Asked to help with magazine shoot, would like some tips

[elbirth]

A friend of mine is the photography editor for a magazine here on campus, and after seeing a couple photos I took at the recent election for student body president, she asked if I would shoot at a styling shoot they have coming up. I've never done anything really like this before, and was wondering if you guys could offer some tips, things to possibly watch out for, etc. We were going to do the shoot earlier today, but she called me up almost last minute and said they were postponing it until next Sunday due to the weather (overcast and rain:()

It's a shoot for some of the sports teams, and it's going to be action shots taken outside of them playing volleyball, frisbee, etc. As far as I know, we'll be using our own equipment (don't think they have stuff for everyone, unless another photographer has something they'd let me to borrow... but I'd feel better using my own equipment). I'm mainly debating on which lens to use, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions, etc for me.

I'll be shooting with my 20D, most likely without a flash unless I need some fill. If I do, it'll be either on-board (most likely not, though) or my Sigma DG 500 Super. It'll be around 2pm Sunday, so the available light should be decent, not harsh or anything.
As far as lenses go, I've got the 50mm f/1.8, a Sigma 28-80mm, Sigma 100-300mm and a Tokina 24-200mm. I'll most likely not use the Tokina, as it's not too fast with focusing and seems to miss the point of focus more often than not (and I'm actually going to be sending it back anyway). Depending on how close I'll be (I'm assuming I can get as close as I want, as she said we'll be able to 'direct' the people if we want) I'm thinking either the 50mm (my sharpest lens right now, with widest aperture) or the 28-80mm. The 100-300mm is sharper than the 28-80, but I'd have to step back quite a bit... I'll check out the surrounding to see if that would be plausible.
I also have a 2gb, 512mb, 3x256mb, 128mb and 32mb CF cards. I'll probably shoot Raw+Jpg Normal (unless they specifically want me to do otherwise for whatever reason), so I'm hoping my card space won't be an issue.

Anyway, does anyone have any particular tips for me? This is my first shoot like this, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I'll most likely take a few test shots when I first get out there, to get my settings looking good, and decide whether to shoot in Av, Tv or Manual. Probably also stay in AI Servo since we'll be doing action shots, and get as fast of a shutter speed as I can.

[Citizensmith]

Take a metric assload of photos. Aim to fill th 2GB card, and don't waste too much time chimping. If you are outdoors doing action shots try and position yourself for decent lighting. The flash may be useful to knock out shadows.

[elbirth]

yeah, I definitely plan to get as many shots in as I can... my main concern is being careful to pace myself so I don't fill it up too early. We're apparently doing the shooting in stages, where we'll shoot seniors, then juniors, etc in sequence.

If I can get a good white balance and proper settings in some test shots, do you think it would really be worth it to shoot in RAW? Or just use Jpeg Fine and shoot forever?

[Citizensmith]

Personally I tend to stick with jpeg, but it depends on how much time you want to spend. There are definite benefits to shooting RAW, but also a time cost as every photo needs processing. I tend to work on the theory that most of the time the camera is either spot on or close enough I can just fix things in photoshop. I'd only do RAW if I knew I had all the next day to play with things.

[Persian-Rice]

Try to compose right the first time, major cropping will hurt the final print. As said, shoot your camera to death.

[elbirth]

ok, makes sense. I'll ask just to make sure before I start shooting to make sure they don't specifically want RAW files to mess with. If not, I'll see just how close to filling up that 2gig card I can get :) (while making sure to actually compose my shots and all, of course)

[RogCincy]

You are going to have better control over post processing with the RAW file than with JPEG alone.

Shoot RAW+JPEG Fine. Then you can go through the JPEG files and see what you want to keep. Then process the RAW images to get the final image.

[PhotosGuy]

I'll ask just to make sure before I start shooting to make sure they don't specifically want RAW files to mess with. Everyone will remember the final look of the shots. No one will want to hear that "It would have looked better if I could have shot RAW." You're the shooter. Take control of the situation & shoot for the best final results. Plus, it shouldn't take more than an hour or so to extract 2GB of uncorrected low-res Jpegs to use as "proofs" for the editor.
Since it's a "a shoot for some of the sports teams,", if you aren't getting what you want, then set up some shots when the game is done. Become a "director". It's part of the job & again, take control. The editor or coach can help.

[elbirth]

Everyone will remember the final look of the shots. No one will want to hear that "It would have looked better if I could have shot RAW." You're the shooter. Take control of the situation & shoot for the best final results. Plus, it shouldn't take more than an hour or so to extract 2GB of uncorrected low-res Jpegs to use as "proofs" for the editor.
Since it's a "a shoot for some of the sports teams,", if you aren't getting what you want, then set up some shots when the game is done. Become a "director". It's part of the job & again, take control. The editor or coach can help.

That's a good point... and to be honest, I've really been looking at this such that I'll be shooting some photos and my friend (the photography editor) would do any post processing, which is why I was going to ask if they specifically wanted RAW or JPEG. Next time I talk to her, I'll be sure to find out whether they just want me to hand them my card afterwards so they can download all my photos and sort through them, or if they want me to do all of that. If they'll be doing it and they don't want RAW, then I guess I'll just shoot all JPEG and see how that goes. Otherwise I may just do as I was thinking at first and shoot RAW + JPEG. While I'd probably feel more secure having a RAW file to go back to if needed, my main concern is whether or not I'll fill it up too soon. I think I can only get like ~180 shots if it's RAW + JPEG Normal.

[Mike Panic]

@ 2pm the sun is still very high in the sky, and considering they are sports type shots using a large reflector is not an option.

i would almost bank on using a flash for fill light, and it would be a good idea to get a flash bracket and cord to get the flash up off the body, and to keep it above the lens for vertical shots

[PhotosGuy]

Next time I talk to her, I'll be sure to find out whether they just want me to hand them my card afterwards Haha! Ask Kenny if he would do that! ;-)
As for myself, I have one rule that I will never break (again)... Digital users: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let the originals out of your hands! In some situations like yours, it might be OK AFTER you've backed them up.
Film shooters: If it's important enough to shoot in the first place, shoot some brackets so you'll have some OK backups in your files.
It doesn't hurt to keep paperwork files, too. 6 months after a shoot I had this guy get on me for missing the "most important shot that the CEO wanted for the Annual Report".
I still had his shot list. Guess what wasn't on it?

[elbirth]

point taken :o:D

I'll make sure I don't just hand anything over. Heck, maybe I'll bring my laptop with me and download all the photos to that before doing anything directly after shooting :lol:

[PhotosGuy]

maybe I'll bring my laptop with me and download ... Now you're talkin!