Help, Neice's graduation tonight.

[SuzanneCarey]

Hey guys! I am hoping to get some advice on taking some pictures at my Neice's graduation tonight. I am not concerned with the photos after the ceremony, but those DURING the ceremony. I do not have a super long lens, the longest one I have is the Tamron 28-75. I am not sure how far/close i will be but I will have my camera set up on tripod using remote cord. My question is, as she walks across stage, how do I get some shots without them being blurred b/c of movement? I do not think I will be using a flash b/c not sure how close i will be.

Sorry, forgot to tell you I will be using a 20D and I have 2 550EX flashes.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Suzanne

[dannym]

Suzanne,
I'll be watching this thread closely. My son is graduating in 2 weeks and I've posted for help on another board, but no replies. Is yours going to be inside or outside? Ours will be outside at 7pm unless it rains, then however it will be in a too dark gymnasium. Let's hope someone can help us. My equipment list is in my sig line.
Thanks for starting this topic.

[kndreyn]

Suzanne,

There are many here more qualified than I, but my suggestion would be, manual mode, aperture wide open, shutterspeed 320 - 500 and bump your ISO up until you get a good exposure. You could probably get away with a little slower shutterspeed but that would be for someone with more experience than me to answer. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[KevC]

kndreyn's advice sounds good. Since you're on a tripod, you have more leeway with shutter speed. *However* As you stated, she'll be walking 'cross stagee... and that may pose as a problem.

Freezing her motion may be easier than getting it fast enough to handhold, so keep the camera the tripod at all times.

The 28-75's widest aperature is f/2.8. Set the camera to Av, widen up the aperature to f/2.8 (be careful with DOF, be sure you get focus on because it may be a little narrow), bump ISO up to 1600 or 3200. Overexpose by half a stop, and *SHOOT RAW*!! It slight overexposure will deal with noise, and your 20D has awesome high ISO performance anyway. Shooting RAW will give some exposure latitude.

Best of luck! Always, it's better to have a noisy image than a blurry one. So do not be afraid to use ISO3200!

[markubig]

Hi Suzanne,

Have you seen the place where the graduation will be held? Is there plenty of light? If so, you might not need the tripod. If you bump the ISO to get shutter speeds of 1/100-1/125, that should be enough to stop the movement (unless they're running for their diplomas). Have you played around with AI Servo for moving targets?

My suggestion would be to zoom out wider than normal, so that you can crop your desired frame later.

Good luck and post your results!

[SuzanneCarey]

Hi guys! Thanks so much for the tips and advice. I got there, set up my tripod, got it all level, etc. And then at the last minute, I decided to get up and go up near the front so I could use my flash. (B/C from where we were sitting...my zoom was just not enough) So I am attaching a few from the evening. We ended up having a great time! There were lots of photogs there...I tried to "eye" their equipment to see what they were using....but they were too far away. Looked like there was lots of talent.

Thanks again!

[dannym]

You did good Suzanne! Just hope I have your luck next week. Thanks,

[freddycr]

Nice pics.
Suzanne are you using a diffussor on your flash?

[Maureen Souza]

Good shots Suzanne... what I love most is that you captured that radiant smile of hers!

[pdrow]

Good going! My son graduates on Saturday. I don't think getting close is going to be possible at all. It is in the basketball stadium. I have never been to graduation here as you only get 10 tickets and most of our friends have used them for family as we will this year. Hopefully, I'll get something good as I really don't want to pay the 'paid' photgrapher who has a contract with the school keeping all of the rest of us out.
pam

[Keiffer]

Nice pics! You should name them....HAPPINESS! because that's exactly what you captured! Way to go.

[SuzanneCarey]

Thanks guys! She is known for that beautiful smile. Pam, this is what I would do...call and talk to whoever is organizing the graduation at the school. I really don't think it will be a problem for you to go up closer just for the time frame of taking your son's pictures. You would not believe how many people came up front where we were to take some quick shots of their kids. So I really don't think it will be a problem for you at all! I mean, they only graduation H.S. once! You want to get up there and take them!

Hi Freddy! Thanks for the comments. (You take great pics too) Yes, I was using an Omnibounce diffuser and my Quick Flip bracket.

Thanks again!