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04/27/2006 12:00:04 AM · #1 |
I'm going to be doing about a hundred portraits for a church retreat coming up, and I was wondering if you peeps could give me any tips/advice on how to go about it?
It will be in a large gym with ceiling lights (not sure if they're flourescent or not) at night. I have to be able to get through them all as quickly as possible, so it'll just be a B&W mugshot. They will also be holding eraser boards with personal info or whatever on them, which needs to be readable. Thanks a ton!
Demosthenes |
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04/27/2006 12:16:12 AM · #2 |
try and make sure the bachground is as plain as possible, so it is not too distracting.
what kind of settings do you have on that camera?
If you can set the white balance do...once you find out the kind of lighting
if you have to use flash, make sure red eye is on |
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04/27/2006 12:25:50 AM · #3 |
I think you will need better lights.
fluorescent aren't bright enough... |
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04/27/2006 12:43:02 AM · #4 |
Bring a grey card to set custom white balance or shoot in RAW. I have shot some stuff in gymnasiums before and found it to be a serious pain the the buttinski because of the mixed lighting. Fluoro's on the ceiling, windows as well as floor lighting and ceiling mounted halogens. Yack! I think there are 3-4 visible zones of color temperature in the one picture I actually wanted to get.
An off-camera flash might be a good way to have a cheap, usable secondary light. Use it only for creating shadows. It should be diffused, and can be operated as a slave off your main flash. Test the setup before shooting.
To prevent weird looking backgrounds, you might want to consider picking up a sheet or something that could be mounted behind them (try to get it out of focus if possible.
Just some ideas. |
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04/27/2006 01:16:21 AM · #5 |
Thanks a bunch for all the tips!
I will bring a big white sheet that we can hang on a wall to use as a backdrop. And yes, I will definitely be brining a gray card for the white balance. The auto on my camera really makes me cringe. :D I don't have access to an external flash, but I'm sure we'll be able to make that work with the built in flash and the available light. I appreciate the thoughts! |
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04/27/2006 01:20:59 AM · #6 |
| bounce an off camera flash off a big card or a nearby wall. no way you wanna shoot with the flourescent lights....so nasttyyy, even after b/w cuz u need to shoot at like 800 or 1600 to get enough exposure. on camera flash is nasty, if you must use it put them far away from any background so you dont get the outline shadow. |
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04/27/2006 01:52:26 AM · #7 |
Definitely check into off camera flash. I bought one that works with P&S cameras that doesn't need to be wired. It has a little receiver. It has several special settings that allow it to be used with preflashes. Otherwise, on my camera, I have to set it to manual flash metering.
Using on-camera flash for anything but the lightest fill flash is usually a sure way to make your pics look cheap.
My flash unit cost 65-70 dollars USD equivalent.
It's not about the power, it's about the angle. |
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04/27/2006 01:59:48 AM · #8 |
| Well, I don't think that'll happen before the outing (this Friday, actually), but it's definitely on my to-do list. ;) Hopefully for my birthday I'll get a one of those. $75 isn't bad at all for an external unit. When I get back I'll post a couple of pictures from the event for critique! |
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