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View Full Version : Music School Recital at H.S. Auditorium.


nicksan
16th of May 2009 (Sat), 23:59
Hello folks,

I shot a charity type concert for the owner of a private music school last winter. He liked my work so he wants to "hire" me to shoot any student recital he has lined up for this year.

I agreed to shoot the recital he's going to have on Sunday. Just getting everything ready and thought I might ask a few questions in here in the hopes of getting some last minute pointers, etc..

I asked him what the pics are for, and he said:

The pictures are for Us the ****** School of Music, We will be updating our website this summer and would like to get as many ensemble shots as possible since we are starting an orchestra in our Westport Location. Shots of kids playing wind and brass instrument are preferred since we don't have many of those pictures in our current site. It will be held in a middle school auditorium, not sure about the lighting since I have never been there before but it should be something like the last time in ****** Hall.

The best thing is to come during the rehearsal since all students and teachers will already be dressed for the concert, all it is missing is the audience. When the audience get there we can have shots showing the audience appreciating the concert and their applauses.


The type of music being played I would assume would be chamber music and similar styles. (Owner/teacher is apparently a pretty famous Cello player)

So, my question of course revolves around gear.

So far, what I am sure of is my 2 bodies, the 1DMKIII and 5DMKII. I am also going to bring my 200L f2 for tighter shots. I am wondering what else would I need. I have the following at my disposal.

24L
50L
100 f2
17-40L
24-105L

I figure they might want "formal" group shots during rehersal. So I'm thinking the 24L on the 5D would probably be wide enough for that. So I am thinking that the 17-40L can stay home.

The 50L might be an interesting low light choice for normal FOV. Not sure...but it does well in low light. So would the 100mm f2 for that matter.

The 24-105L is where I really have the difficulty of deciding because I just don't know what the lighting will be. It's slow at f4. IS will help me hand hold the lens, but again, no idea about lighting conditions.

Not sure if the 580EX would be needed.

I am tempted to bring everything...:lol: I mean, I'd be driving there afterall so not a biggie. I can just stuff everything in my rolling luggage and call it a day I suppose.

Just figuring out if I could be more efficient than that!

bacchanal
17th of May 2009 (Sun), 11:27
Personally, I would take the primes and both bodies for sure. I'd be surprised if you find f/4 to be anything more than marginal. It seems like the light level is typically pretty moderate at these events. Of course, you might as well take the zooms if you can just stick them in your rolling case if you don't use them. The 17-40 might be useful for a wide venue shot with the audience there.

nicksan
17th of May 2009 (Sun), 13:21
Well, I am ready to leave in 10 minutes.
You've pretty much confirmed what I was thinking...except the 17-40L.
You might be right about that. Just go to the back of the audiotorium and take a UWA shot. Yeah...thanks! It made its way back into the bag...and it says "thank you!".;):lol:

Personally, I would take the primes and both bodies for sure. I'd be surprised if you find f/4 to be anything more than marginal. It seems like the light level is typically pretty moderate at these events. Of course, you might as well take the zooms if you can just stick them in your rolling case if you don't use them. The 17-40 might be useful for a wide venue shot with the audience there.

SYS
17th of May 2009 (Sun), 23:06
I just saw this thread so I'm late. How did the shoot go? Which lens did it turn out to be the most useful? What ISO did you end up shooting in, etc.?

nicksan
18th of May 2009 (Mon), 10:19
The shoot went well.
Actually, this was my first paid gig! Didn't get paid all that much, and I mainly did it for fun so it was pretty cool. It really wasn't all that formal. They just wanted some pics for their website. No pressure. No expectations. And I know the owner so...

The suggestion about bringing the 17-40L turned out to be critical as I was asked to shoot 3 group shots. I barely managed to fit everyone in there!

They had uneven lighting on the stage so I was anywhere from ISO800 - ISO3200. My 5DMKII saw most of the action.

I used my 200L the most. It lived on my 5DMKII. I used the 17-40L for a few UWA shots. The 50L was also used on a few. The 24-105L was handy as well and there was enough light to be able to use the lens at ISO3200 so it worked out OK.

Again, keep in mind this is just for a web gallery so nothing absolutely critical.

Here are a few pics (EXIF intact)...feel free to C & C. Believe me, I don't mind. These are just samples. I haven't even looked at the countless others yet...

Group shot: (Uneven lighting...probably might want to do some more PP to balance it out...but here's a quicky) 5DMKII + 17-40L ISO3200
http://nicksan.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p541012876-4.jpg

Sample shots...
5DMKII + 200L ISO 800
http://nicksan.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p888786963-5.jpg

1DMKIII + 200L ISO1600
http://nicksan.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p881595712-4.jpg
I just saw this thread so I'm late. How did the shoot go? Which lens did it turn out to be the most useful? What ISO did you end up shooting in, etc.?

SYS
18th of May 2009 (Mon), 10:45
The shoot went well.
Actually, this was my first paid gig! Didn't get paid all that much, and I mainly did it for fun so it was pretty cool. It really wasn't all that formal. They just wanted some pics for their website. No pressure. No expectations. And I know the owner so...

The suggestion about bringing the 17-40L turned out to be critical as I was asked to shoot 3 group shots. I barely managed to fit everyone in there!

They had uneven lighting on the stage so I was anywhere from ISO800 - ISO3200. My 5DMKII saw most of the action.

I used my 200L the most. It lived on my 5DMKII. I used the 17-40L for a few UWA shots. The 50L was also used on a few. The 24-105L was handy as well and there was enough light to be able to use the lens at ISO3200 so it worked out OK.

Again, keep in mind this is just for a web gallery so nothing absolutely critical.

Here are a few pics (EXIF intact)...feel free to C & C. Believe me, I don't mind. These are just samples. I haven't even looked at the countless others yet...

Nicely done. They all look pretty good. The group shot with the ISO 3200 turned out better than I expected at such high ISO...

I was interested in your shoot because I did quite a bit of youth symphony events. Here's one gallery of mine if interested:

http://www.sso-images.com/gallery/4779438_4CCr7#283639751_JB8Gu

nicksan
18th of May 2009 (Mon), 10:58
Wow...nice!
Did you adjust WB on those? Looks good.

I brought my Whibal card and took some reference shots on the stage but the lighting was so uneven that it wasn't too useful.

I like to have a little of the ambient/mood lighting in the pics, but not sure if the WB looks off or not. I'll post more when I process them. I took about 200 pics...

Nicely done. They all look pretty good. The group shot with the ISO 3200 turned out better than I expected at such high ISO...

I was interested in your shoot because I did quite a bit of youth symphony events. Here's one gallery of mine if interested:

http://www.sso-images.com/gallery/4779438_4CCr7#283639751_JB8Gu

SYS
18th of May 2009 (Mon), 11:07
Wow...nice!
Did you adjust WB on those? Looks good.

I brought my Whibal card and took some reference shots on the stage but the lighting was so uneven that it wasn't too useful.

I like to have a little of the ambient/mood lighting in the pics, but not sure if the WB looks off or not. I'll post more when I process them. I took about 200 pics...

Yea, please do post more. I just love classical music shoots. Pekka, the Godfather of this forum, has really nice galleries.

The only WB I did was in the PSE5 during PP. I seem to get a bit better results with my 70-200 f/2.8 than any other lenses of mine when shooting lowlight stage scenes.