Tips & advice on a awards evening

[scubi]

Hi
I have been asked to take photos of an awards evening. The hall has a high ceiling and dark black curtains will be behinf the people getting the awards. The hall will have low light.
My equipment is Canon 10D, Sigma mounted flash & Tripod. (No bracket. ) I will not be able to get any other equipment.
Please can you give me some tips/advice on ie:
1. Shutter speed, F-stop etc.
2. Focus on the face or on the clothing.
3. Focus on dark clothing or light clothing.
4. Which setting do I use for white balance. Do i leave it on Auto with a flash?
Any other help
You help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Vaughan

[drisley]

What lenses are you using?
I would definately recommend a low light prime like the 50 f1.8 or the 85 f1.8.

[garethhhhh]

And how close will you be able to get?

[scubi]

Hi
Sorry I should have given that.
1. I have a Canon 28-90mm 4.0 lens
2. I can get close up to the people getting the award.

Thanks
Vaughan

[garethhhhh]

I have a Canon 28-90mm 4.0 lens


Are you sure you cant get any other equipment?
The EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM is a poor lense for this sort of work.

What about hiring an 50mm (cheap and good picture quality) or 85mm f1.8 prime.
These lenses will let more light in and you may not need to use the flash which will cause harsh shadows :wink:

[scubi]

Hi
There is no photograpghic shop that hire out any equipment, I have tried. i would just like some advice with what I have. They do not have funds to hire a pro and I do not mind helping with what I have.
Thanks
Vaughan

[drisley]

Well, I would get the cheap (under $80US) 50mm f1.8 lens.
That is the best lens you could use, and cheap.

However, with the lens you have I would keep it at the lowest possible f-stop number and perhaps shoot in manual mode with the exposure set for about 1/60 sec if you have to use flash. Bounced flash is best but sounds like it wont work in this situation.
Always focus on the face, specifically the eyes.
I would recommend shooting RAW. That is the only mode I use, and it saves the hassle of worrying about white balance since all that is done in post processing.

This is just what I would do.

I recently shot a bodybuilding show that had low stage lighting, and black curtains as backdrop. Even with my 50mm f1.8 I was getting 1/60 second exposures at f1.8 and ISO400 (no flash).
Things might be tough with an aperture of f4 and greater.
Good luck!

[Cadwell]

Bounced flash is best but sounds like it wont work in this situation.


It might with one of these.... http://www.stofen.com/Info/index.htm. I use the Two-way Bounce for shooting cars at motor-shows. Far better than using direct flash as you get a more even spread of light and it eliminates the problem caused by the high ceiling.

If you don't want to buy one, you could try making your own bounce card using some white cardboard and sticky tape. Use it with your flash angled to about 65deg.

[burkdog]

Hey, I like the looks of that omni-bounce thingy. What's the diff. with the 2-way? What does it do that the regular one does not?

[DaveG]

Hi
I have been asked to take photos of an awards evening. The hall has a high ceiling and dark black curtains will be behinf the people getting the awards. The hall will have low light.
My equipment is Canon 10D, Sigma mounted flash & Tripod. (No bracket. ) I will not be able to get any other equipment.
Please can you give me some tips/advice on ie:
1. Shutter speed, F-stop etc.
2. Focus on the face or on the clothing.
3. Focus on dark clothing or light clothing.
4. Which setting do I use for white balance. Do i leave it on Auto with a flash?
Any other help
You help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Vaughan

If you can't get a bracket to hold the flash directly over the lens then see if you
can get them a fair distance from the camera to minimize the side shadow that
the flash will throw. Be aware of what's in the background. That EXIT sign over
there will be distracting.

I do this type of photography all of the time and in venues like you described.
Forget about bouncing. It may amuse you and others to try but all you are doing
is significantly weakening your flash's output. I used to use a Stofen to shoot
cocktail party shots in a place like this, but I was using it as a wide angle diffuser
to cover a 20mm lens on 35mm format. It did cover but I didn't expect any
bounce from it, and never got any.

I'd use direct flash, an ISO of 100, maybe 200 and an aperture of f8. I'd shoot at
around 1/60 of a second. You aren't going to be able to fill flash at all in such a
hectic environment so don't try. DO NOT SHOOT WITH AVAILABLE
LIGHT!!!! You will get raccoon eyes on everyone, assuming that there's even
enough light to get any shot.

You always - for everything - focus on the eyes. We all make eye contact with a
photograph, just like it's a living person; and if the eyes are in focus then the
picture is in focus.

Speaking of that focusing make sure that's there's enough ambient light on the
stage - or wherever you do the shots - so you CAN focus. Get the event
organizers to turn on extra lighting if you need to. They will always try to help
so don't be shy. Yes the 10D doesn't need a lot of light to focus but it won't focus
in real darkness without a 500EX flash. That is a real joy, by the way. Knowing,
actually knowing, that the 550 and the 10D will focus in the dark and that
everything is just fine.

Try if you can to use one focal length so that there's a consistency in all of your
shots. Your lens is going to give you effectively a 45mm lens and that's going to
be VERY tight. I shot this kind of thing on Friday night and used a 16-35 at
around 21mm the whole night. But you have to work with what you have.

See if you can speak to the award giver before the shoot. The recipient is going
to want to grab the award and run away. The person giving out the award
needs to help you get the shot and that means they get close to them, turn them
towards you and say, "He's going to take two." So take two.

I never use a tripod at these things. People, including the presenter, will wander
around and I have to just wander with them. If you do use a tripod it makes it a
very formal shoot and that isn't too bad. But you should do some tests and then put a piece of tape on the
floor. Then the presenter can make the award winners "toe the line". If you
don't do this then you'll be wandering too, but with the added thrill of dragging
your tripod along with you.

