Kids Birthday Party - What Settings?

Hi folks,

I'm after a bit of advice please.

I've been asked by my niece to pop round at the weekend and take a load of photos of her son's birthday party.

I'm not sure exactly what settings would be best to capture the majority of the "action"?

I have a Canon 450D and a 17-55mm IS

Making assumptions that firstly, the kids are going to be running about a fair bit, what would you suggest for the two different light conditions (not sure what the weather's going to be doing yet)

Overcast - ?

Bright/sunny?

I didn't know if I should be increasing the ISO and shutter speed (and how much)to capture the moving kids or if I did get the chance to mess with the settings, what else I should do?

Any help would be greatly appreciated so I can nail a few nice ones for her

Kind regards

Ian

33 views and no help?

Any advice greatly appreciated?

Thanks

I would start off with Shutter speed.....Tv. Capture some sharp images of the kids running/playing/openin​g gifts etc. If they slow down long enough to perhaps frame a shot nicely, maybe switch to Av and choose your style of aperture.
IMO...i would not try to run around in M...unless your that fast.

Av mode; Aperture f/2.8 to f/5.6; ISO 200 to 400 depending on sunny or cloudy. Tv mode is typically only good for panning shots.

Also use AI Servo, a must when photographing moving subjects. You want shutter speeds 1/400 or faster for moving kids.

ok....

For outdoors: sun or cloudy, set the ISO to 100, AV mode, aperture from 2.8 to 8 (depends on what look you want), set the focusing center point and A1 servo, get down to the kids level or even lay on the ground. If your shutter speed drops below 1/200th, up the ISO to 200 or 400. I choose 1/200th because it should be good for stopping motion in swings and getting a couple of burst shots.

For indoors, set the ISO to 400, AV mode, aperture 2.8 to 4, set the focusing center point and A1 servo and get down at the kids level. If your shutter speed goes below say 1/100th, then up your ISO to 800 and/or set the aperture to 2.8.

And remember, have fun.

Thanks very much for your input folks - very much appreciated and will be a big help on the day