Shooting a Cerimony tomarro.... NEED ADVICE!

Bayer-Z28Bayer-Z28 Registered Users Posts: 392 Major grins
edited September 24, 2006 in The Big Picture
Ok, for my MIL members here, I've been asked by the COMANDER to shoot the Comander's call tomarrow. It's kind of like a promotion, decorations cerimony for all non MIL.

ANy advice? I't in the Base Theater soThe lighting will suck, so I'll HAVE to use the flash. I think the camera is a Cannon (it's a decent one, tho), not sure but I have to pick it up tomarrow morning.

The subjects will be about 30 feet form me. f Values? Any advice will be put to good use. I told my boss I'd need soem time to get used to the camera, I told him to give me an hour.
Auto enthusiast. I drive a 2000 Camaro Z28. LOADED w/ mods.

Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..


My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com

Comments

  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    I'm not military, but....

    (and here's hoping this isn't too late)
    Is the flash the built-in or a seperate one? If the light is really bad, and the flash is the onboard one, you might be limited in your f-stop values.

    You'll want the shutter speed to be at the minimum 1/(focal length * 1.6) to make sure shake isn't an issue (if it's a Canon L lens with IS - i.e. if in addition to the IS switches, it's white - you can do 1/(0.5 focal length) as long as it's above 1/60...below 1/60 and the issue will be the subjects shaking)

    On ISO, I wouldn't go above iso 400 unless it's either a 5D or a 1DsMkII. If it's either of those you could use up to iso 800 (if it turns out you don't have a flash, any modern canon dSLR is fine up to iso1600 - if it's a 1Ds MkI don't go above 1250 - but with a flash there's no sense in being grainy)

    Then with f-stop I would basically go as high as a I could (as high numerically that is, so as small an aperature) while still getting enough light and without introducing harsh shadows and/or black background. If shooting a group of people, I wouldn't want to go more open than f/4, though with the built-in flash if light is really bad you might not be able to get more closed than f/4. If you can do it without getting the harsh shadows/black background, try f/8, or at least f/5.6. This keeps the entire group in focus. For anything that's just one person, open up the aperature as much as you can (well...if it's not an L lens, maybe go to 1/3 or 2/3 stop less than full open) to get that nice background blur.
    http://davidson.smugmug.com
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    Experiment w/ the shots. Think ahead that there will either be either too much tungsten or flourescents.... Either way, a decent canon can compensate for this so your post production isn't a total nightmare.

    I recommend bringing your Limux as a backup and shooting w/ that when no one is looking.....

    -Jon
  • Bayer-Z28Bayer-Z28 Registered Users Posts: 392 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    SloYerRoll wrote:
    Experiment w/ the shots. Think ahead that there will either be either too much tungsten or flourescents.... Either way, a decent canon can compensate for this so your post production isn't a total nightmare.

    I recommend bringing your Limux as a backup and shooting w/ that when no one is looking.....

    -Jon
    YEah, I brought the Lumix. THe Squaderon Camera was a small rinky dink Cannon w/ a fold out LCD screen and the WB was all effed up. Whe ever used it last had no idea what they were doing. I shot w/ the Lumix instead.

    I had about a half an hour to mess w/ my camera. I ended up shootign in Shutter Priority because it offered me the fastest lense speed, with out needing a tripod. I just checked the specs on how it came out. Under SP mode, the f was only at 2.8, I manually set the shutter to 1/500, which goes w/ the distance x 1.6 theroy. I had to slow the flash down all the way in order to not over-compensate. The white Movie screen in the back actually helped. ISO 400, WB: Tungsten. (sp?)

    I think they came out allright. I ended up trimming them slightly, I had the zoom different in every shot. I had to stand at attention between shots, so I had to shut the camera off, then turn it back on 5 min later. My batt was at half life so I was REALLY nervous about that. But I did the shake rattle and roll thing w/ it so it regained some energy. Stayed at two bars after dropping to one. I was shaking at first I was soo nervous. I was in the second row out of about 150 people. Right in the front, and my supervisor, recomended me to the Comander for this so I COULDN'T FK this up!!

    Here's a pic of one of our guys getting an achievement medal From our Comander. What do ya think? They're ok... ofr indoors w/ crappy lighting. A bit on the grainy side, if you look at the boots, I had the noise reduction up to max....btw...I also had to use Auto focus...... Upon closer inspection, I could have REALLY used the bigger f value... not the best focus quality. I think i'll volunteer to do this every month. Next time it WILL be better.. I can mess w/ the f8.0 1/500 setting w/ a flash when I get there.

    I also had these resized when I hosted them...so it might have efected the immage quality.

    2005813189355751622_rs.jpg
    Auto enthusiast. I drive a 2000 Camaro Z28. LOADED w/ mods.

    Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..


    My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
    http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com
  • marlinspikemarlinspike Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    Bayer-Z28 wrote:
    Under SP mode, the f was only at 2.8, I manually set the shutter to 1/500, which goes w/ the distance x 1.6 theroy. I had to slow the flash down all the way in order to not over-compensate. The white Movie screen in the back actually helped. ISO 400, WB: Tungsten. (sp?)

    Hmm, well if they came out fine it didn't matter, but I should have been more specific and noted that my 1/focal length x 1.6 is only for 1.6x crop dSLRs. With point and shoots you just shoot 1/reported focal length (or actual focal length * crop factor). Basically, you could have prob shot 1/200 and been fine. And with point and shoots you dont have to worry about f-stops for depth of field since they have so much depth of field anyways...I don't know why I assumed the squad camera would have been a dSLR.
    http://davidson.smugmug.com
  • Bayer-Z28Bayer-Z28 Registered Users Posts: 392 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2006
    ^^ Don't worry abotu it. I though it would have been better, myself....

    I also have immage stabilisation, but iwas drinking coffee and VERY nervous. I'll try again next month. I get there abotu 45 min early, so Ihave plenty of time to mess w/ the camera. ..I'll just make sure my batt it FULLY charged next time.
    Auto enthusiast. I drive a 2000 Camaro Z28. LOADED w/ mods.

    Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..


    My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
    http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com
  • SloYerRollSloYerRoll Registered Users Posts: 2,788 Major grins
    edited September 24, 2006
    Bayer-Z28 wrote:
    I'll just make sure my batt it FULLY charged next time.
    PLEASE go out and get an extra battery!
    It will save you so much mental strain it's not even funny.
    My Nikon batteries are killer. I can do about 3 shoots (bout 200+ shots each) before it even gets close to low.
    I still have an extra battery. You know that Murphy guy.. He's a real SOB sometimes...

    Cheers,
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