Advice Requested - First Paying Job

DavidS · July 5, 2007

I have my first paying job this Saturday. It is a birthday party. There will be about eighty guests and it is at a convention center. I have photographed a number of parties in different settings, but never for pay. Any words of wisdom?

dragon300zx · July 5, 2007

Charge everything the night before, check it when you wake up, check it before you leave.

Leave plenty of time to get there, have backups for everything you possibly can. See every problem you can imagine ahead of time, plan for it (broken gear, bad lighting, drunk aunt susie, etc), and then when it happens you won't miss a beat cause you'll know what to do.

Plan, Plan, Plan, Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, and have fun.

rosselliot · July 5, 2007

I've done a few of these, and they get better each time, so experience is the best thing - which you'll get a lot of here. the few things I've done are 50th anniversary celebrations and the sort. I think they're a lot of fun, because you can get a lot of exposure to the guests.

either way, um...let's see. I'd go ahead of time and see what it's like if you don't know already.

do you have a flash? that's key, I think. and if you do have a flash, make sure it is bounced off the ceiling or a nearby wall, direct flash is never flattering. if you have no choice but direct flash, make sure it's diffused.

um...use a zoom lens try to get in close, but make sure to get some surroundings and stuff. um...since it's at the "civic center" or whatever, I'm guessing it's not the most beautiful lighting, so try to crop out the lights, I didn't really think about one time when I shot an anniversary celebration in a church, there were those horrible florescent lights in the ceiling, and I just shot away happy-go-lucky, and then got home and they stood out like al's butt in a bathin suit - so I had to crop every image down (therefore losing pixels and clarity) just because of that crappe' lighting.

keep moving around, you don't want every picture to be from a certain perspective! if it's an old people's celebration, get pictures of the kids and grandkids, if it's a kids birthday, get pictures of the kids for the most part but make sure to call the grandparents and the parents over for a few shots. if at all possible, try to plan for all the immediate family to get there before hand and take a few posed shots, they may not be a favorite, but it will document their ages and the time. They'll like it - and probably buy prints of them

If you don't have a flash, you could try to use fast glass, but nothing makes up for a bounced flash. don't turn your ISO too high, make sure to keep an eye on your camera settings at all time, make sure you didn't accidentally hit something, because when you keep moving around and stuff, the first thing on your mind might not be having your settings just right.

don't be afraid to ask people to pose for a picture you know? just say "hey! how about a picture, you four?!!?' and hold up your camera to let them know you're not some freak. even if they refuse, just say something about photogenic they are and that they aren't near as bad as the photo shoot you had last week. (just kidding on that one...haha, we don't want them to think that you business photographs people then critics their looks!!!!)

well, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

I love photographing events, it's great fun.

- Ross

rosselliot · July 5, 2007

take extra batteries - without them, it's hard to get good pictures.

and P.S. - I'm guessing you meant "advice requested"

- Ross

DavidS · July 5, 2007

Thanks for the advice Gary and Ross. I really appreciate you taking the time to help out. (Thanks for catching the typo Ross.)

bsvirginian · July 6, 2007

Just a wild guess on my part since you haven't really given too much in the way of details but are you just supposed to move around the room with flash on camera and take candids? How about sharing some of those details. The rate you are getting and the end result they are expeciting (proofs, CD, etc.)
bsvirginian

Rhuarc · July 6, 2007

I realize you don't have much time left, but if it were me I would wan tto shoot with something like this:

I know it looks a little unwieldly, but with the terrible lighting combined with high ceilings and large rooms you usually find in "civic centers" This would give you a built in bounce surface that you never had to worry about.

sirsloop · July 6, 2007

Flash!! You gotta have one, even if you are shooting outdoors. Nothing like a warm fuzzy shadow free photo. Shoot on manual when using flash! Learn how to control the background lighting vs your subject lighting by changing your shutter speed. Slower shutter = more ambient light (and possibly blurry photo), Fast shutter = less ambient light, less blurry photos, and the bigger flash you'll need. If you are indoors, keep an eye out for mirrors and glass windows. They will reflect back to your flash and throw your exposure way outta wack. I once shot in a dimly lit room full of mirrors...lol... that was ridiculous.

You may feel funny at first asking for photos, and you may get a couple strange looks at first, but just be gregarious and DEMAND PHOTOS!! HAH! Keep an eye out for parents w/ their kids.. especially babies and such. Gotta get photos of them together... thats like your saftey shots along with photos of the person the party is for.

