photoshoot this week. need some advice & tips from you guys/girls.

i have a shoot this week coming up, and just had a few questions.

1. shooting in RAW - does the custom settings feature on my 5D (i.e. sharpness +4, contrast +1) carry over into my RAW data when i'm post processing in Lightroom? i know if i shoot in monochrome+custom settings, and then import to LR, when my RAW is displayed, it's displayed in color. i'm assuming the sharpness/contrast settings are reset as well, and that they would only be permanent in JPEG format. can someone please confirm this for me?

2. i plan on shooting handheld as usual, and i'll be outside. i'll have a meter, and i do know how to use it...should i use a fill flash? we'll have scrims and reflectors as well, but i just want to know how people feel about fill flashes. also...if you, kind user, do use fill flash, do you use ETTL? i do, but sometimes i feel like they come out under or over exposed. i prefer to go manual if i'm using FF until i can get it right. any tips on this?

3. how do you guys feel about the lumiquest mini-softbox for the speedlites? i really like it, and it softens up the flash something nice. i know some of the users' feelings on the gary fong stuff (and i don't disagree), but i don't hear the lumiquest mentioned much here.

4. our itinerary is set, the locations are good, we have permits in hand, and i have enough equipment (my work equipment is not listed in my sig). this is my first shoot where i feel i know a lot more about what i'm doing, although i don't feel at all like a pro. our last shoot came out really nice, and i'm expecting this one to come out a lot better. any words of advice in general, or tips/things you guys feel no photographer should go on a shoot without? i have batteries galore, and car chargers. i know where the sun is at on location all day, as i've gone up to location twice in the past 2 weeks and took test shots. i have a backup body. i have 5 total lenses, lenspens, rocketblowers, a tripod just in case, and an extra speedlite. all i had for my last shoot was a 20D and a tamron 18-200 4-5.6, a meter, and a scrim/reflector. am i missing anything? am i crazy for asking too many questions?

seriously, any/all advice is appreciated. thanks. this is one of the shots from our last shoot:

1. No, they do not.
2. Depends on the shot, the light available, and the effect you want. Light from the reflector or scrim will probably look better, but it depends on how you use the flash. Sometimes reflectors and scrims just don't quite do the job you want, since the direction of the light is dictated by something other than yourself. Ideally, get the flash off camera and manually control it.
3. The lumiquests get good reviews. I've never used them, but anything that makes your light source bigger will also make it softer, which is a good thing if that's what you're going for. Bear in mind you'll lose some light.
4. Sounds like you're good to go. If you're shooting for work and pay, it's a pro shoot. Make sure you have plenty of CF cards. My main advice would be to get that flash off camera however you can. Cord, gadget infinity triggers, pocketwizards, radiopoppers, whatever, just get it off camera. That'll make a world of difference.

Nice shot btw. The crop is uninspiring, but otherwise it's pretty. If you have architecture and straights in your shot though, keep your camera level! Use a hot shoe spirit level or careful technique, or fix it in post.

perryge wrote in post #5275820
1. No, they do not.
2. Depends on the shot, the light available, and the effect you want. Light from the reflector or scrim will probably look better, but it depends on how you use the flash. Sometimes reflectors and scrims just don't quite do the job you want, since the direction of the light is dictated by something other than yourself. Ideally, get the flash off camera and manually control it.
3. The lumiquests get good reviews. I've never used them, but anything that makes your light source bigger will also make it softer, which is a good thing if that's what you're going for. Bear in mind you'll lose some light.
4. Sounds like you're good to go. If you're shooting for work and pay, it's a pro shoot. Make sure you have plenty of CF cards. My main advice would be to get that flash off camera however you can. Cord, gadget infinity triggers, pocketwizards, radiopoppers, whatever, just get it off camera. That'll make a world of difference.

Nice shot btw. The crop is uninspiring, but otherwise it's pretty. If you have architecture and straights in your shot though, keep your camera level! Use a hot shoe spirit level or careful technique, or fix it in post.

thanks, perryge! i have 2x 8GB cards, 2x 4GB cards, and a 1GB CF card. i'm hoping 25GB will cover it. i'm a little confused about the level thing though. her feet are level in that one. are you talking about keeping the side of the building level? i'm also looking into one of the hot shoe spirit levels. thanks again.

The shot is level. The only way to straighten the 'tilts' you see in the building is to do it in post or use a TS lens. The tilts you see is just the nature of how perspective works. We can see on the left edge of the image that the building/shot seems to tilt to the right, but if you look to the right part of the image and find the right-most mortar line you see it appears to tilt to the left. It's a simple perspective distortion.