help with a "job" I have

Hi there folks

I have a family event which I volunteered (my gift to the family - something I really want to do) to shoot.

it will be in a relatively darkly lit restaurant (private event room) and i have the gear in my signature. I have never done an event (ever) and they know that and they are good with that.

While I have owned two bodies for a couple months - I never shot two bodies in parallel. Can someone

1.) give me some pointers how to manage the cameras physically and
2.) what is the philosophy of the use of the lenses here? My first idea was the 5d3+16-35, 7d+24-105 with occassional changes to the 5d3 +85 (primes are relatively new to me too and I expect more group photos, table photos, etc than portrait style photos) but now I am worrying that I only have one flash on 2 f4 lenses.

any ideas would be quite welcome! There is an off chance that I can get another flash - not sure if I can swing another 600 ex rt, or get a 430 ex II.... but right now it is an off-chance.

i'd put the 10-22 on the 7d and the 24-105 on the 5d3 with the speedlight.

use the 7d for wide shots of the event and setting and the 5d3 as the workaround, its much more capable especially if you want to up the ISO and not use flash so much plus you will get better subject isolation from the f4 lens on a FF body than a crop.

Thanks for your answer. That sounds reasonable. Thabks for the idea.

Do you understand anything about fill flash or bounce flash off the ceiling? All you need is the 5d3 and the 24-104 and the flash. Set the ISO around 1600. F4 to F5.6. 1/200s shutter speed. Let the flash to do all the lighting. That's it. You may want to gel your flash to match to the ambient light color. You will get good shots with adequate lighting.

You would get into problems if the ambient lighting color is changing constantly or the ceiling is too high or with strange color ceiling.

You have the perfect camer for it. The 5dIII and the 600 exrt. The 7D is ok if it is a well lit place but if not, there is a good chance you will get some noise (grain look) in the shot if you go too high on the ISO. Great camera (I own 2) , just the 5DIII is better at this type of shoot.

For the lens, I would also go with the 24-105 . It is a very good workhorse and has a wide range so you can get almost anyu shot. With the wide angles, you will make people look a little weird in the photos if you are close to them.


Bounce the flash off the ceiling with a gel if you have one. If the ceiling is too high, try off a wall if it is closer.

Main thing is, have fun ........

thanks for the words above. It is interesting to me that the majority (2 of 3) have suggested not running two rigs in parallel. That will definitely be lighter! anyway - the event is tonight, so indeed I will go and have fun...and hopefully some good pics for the family!

Too many shots - I basically understand fill flash, but thanks for the reminder. While I have gels, I cannot say that I have a good grasp on using them up and beyond using reds and blues for fun. If I remember correctly the place, the ceiling is a dark color, but constant.The lighting is (i don't rememeber - I want to say fluorescent spots, but that may be to gamble too much on this old man's memory)