A learning experience ... I hope.

[LuckyStar]

I volunteered to take class pictures for my son's preschool class.
I had everything ready to take the pictures outside since all I have is the flash on my camera and I usually just go the natural light route.

I get there, and they decide to do the pictures in the auditorium.
I have two continuous lights and umbrellas but I've not practiced with them much, and was planning to be outside anyways.

I managed to get decent individual shots.
They were all f/5.6. I used AV mode and they were all between 1/3 and 1/4 sec. I tried to use the flash, but got really bad results.
Did I totally mess up with the aperture?
They don't seem in focus to me.

The class shot... is horrid.
After several failed attempts, and 10 5 year olds gowing antsy, I switched to "P" in hopes of capturing some decent pictures.
I had 20 different pictures and used Element's photomerge thing to swap heads out. The picture I had printed came back really dark and blurry.

I am starting to think my lens might have been hit or something. I let my husband take some pictures a few months ago and the pictures aren't sharp since. :confused:

Here is the picture of my son. I grabbed the one I uploaded to facebook. The prints that I got are (surprisingly) really good!
I got kind of lucky and there was a stage light above the kids.

I made a small print of each kid for the parents, and they all liked them.
I think they suck. One parent made a comment that it has a warm vintage feel to them. The teachers said they loved the pictures too, and had planned on just taking some pics with their p&s cameras. So they were happy with these. I think they were just trying to be nice.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs295.snc3/28420_10150188412995084_809435083_12828809_7939086 _n.jpg

To make this a learning experience... what could I have done to prevent the craptastic disaster?

(other than make sure the "client" and I are on the same page prior to the shoot?)

Oh and the thought about my lens... could it be part the problem?

[Ed Harp]

Hi Melinda,
I'd say the first issue was not having a fast enough shutter speed. 1/3 & 1/4 sec is way to slow, will create very blurred images. I assume you have a Canon DSLR.
I'd set your color setting to AWB (Auto White Balance)... Switch to manual mode, and set ISO to say around 800, Meter a medium toned subject like the red gown; Make sure you are shooting a minimum of 1/45 sec and above for static subjects; Open your aperture to its widest setting (Canon 18-55mm 3.5-5.6). Then you may activate our pop-up flash and try a couple of exposures. Adjust aperture accordingly...

Of course all this has to do with really knowing your equipment and its capabilities. I doubt that the lens had anything to do with the pour quality of the images.
In the mean time you may want to buy a flash that attaches to our hotshoe. I have several copies of the Vivitar 285, usually sells or around $90.

[tim]

For photographing a whole class you would've needed two studio strobes with diffusers, or at the very least a couple of speedlites. Unfortunately your gear isn't up to the task. I suggest reading about exposure, and lighting, that way rather than doing what we say you'll hopefully understand the principles and work things out yourself rather than just doing what you're told :) Check the FAQ thread in my sig, it links to a book thread with some useful books.

[egordon99]

What was your ISO?