Shooting Team and individual pictures

03/12/2010 02:40:20 PM · #1

I'm bidding for a contract to shoot 20+ softball teams and all the individuals. I'm a little nervous because I have a really good chance of getting it and this is my first attempt at shooting a large quantity like this.

Does anyone have any advise on setup, production, equipment, tracking teams and people?

Also I'm thinking about setting up my laptop so I can tether the images and view them on a larger screen. Anyone know where I can get a good adjustable laptop stand?

Tez

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/12/2010 03:20:26 PM · #2

why would you want to shoot tethered? It will just add time to what is already a huge shoot. Just use the histogram on the back of the camera. I hope you aren't planning to show the team members the shots on the computer because it will take absolutely ages. I'd be more bothered with getting the shoot out of the way and moving on rather than fussing over the computer screen.

With regards to setup, I think you're going to need some benches to make tiered seating, put the tallest people in the middle row at the back and taper out the heights so the smallest are at the edges and on the front row (if the team is big enough).

Equipment- get a tripod so every shot you have is the same. Find a good background. A tripod will save time later in post with rotation and cropping. I'd personally use a 50mm prime for thsi and back off a bit so as not to get the distortion from a wide angle. Provided space allows of course.

A good method to arrange this would be to allocate a certain amount of time and make a schedule, say 20 or 30 minutes for each team, then let the captains/coaches know what time you want them to come to where you are, spend 5 mins arranging them and 15 mins shooting. Increase time as you need to. Of course, this is on the proviso that you have 1 day to do this, if you have longer then adjust accordingly.

What lighting do you have? Do you have studio stuff or just hot shoe lights?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/12/2010 03:42:42 PM · #3

The reason I would shoot tethered is because I wanted to make sure that the shots come out okay and no one was blinking or making shots. Tethering the image only takes about 4 seconds to transfer and for lightroom to pick up the new image. No I would not show the teams their images well unless someone walked over to the laptop and happened to see it but I am not going out of the way to show them pictures and scroll through them.

As far as benches I was thinking about saving some time and doing a standard team shot with the front row kneeling and the back row standing. Although I am currently looking for a different type of UNstandard shot.

As for equipment I have a tripod that do plan on using along with a few backgrounds that I use for other shoots I do. The problem is will my 10'x20' be wide enough. I've thought about turning it to make it a 20'x10' but then I come to will it be long enough.

As far as lights I do have some cowboy stobes and some hotshoe flashes which won't be enough but I'm thinking about renting some White Lightening strobes. I will be buying a 5' octabox though because I'm dying to get one and use it for something like this.

I did not think about time slots though. I'm really glad you mentioned it. I will need to get a list of all the team names so I can put together a schedule for the teams to show up.

I am also thinking about setting up my other camera in a separate room so I can break apart the team shots and the individuals to try to speed things up. The down side to this is I need to find a location where I can do this in, hahaha. I would love to do it outside but then wind, the sun and weather become a factor that I really don't want to deal with.

Tez

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/12/2010 04:44:23 PM · #4

for the 2 rooms and 2 cameras, would you do everything in natural light? Otherwise you'll have to screw around with your lights, or divide the lighting you do have between the group and the individuals. With 3 lights you could do it no probs- use 2 on the group, and use 1 with a softbox and a reflector on the other side for the indiv shots.

I still don't think you should shoot tethered. Why not just take more than 1 shot? You can take 3 shots in 4 seconds no probs and swap heads around if need be instead of waiting 4 seconds between shots, which will also make you look pretty silly in front of everyone where you have to go and check every single shot, they'll think you don't know what you're doing and you have to run off and see if you got lucky. Forget it. Just take more shots, or get everyone to close their eyes and open them on 3. It will save you time, space, load and save finding a power supply for what is fundamentally a waste of time.

I agree with your option of white lightning strobes, they'll do a much better job than flashes but you must bring powering them into the equation. If you're outside you're going to need a lot of extension cords and a power strip and also to make sure the wires aren't visible. When I shot a group I had 3 lights, 1 power strip and 3 30ft extensions (as well as the 15ft power cable). I needed the extra space so wires wouldn't be all over the place. The octabos is pretty cool too but you'll need a bigass stand for it as it leans forward a great deal so a heavy duty stand, or a counterweight is essential.

Kneeling/standing = good plan. Time saved is time saved.

