown. The next time we go it's no holds barred. We're going everywhere.

My Photo.net gallery has my latest NYC pics. http://www.photo.net/photos/emc

My Holga pics are currently featured at ToyCamera.com (Eugenio Cebollero)

Have fun! Post pics when you get back.

Eugenio