Pictures for my daughters graduation...Help please.

[hauff]

I will be recieving my new 70-200mm F/2.8L IS lens on Tuesday of next week. I have promised my daughter and her friends that I would take somes shots of them on Friday at thier high school graduation. There will be some individual shots and some group shots(6-8 people). Both indoor and outdoor shots will be taken. My problem is that I will have no time to test the lens before hand. I'll be using my 20D with this lens. My question is: Can some of you most knowledgable people give me some tips on setting that will get me started for this? I'll have a little time to tweak during the event if I'm close when I start. Here's a list of some of the parameters.

1) Gowns will be black with teal trim.
2) Group and individual pictures outside. (Sunny or Cloudy, don't know?)
3) Indoor pictures from +/- 40 feet while recieving diplomas on stage.(Poor lighting, I'm sure)
4)Camera 20D, lens 70-200mm F/2.8L IS
5) Photographers ability...well, lets not go there.

This is just something they have asked me to do, there is no expectations of professional quality at all. However, I would like to do a nice job for them. Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards: Bryan

[Ken Fong]

If you have the time to meter, go for it (spot meter on black, then deduct 2 stops to get it into zone III...this will give you detailed black instead of a grey gown.) But most likely, you will be pressured to take the picture faster, in which case you can use evaluative metering and even 'P' mode...the system's guesses are pretty good. If you want added insurance, use the auto bracket (+/- 2/3 stops) and you can always delete the wrong ones later.

If you are more concerned about skin tone vs. gown tone, there is a trick I learned on this forum recently about how you can use your hand palm as a 'grey card'...assuming lighting conditions are the same (and your skin is fair and similar to the subject), you meter off your palm and add 1 stop (in manual mode).

As for optimal settings, see if you can use f/8 aperture with the IS on. Be sure to be familiar with IS operations before going out there. Don't be afraid to use high ISO like 800 (or even 1600) because you can always take out the digital noise with Photoshop CS2, Photoshop Elements (current version), Neatimage, or Noise Ninja. Overall, try to go for the best exposure on the field, but know that you can always correct things on the back-end.

As for what to shoot, go for the shots that capture the emotion...people laughing, hugging, etc. Tilt the camera (horizon) to make the pictures more 'dynamic' (you can always do that in Photoshop also.)

[MTalley]

For your outdoor shots, clouds are your friend (giant softbox overhead). FInd a pretty spot, without cars, air conditioner units, "Slow" signs, etc. in the background. Shoot away at the largest aperature you can get away with.

If it is sunny, perform the above in the shade of a tree, if possible. Look for a good angle without too much clutter in the background. And, after having done this myself (at graduation practice) last week - do a manual white balance in the shade of the tree. I set the white balance to shade to eliminate blue casts and ended up with a lot of yellowish-green faces. That came from the bright mid-afternoon sun reflecting off the lawn just behind me and gently uplighting my subjects' faces with a pale greenish-yellow cast.

[hauff]

Thanks guys for the info. Any thoughts on the indoor shots using my 580EX at +/- 40 feet when the kids are recieving their diploma's?

[PacAce]

The 70-200 will be great for those long shots from the audience seat to the stage (assuming you either have good lighting or your flash can cover the distance) but it may be a little too long for the group shots unless you stand back quite a ways from the group. And it's heavy, too! :shock:

You might want to consider bringing along a little wider lens like something that'll cover the 17 mm to 35mm range depending on the size of the group.

[PhotosGuy]

You might take a look at this thread & my post at the bottom for some general info. Good luck!
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=544222#post544222

[intechpcx]

The only thing I can offer from my experience is take lots of pictures of the students that go up before your daughter and her friends. Use those shots along with their histograms and the advice you've received here to set the camera up on the fly. Also, this may be a given, but shoot in raw. If you're a little off you have a better chance of being able to fix it than if you go straight JPEG.