If there's any way to convince the organization to let you set up somewhere else
and to do the shots off stage, say after the formal presentations, then you should
do so. Then you can actually speak to the subjects which you won't be able to do
in the middle of the presentations. I doubt if they'll go for this but you might
want to try.

If the winners are receiving a plaque or certificate tell the presenter to hold the
thing so that the top is tilted down. If it's tilted up - as would be the normal way
to hold it - then the flash is going to reflect off of that like a mirror. It doesn't
have to be much of a tilt, but it'll save you hours in post production if you don't
have to fix those overexposed plaques.

Check your first exposures with the histogram and change the exposure on the
camera as needed. I second the opinion of shooting RAW. You get more
latitude from the exposures this way and it would be very easy to overexpose
some, and RAW may well save you. If you shoot RAW then the white balance is
moot. If you use the best jpeg (and those are the ONLY two setting that I'll ever
use) then AWB seems to work as good as any setting.

[Vegas Poboy]

Hi
I have been asked to take photos of an awards evening. The hall has a high ceiling and dark black curtains will be behinf the people getting the awards. The hall will have low light.
My equipment is Canon 10D, Sigma mounted flash & Tripod. (No bracket. ) I will not be able to get any other equipment.
Please can you give me some tips/advice on ie:
1. Shutter speed, F-stop etc.
2. Focus on the face or on the clothing.
3. Focus on dark clothing or light clothing.
4. Which setting do I use for white balance. Do i leave it on Auto with a flash?
Any other help
You help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Vaughan


I agree with others on having a better lens but for what you have try these settings. Practice first.

1. 1/30 @ 5.6 speed set @ 400 ISO this is called dragging the shutter hopefully the ambient light will give you better DOF

2. Not sure on Mezt flash but try auto & White balance could be AWB or Flash you may need or want a difusser for the flash.

3. Focus in on the face Thats whats important detail of who is recieving the award

4. Do a couple of test shots & check the histogram before going all out also you may want to use the RAW setting to help make any adjustmentsat the end.

Most important try to get into the hall early & make your adjustments from there

[WestFalcon]

I agree with most posters on this. I would shoot F8 at 60th /second. I'd use asa 400. Try to get 20-30 feet from the subject. Bring some extra batteries so you don't have some embarrassingly long recycle times. I use quantum batteries but this may be beyond your budget. Use the center square for focusing. Focus on your key subject and hold the focus to frame up the shot. Don't let the camera decide what is important so turn those extra sensors off. Practice at home so that you are smooth at the presentation.

[DaveG]

I agree with most posters on this. I would shoot F8 at 60th /second. I'd use asa 400. Try to get 20-30 feet from the subject. Bring some extra batteries so you don't have some embarrassingly long recycle times. I use quantum batteries but this may be beyond your budget. Use the center square for focusing. Focus on your key subject and hold the focus to frame up the shot. Don't let the camera decide what is important so turn those extra sensors off. Practice at home so that you are smooth at the presentation.

I'd be a little nervous about being that far away. There's no way that you could control the subjects from there and you'd just have to hope they did what you needed them to do. I'd also be really concerned about the flash covering. Even if it did it'd be full out in a barn like that, that'd slow the recycle time all by itself, and since it could be a long night, I hope someone brings lots of batteries.

Although he doesn't have much of a wide angle a 20mm lens (on a 10D) would be the right lens and will put you at the right distance - 1.5 to 2 meters.

[WestFalcon]

DaveG......I meant to get no more than 20-30 feet away. Closer is better for recycle times too. I assume we are only taking pictures of one or two people.

[DaveG]

DaveG......I meant to get no more than 20-30 feet away. Closer is better for recycle times too. I assume we are only taking pictures of one or two people.

Well I read your posting to mean that as you would have your subjects between 20 and 30 feet away from you. In any case I'd want to be no farther than six feet (2 meters) away from them, at most.

[scubi]

Hi
Thank you to everyone for the fantastic advice. Tonight is the night, so I hope it works out. Thanks again.
Vaughan

[Tom W]

Best of luck to you, Scubi.
Heed the words of DaveG - his advice helped me with my wedding situation!

[scubi]

Hi
Well the evening went off very well, due to you all who gave me some excellent advice.
One thing that I am mad about is that on some of the photos, the peoples eyes are closed.
How do you prevent this, due to the fact that the eyes close so quickly and you do not see it happen ?
Otherwise everything went off well and I never got any red eye, which I was worried about.
Thanks once again for the help
Vaughan

[DaveG]

Hi
Well the evening went off very well, due to you all who gave me some excellent advice.
One thing that I am mad about is that on some of the photos, the peoples eyes are closed.
How do you prevent this, due to the fact that the eyes close so quickly and you do not see it happen ?
Otherwise everything went off well and I never got any red eye, which I was worried about.
Thanks once again for the help
Vaughan

You don't in a situation like this. If it was a controlled shoot I'd have the camera on a tripod. I'd focus and then look around the camera when I shot. That way I can see their eyes as the flash pops. But even then you're only going to be able to do this if you have just one or two people.

I did a group shot the other day with about 15 people in it and one woman decided that she wouldn't look into the camera. I mean she turned her head about 45 degrees from where I was and I missed it. Why she did this is a mystery. Perhaps she felt it showed "her good side". Maybe she had a neck problem and couldn't turn her head, or maybe she was nuts.

Luckily I took a bunch of shots of that and got at least a few where she's OK. And that's why it's so important to take two shots of the awards, since there's 100% chance that you get one of the two that works.

[CoolToolGuy]

Multiple shots are one way to give yourself a better chance. Pre-flashes, while reducing red-eye, can lead to a lot of closed-eye shots as well, and the pre-flashes could come from another camera in the room.

Hope this helps
Have Fun
Rick 8)