Shooting a Cerimony tomarro.... NEED ADVICE!
Bayer-Z28
Registered Users Posts: 392 Major grins
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.
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
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
0
Comments
(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.
I recommend bringing your Limux as a backup and shooting w/ that when no one is looking.....
-Jon
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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,