Advice For Company Event

[cichlid]

Hi all

I'm tasked to take photos for my company's function.
I'm expected to take pictures of the prize presentation in an auditorium and then also at the lobby taking photos at the crowd and VIPs.

I will be using my D80, Tamron 17-50mm lens and a SB600 + flip it.

Please give me some tips, what to look out for, any Dos and Don'ts.
Appreciate it!

Btw, i don't mind doing it for the company as I know I will definitely gain more useful experience.

 

[mamduh]

Personally I would refer to the previous events to get a feel of what is expected. Ask those in charge to outline a rough sequence of events and of course see the place / hall where the event will take place.
I took part in an event in Msia I knew that it is not correct to show your back to the audience while facing the stage.
With the audience, gauge the mood and their behaviour. Be assertive but polite in group photo taking. Being humble is no more appreciated nowadays.
I think your gear is fantastic, just back up on bat and memory.
Take care.

 

[CreaXion]

Hi all

I'm tasked to take photos for my company's function.
I'm expected to take pictures of the prize presentation in an auditorium and then also at the lobby taking photos at the crowd and VIPs.

I will be using my D80, Tamron 17-50mm lens and a SB600 + flip it.

Please give me some tips, what to look out for, any Dos and Don'ts.
Appreciate it!

Btw, i don't mind doing it for the company as I know I will definitely gain more useful experience.

Auditorium requires high flash power usage. Before the prize presentation, make sure that the batteries are new or else your flash may not recharge in time. U may end up with dark photos for certain people during the presentation

 

[NeTHaCk]

presentation eh ?

here's some tip...

1) make sure flash batts are chargged .
- keep spare batts in pocket within reach

2) bounce your flash. the auditorium i was shooting in ceiling was quite highh, had to use iso 400 with 1/50 shutter with my 28-70 f2.8 . some shots can go higher shutter.


the most important thing is, find out when guest of honour, or VIP coming, who that person is, have a rough idea what to do/not do. when i was shooting for COC, there were many do's and dont's , no showin of back to the guests, must not take this angle that angle , must have this person face a lot, blah blah blah.

another imprtant note, what time. get a masterlist of schedule. that's the most important, the last thng we want is a blur photographer dunno when to apper and when to disappear.

snce you'r using d80, shoot at full RAW+basic if you want, or shoot RAW. shoot as high MP as possible. should in landscape, if you need pics of presentations in portraits, ca just crop the pics later. another thing, best to go te place of event earlier, to test fire your rig so you know roughly what settings to use.

*additional*
forgot that you have prize presentation. what i would normally do is take the pic of them shaking hands, and them looking at the camera . 2 shots/person

1st shot they shaking and being congratulated with guest giving the award/prize
2nd shot after shaking hands looking at you

HOWEEVER, do bear in mind that if there are too many peple, they might just forgo looking at you and move on without having their faces seen. this is where you must estimate -
1) flash recycle time
2) buffer write to camera


i encountered flash recycling too slow and had no choce up ISO to 800 and shoot missing flash, end result grainy but still got the shot

 

[cichlid]

Thanks you guys for replying.

Ok, I've summed up your advice as follows:

1. Shoot at full RAW+basic, landscape orientation.
2. Go to the place of event earlier, to test fire my rig
3. Flash recycle time / fresh batteries
4. Buffer write time to camera
5. Be assertive but polite in group photo taking
6. Know the sequence of events

It seems that the flash performance is utmost important, hope I can get 2 shots for each
prize presentation :sweat:

For prize presentation shots, what's the minimum aperture I should use?

One tip I gave myself is to remain calm, heehe.

 

[CreaXion]

Thanks you guys for replying.

Ok, I've summed up your advice as follows:

1. Shoot at full RAW+basic, landscape orientation.
2. Go to the place of event earlier, to test fire my rig
3. Flash recycle time / fresh batteries
4. Buffer write time to camera
5. Be assertive but polite in group photo taking
6. Know the sequence of events

It seems that the flash performance is utmost important, hope I can get 2 shots for each
prize presentation :sweat:

For prize presentation shots, what's the minimum aperture I should use?

One tip I gave myself is to remain calm, heehe.