How many people are in these teams?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

03/12/2010 06:53:01 PM · #5

Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:

... I was thinking about saving some time and doing a standard team shot with the front row kneeling and the back row standing. Although I am currently looking for a different type of UNstandard shot.

Another type of group shot I've seen which seems to work well is to have them all cluster together and to shoot them from above, with them looking up. A standard 6' stepladder should get you high enough.

03/12/2010 07:11:07 PM · #6

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Dirt_Diver:
... I was thinking about saving some time and doing a standard team shot with the front row kneeling and the back row standing. Although I am currently looking for a different type of UNstandard shot.

Another type of group shot I've seen which seems to work well is to have them all cluster together and to shoot them from above, with them looking up. A standard 6' stepladder should get you high enough.

You mean like this??? hahaha

I did this shot back in November of 2009. This was shot for the girls softball team that won the state championship. It was also used on 2 billboards here in town.

Got any other team photo ideas??

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

03/12/2010 08:47:52 PM · #7

Originally posted by Tez:

I would not be doing them with natural light. Ambient light would be good but again I don't want to have to worry about weather, the sun, wind and other problems. If it was a small shoot or a few individual shoots like I the magazine I shoot for then yes outside would be perfect but more than likely I will be shooting anywhere from 4-6 hours. I just don't want to chance it.

About the lights, I'm thinking that I will need 3 WL lights. I could shoot the individuals with the 5' octabox as my main light, to the left and above the camera then use my SB-800 as a fill light.

As far as the team pictures I would have to use the other WL 1600's as the fill and main lights.

Originally posted by Tez:

I still don't think you should shoot tethered. Why not just take more than 1 shot? You can take 3 shots in 4 seconds no probs and swap heads around if need be instead of waiting 4 seconds between shots, which will also make you look pretty silly in front of everyone where you have to go and check every single shot, they'll think you don't know what you're doing and you have to run off and see if you got lucky. Forget it. Just take more shots, or get everyone to close their eyes and open them on 3. It will save you time, space, load and save finding a power supply for what is fundamentally a waste of time.

Tethering to me doesn't take that long to do. I could still shoot more than one shot and not have to wait for the images to pop up. Tethering works just like a memory card but without the memory card. The plus side to tethering is 1 I can see the images live, 2 I don't need to transfer the images later. It uses my computer as the memory card.

Originally posted by Tez:

I agree with your option of white lightning strobes, they'll do a much better job than flashes but you must bring powering them into the equation. If you're outside you're going to need a lot of extension cords and a power strip and also to make sure the wires aren't visible. When I shot a group I had 3 lights, 1 power strip and 3 30ft extensions (as well as the 15ft power cable). I needed the extra space so wires wouldn't be all over the place. The octabos is pretty cool too but you'll need a bigass stand for it as it leans forward a great deal so a heavy duty stand, or a counterweight is essential.

Kneeling/standing = good plan. Time saved is time saved.

How many people are in these teams?

I won't be shooting outside but yes I do have a crap load of extenstion cords, haha. Oh and I have about 13 lightstands, 2 of them are SUPERDUTY, (Thanks Scott). Oh and I do have sandbags as well.

wdamman

Apple iPhone Xs

03/12/2010 11:02:43 PM · #8

MattO

Nikon D4

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

03/12/2010 11:30:14 PM · #9

When I shoot T&I I do it as a one man show. I can do 4-6 teams in 2.5 hours for both team and individual. I get there 30-45 minutes before everyone else, set up for the team photos in one location(usually a gym) and on the other end set up for the individual. I shoot teams first then run through the individuals by group. I take three photos of each individual, write one file number down on the order form that they hand me when they come over to shoot that. The order form I use has a place for the players name and team name as well as the package description and quantity that they ordered as well as any additional individual prints, all orders are pre-paid. Here are a couple of samples from the last T&I that I did a week or so ago.

No way I'd shoot tethered. I'd suggest a lightmeter trust your histogram and your own experience. Oh yeah and make sure you have insurance that covers you for liability with that many kids running around your equipment and make sure it covers you for error and omissions.

Matt

Message edited by author 2010-03-12 23:30:43.

wdamman

Apple iPhone Xs

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

03/13/2010 07:03:51 AM · #10

original shot

final product

03/13/2010 09:09:20 AM · #11

Originally posted by wdamman:

original shot

final product

HOLY CRAP you did an AMAZING job clearing all that out. I don't think I want to spend the time doing that to 20+ teams but I do really like the plain white BG, I just don't know if it everyone else will like it.

I'll have to think about this one...