team photos--help!

lizzard_nyc

HI all,
I did a search prior to posting for help.
I know it's been a while but I need some help please.

I will be doing some soccer team photos which is very new terrain for me.
The teams consist of 12-16 players plus 2-3 coaches on each team.

What is the minium I need in order to pull this off.
Shots will be taken indoors in the field house. I will be dealing with a brown backdrop and flourecent lights. The ceiling is not very high and is cream colored or possibly dirty white.

I have a canon 5D 50mm and I can also get a wider lens if necessary (I have a fast zoom as well but I likely won't need that).
I have a canon speedlight 430EXII flash but have access to other flashes and can also rent.

Can team photos be taken with just an on camera flash? Has anyone done this and gotten good results. The photos have to be taken rather quickly, a twenty minute turnaround for each team and individual shots.

I realize I'm in over my head.
List what you think is essential please (ie umbrellas, lighting etc.) or if you think on camera flash on a 5d seated on a tripod is enough?

I also have to do individual photos as I stated which will be done off to the side. If you would like to give me any suggestions on that I'd love it but I think I can find more information on that on the net than the team photo questions.

Thank you
Liz

lizzard_nyc

Addendum--

We (the person shooting this with me) have approached a rental company who puts packages together of their suggestions for what is needed.
This is what they said:
3 Profoto acute 2 R 2400 pack
3 Profoto acute 2 Headh 2/ ref
3 renatl stands
3 rental umbrellas
1 HD background support
1 mini math boom
2 sandbags
2 pocket wizards


Not to mention I've never in my life used a pocket wizard but I'm educating myself fast.

divamum

OH.EM.GEE. LIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have totally missed you around here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No answers, but just happy to see one of my favorite dgrinners back

lizzard_nyc

divamum wrote: »

OH.EM.GEE. LIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have totally missed you around here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No answers, but just happy to see one of my favorite dgrinners back

Divamum!!
Come on help me out! lol.

Still shooting my street stuff and doing some shoots, mostly natural light shots.

But this---this is definately new territory, but nothing like the present to learn, though again I'd rather keep all set ups as simple as possible.


Stay tuned.

divamum

Dude - I'm doing my first wedding in 10 days (couldn't talk my way out of it like I have every other time) and the only way I could think to cope with it was to ask one of our illustrious specialists to come down and help me. I'm clueless on shooting large groups!!!

jmphotocraft

You can get away with just the one on-camera flash for the team photo, as long as the team can be placed far enough away from the background to hide the shadow:



Also use a high enough ISO to gather the ambient light in the gym. You don't want flashed players and a dark or black background. Maybe you can bounce the flash off the ceiling or side wall, depends on the gym.

However for the individual portraits, you really need to get the flash off the camera to the side and diffuse it:



I did that with a 430EXII bounced off a silver umbrella, triggered by the Canon ST-E2. Similarly, if you cannot take the team shot far enough away from the bg, you should use diffused side light as well.

Your 50mm lens should be fine for both. Don't use a wide angle lens for the team shot unless you absolutely have to. You end up with small players and a lot of empty space above and below them.

20 minutes to shoot a team will be enough, assuming you get set up correctly in advance. Practice on your family/friends before the day of the event. On the day of, arrive early and bring or solicit a guinea pig to pose for you while you get your settings dialed in before you bother the team.

lizzard_nyc

jmphotocraft wrote: »

You can get away with just the one on-camera flash for the team photo, as long as the team can be placed far enough away from the background to hide the shadow:



Also use a high enough ISO to gather the ambient light in the gym. You don't want flashed players and a dark or black background. Maybe you can bounce the flash off the ceiling or side wall, depends on the gym.

However for the individual portraits, you really need to get the flash off the camera to the side and diffuse it:



I did that with a 430EXII bounced off a silver umbrella, triggered by the Canon ST-E2. Similarly, if you cannot take the team shot far enough away from the bg, you should use diffused side light as well.

Your 50mm lens should be fine for both. Don't use a wide angle lens for the team shot unless you absolutely have to. You end up with small players and a lot of empty space above and below them.

20 minutes to shoot a team will be enough, assuming you get set up correctly in advance. Practice on your family/friends before the day of the event. On the day of, arrive early and bring or solicit a guinea pig to pose for you while you get your settings dialed in before you bother the team.

Thankyou for the info.
I like the lighting on the individual shot.
I can't get team far enough away from the background so will likely have to use off camera flash.
Thank you for including photos.
Will definately be doing practice set ups and shots.
Liz

Dreadnote

Depends what you are going for of course, but the "Traditional Team Photo" bores the hell out of me. I like to shoot them individually, which it sounds like you are going to do anyway, taking two or three poses per kid with one of the poses shot with assembling the team photo in post. You could easily do this with your 50D and two flashes.

I did these last year for our Varsity and JV basketball teams inside the gym in about 45 minutes or so and added the BG in post. These are a 3 light setup but could easily be done with 2 to keep it simple - One light high camera left another behind player camera right for a rim. You can use umbrellas or not depending on the look you want. Hope that helps.





Here is an individual with the 2 light setup. BB hoop added in post.

divamum

Liz, also see link here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=238743

jmphotocraft

Umm, yeah, do what Dreadnote says! Those are awesome.

I tried to go for that edgy 2-light look the following year, but I don't think I pulled it off as well:

Hackbone

Dreadnote wrote: »

Depends what you are going for of course, but the "Traditional Team Photo" bores the hell out of me. I like to shoot them individually, which it sounds like you are going to do anyway, taking two or three poses per kid with one of the poses shot with assembling the team photo in post. You could easily do this with your 50D and two flashes.

I did these last year for our Varsity and JV basketball teams inside the gym in about 45 minutes or so and added the BG in post. These are a 3 light setup but could easily be done with 2 to keep it simple

Esp love the last one, wow.