...last but not least... keep an eye out for all those crazy/drunk people so you can get incriminating photos of them

sirsloop · July 6, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

I realize you don't have much time left, but if it were me I would wan tto shoot with something like this:

I know it looks a little unwieldly, but with the terrible lighting combined with high ceilings and large rooms you usually find in "civic centers" This would give you a built in bounce surface that you never had to worry about.

rofl

rofl

LMFAO... looks absolutely ridiculous... but I suppose there's nothing like walking around with a 3" unbrella on your flash bracket

I've had good success w/ the gary fong lightsphere... a little less dramatic and probably doesnt work quite as well but I can walk through a crowd w/o a police escort parting the human seas

Rhuarc · July 6, 2007

sirsloop wrote:

roflrofl

LMFAO... looks absolutely ridiculous... but I suppose there's nothing like walking around with a 3" unbrella on your flash bracket

Hmmm...What does it say about me that I want one of these!

sirsloop · July 6, 2007

Say's you'd rather be a walking umbrella than not get good photos

(thats not neccessarly a bad thing either)

Rhuarc · July 6, 2007

sirsloop wrote:

Say's you'd rather be a walking umbrella than not get good photos (thats not neccessarly a bad thing either)

Lol, I will defenitley take that as a compliment!!

Oh, and if that looks crazy, check this out.

or

Scott_Quier · July 6, 2007

Aside from the excellent advice already offered:

Check out the color temperature of the ambient light. Is it tungsten or florescent.
Mask your flash with a gel to color match your flash to the ambient.
Keep shutter speed low enough to allow for some ambient to be captured, about 1 stop less than the flash exposure is plenty. Have to balance that with the need to keep it high enough to avoid excessive blurring of the moving people.
Shoot manual mode to control both the shutter and aperture.
Bounce flash off ceiling and/or walls when/if available. If not that, then some sort of difuser is in order.
Shoot some test shots of a gray target before and after the event. If before, then you can set your custom white balance and significantly speed up your PP.
Shoot RAW. Your settings are going to get messed up sometime during the event. RAW can save your shots.
I'm not sure I would worry too much about ISO and associated noise. Most people are going to be interested in only 4x6, 5x7 and maybe 8x10 prints. At those sizes, any ISO noise will go mostly un-noticed. Even so, most of the noise can be recovered in ACR without sever impacts on image sharpness.
Take back-ups of everything you can. Murphy's Law says this is the time when something is going to break. Be prepared for it.

DavidS · July 6, 2007

bsvirginian wrote:

Just a wild guess on my part since you haven't really given too much in the way of details but are you just supposed to move around the room with flash on camera and take candids? How about sharing some of those details. The rate you are getting and the end result they are expeciting (proofs, CD, etc.)
bsvirginian

It is a surprise birthday party for an older lady (about 65), put on by her children. Family is coming in from all over the country, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, brothers and sisters. I will be shooting mostly candids, with a flash. I use the Gary Fong Lightsphere II. I bounce it and drag the shutter. I also shoot RAW. I will try to get as many individuals as possible, in seperate shots, with the birthday lady throughout the night. I will also be taking some group shots, mother with children, mother with grandkids etc.. Some of the families attending may want seperate shots of their family.

They will get a CD and access to the photos on my website.

DavidS · July 6, 2007

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Wendell that umbrella is hilarious, but I bet it really works. It would obviously be a bit awkward for candids, but might not be a bad idea for group shots, where you can't bounce the flash off a wall or the ceiling.

Rhuarc · July 6, 2007

DavidS wrote:

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond.

Wendell that umbrella is hilarious, but I bet it really works. It would obviously be a bit awkward for candids, but might not be a bad idea for group shots, where you can't bounce the flash off a wall or the ceiling.

You think it would be too much for candids? I would think since it is above you it wouldn't really get in the way. Again, you would look ridiculous, but I bet you would get some good shots!

DavidS · July 7, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

You think it would be too much for candids? I would think since it is above you it wouldn't really get in the way. Again, you would look ridiculous, but I bet you would get some good shots!

It would be a bit difficult to be inconspicous, but when they look at you they would certainly be smiling.

bsvirginian · July 7, 2007

It appears that you've got everything under control.
Good shooting. bsvirginian

bham · July 10, 2007

So how did it go on Saturday DavidS? You gonna share some photos with us?

bham · July 10, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

Lol, I will defenitley take that as a compliment!!

Oh, and if that looks crazy, check this out.

or

Rhuarc, where did you see these setups? They intrigue me. Must resist spending money.

Advice Requested - First Paying Job

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