2 shots may not be possible as your flash may shooting be at full power. May not be able to recharge fast enuff. Concentrate on the shot looking at u. That is most impt. Raise your hands to get the attention of the prize winner and presenter so that they look at u.

 

[ortega]

up your iso speed to preserve flash battery power and shorten recycling time.

test fire and see results
if all else fails, use direct flash
if all else fails use P mode


don't need to try to be creative, everything sharp
both eyes open, can see face, nice smile, can already

 

[NeTHaCk]

yep. what creaxion and mod ortega said is right.

i would up my iso to 400 or 640(if possible) instead of using 200.

i would shoot wide open at 2.8. sometimes group shots,

buffer write to camera is important cause 3fps, you have 3 shots before cam takes some time to rebuffer .

so if you take 2 shots, left 1 shot before cam "stops" to recharge. flash recyling time is utmost important, thats the only thing i hate about sb-600, no option for external battery. sb-800 has faster recyling time and no need worry much hah.

if you're dead worried,(unless super confident to use M mode) use A or P mode cheers!

*ps* bring extra memory cards!!!! you never know, some people will request for pics

 

[fotoudavid]

for award, use direct flash.

 

[megaweb]

i would shoot wide open at 2.8. sometimes group shots,

You sure shoot group shot at f2.8 :sweat:


To TS,
If you are going to take many photos, remember to bring flesh batteries or battery pack, more memory cards

 

[fotoudavid]

very dangerous at 2.8 for group photo.

 

[Timber83]

very dangerous at 2.8 for group photo.

Yes I totally agree, group shots should be shot at least a 5 to 5.6 depending on how big the group is.
2.8 would mean the people at the sides of your frame blur.

2 cents worth.
Cheers

 

[cichlid]

In that case, I will test fire at

f5.6, iso 400,

wonder if the shutter speed can reach 1/60 sec at this setting?

 

[kandinsky]

Don't forget a standby camera!

 

[Canew]

for award, use direct flash.

fotoudavid, why direct flash for awards?

 

[fotoudavid]

becos u never noe how fast the other recipient come to take, and if the recipient stand there, then flash haven recharge fast enough, then how?

also, direct can take faster for 2 shots, meaning 1 blur still have the other shot to cover.

direct is acceptable.

dun use iso 400 pls, use 800.

 

[fotoudavid]

for events like this, they expect clear and well exposed pics, not arty fatty.
so direct is acceptable. also, pls if stage is high, use chair hor.

 

[Dream Merchant]

For events, this kind of flash is super goot to use:

http://www.metz.de/en/foto-elektron...a-blitzgeraete/mecablitz-76-mz-5-digital.html

Super power, super fast recycle times, can rapid fire at fairly high output till the cows come home.

But since you're using a smaller unit, listen to the wise words of the other members here - don't be too worried about diffused here bounce there - just whack direct flash clear clear fast fast sharp sharp can already.

Magic formula - you put like this, the whole night you don't have to touch your settings again:

Camela set to MANUAL, Lens on AF (Personally for me I will set to 1-shot, center-point only with focus lock, but that's just me)

ISO 400 - 800

Aperture f/5.6 - f/8
(f/5.6 for shots taken from far far away like say more than 5 meters, wide angle environmental shots etc. f/8 for anything closer than 5 meters, including all the group shots, regardless of distance)

Shutter speed 1/60 - 1/200
(1/60 if you want the background to be a bit brighter, 1/200 if you want only the flash lit subjects to be seen clearly)

Flash setting AUTO
(Unless you're using very high capacity batteries, change the batteries to a fresh set just before the awards ceremony, and if there are a lot of shots in between, change again before doing all the VIP group shots. Even if the batts still got juice, changing to a fresh set may buy you that precious 1 second - to capture that NEVER CAN REPEAT MOMENT! Some people, especially VVIPs may not bother to re-pose for you just because you were not ready the first time).

 

[NeTHaCk]

very dangerous at 2.8 for group photo.

i forgot to say that group go at leas f5.6 :bsmilie:

i was reading again my post and saw it :bigeyes:

 

[fotoudavid]

i forgot to say that group go at leas f5.6 :bsmilie:

i was reading again my post and saw it :bigeyes:

must be careful:bsmilie:

sekali the TS really shoot group at 2.8, then bye bye liao.:cry: