client wants a big print in a church setting.. need help

I am faily new to the business end. I am doing a friends baptism of about 150 people. His request is a couple of albums, prints, dvd, etc... my concern is one print he would like a 30 incher. First i believe my xti can get that job done. the problem is the only thing i have is my 430ex with a tiffon diffuser. im scared to shoot too high of a iso because i dont want that 30 print to have alot of noise. I dont want to shoot straight flash and kill my shots. I cant bounce it because it is a church with a high ceiling. I dont have any other lighting equipment that i can bring. I am also a beginner with my flash and when i do use it i usually set it on p and bounce or straight... need some help guys. I will try and scope the place out soon and see what i can accomplished with a friend as a subject to play with. thanks again

fabian

If I was to cover 150 people I would be using 2 strobes minimum and probably four. One light will not cover that size of a group without falloff.

Can you take the group shot outside? Also, bounced flash works on very high ceilings...try it beofre you assume it wont work.

your talking about like two flashes on stands? im not taking a group shot of 150 people. That is how big this party is going to be. as far as outside, i will be taking a ride in the next couple of day to check out the setting. that would work great. but as far as this big print he wants, i am alittle worried

You are not telling us how many people in the shot.......
We have no clue as to the scope of the project.

I had to do something like that were I needed extra equipment for a shoot, buying it was out since I didn't have the money so I rented it. I went to a local camera store, but I'm sure you can find many in your area with simple google search.

One thing that I would highly recommend would be to rent it for two days or at least enough time to figure out how everything works, and try to set up the equipment like you would at your house so that there isn't any missing parts or anything.

Fabian9931 wrote in post #5426658
im scared to shoot too high of a iso because i dont want that 30 print to have alot of noise.

Easier to get rid of noise in PP then getting rid of camera shake / motion blur / too little DoF!
I've done bigger prints then that off ISO 1600 shots.

For a group shot, if at all possible possible, use a tripod.

if any group shots it will be like a family of 8 at the most. but my main concern is the big print which will be of the baby boy most likely either him standing on his own or held up.

Study the stickies in the flash section. You will be able to put together a plan that should work well. I think someone suggested above to go there first and take some test shots. That is a great idea. Your 70-200 would work very well for the close up shot. You'll probably have to use the kit lens for the group shot. If you do your homework, everything will go well.

Throwing in the "150" has confused things. I think you need to give us more detail on what you're doing, where, what it looks like, and where the 150 people come in.

You're going to have to either light the whole place with multiple lights, or use high ISO and a bit flash so it doesn't look like a black hole. Use ISO1600. Go do some test shots and get some 6x4s printed the same size they'd be if they were 30" - ie crop of a small section and print it 6x4. I don't think noise will be a big issue, and it'll be easier that lighting a whole church.

ok the 150 is just the amount of guest in the party. i will be taking shots mostly at the church. of the father/mother, godmother/godfather. etc etc... at most 8 people in a shot. i will check the place out soon and im bring a friend so they can be my subject. should i use the diffuser or should i go straight?

René Damkot wrote in post #5428232
Easier to get rid of noise in PP then getting rid of camera shake / motion blur / too little DoF!
I've done bigger prints then that off ISO 1600 shots.

For a group shot, if at all possible possible, use a tripod.

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