Shooting a group of people (band). Help.

[MarcusB416]

So this is my first post so i hope this is the appropriate place for this.

I am going to be shooting a friends band outside, daytime, in front of a 7/11 (laugh if you want :razz:) and i just need to know what kind of gear people would suggest for this.

Right now i have a 50mm/f1.8 and a 18-135/f3.5-5.5, tripod, one off camera flash and a few diffusers (lightsphere and a stofen).

Rental of lenses and lighting gear is going my best option.

Thanks!

[Wilt]

Use what you are familar with, in terms of lighting. A paid shoot is not the time to be playing with new equipment for the first time...so rent to practice well before you later rent to shoot the job! Your existing 18-135mm lens has the right FL for shooting a group full length; the 50mm would be OK for 3/4 length shots of the group without standing too far away (15' shooting distance with 50mm sees a 5' x 7' area on APS-C)

[MarcusB416]

In terms of lighting, do you think I will be alright with just my on camera sb-600 or would you suggest to using some off camera flashes with softboxes?

[xoldboy]

daytime.. sunny 16 rule, set the aperture to F/16, 100-125 ISO. Use Av mode or you can adjust the Manual to whatever comes out nice for you.

[MarcusB416]

daytime.. sunny 16 rule, set the aperture to F/16, 100-125 ISO. Use Av mode or you can adjust the Manual to whatever comes out nice for you.

Thanks for the tip, lets hope it stays sunny... we prolly wont do it if its not :)

[Wilt]

Thanks for the tip, lets hope it stays sunny... we prolly wont do it if its not :)


'Sunny'...'portrait', uuggggh! A bit like oil and water mixing.

If forced into shooting, ask for early morning or very late (just before sunset) rather than when the sun is overhead.
If forced to shoot mid day, search out some open shade...get out if the direct sun.
If no shade, try to orient their backs to the sun as much as possible, and fill in with fill flash.

[PhotosGuy]

What kind of band & what sort of "look" are they going for? I might want to shoot in the shade, or on an overcast day.

[MarcusB416]

What kind of band & what sort of "look" are they going for? I might want to shoot in the shade, or on an overcast day.

www.myspace.com/downwithwebster (http://www.myspace.com/downwithwebster)

Their attitude and personality alone is going to help me out a lot. Turns out the place we are shooting is on the shady side of the street so i think its gonna work out.

I still need a way for them to "pop" out in the frame. I'm still a n00b so im not sure how to use my flash properly to achieve this.

Any ideas?

[beaconlightboy]

To get your subjects to pop out, take a reading of the background, then set your exposure down 1 stop either via shutter or f-stop, then shoot with fill flash. That's how i do it and the shots are always dead on. you can play around with how much you want to step down. This works well if your flash is ETTL capable, like a 580ex. i usually shoot with my 580 ex to +2/3.