Advice needed for D&D event

[VainKid]

I'm attending d&d for next week, I'm consider a newbie in photography, I'm using d90 with a 50mm prime n 105mm kit lens n I would like to seek advice from Professionals out there.

1. Shutterspeed should be low like 30" would it be enough or should I go into bulb mode?

2. Is there a need to switch around the 2 lens as mention above or just stick to which lens that suits more of the events?

3. If I'm not wrong, the atmosphere is lit with orange lighting thus is iso800 sufficent?

4. Should I go on shutter priorty instead of manual?

5. Is aperture or white balance important??


Thanks in advance

 

[sonyboy]

I'm attending d&d for next week, I'm consider a newbie in photography, I'm using d90 with a 50mm prime n 105mm kit lens n I would like to seek advice from Professionals out there.

1. Shutterspeed should be low like 30" would it be enough or should I go into bulb mode?

2. Is there a need to switch around the 2 lens as mention above or just stick to which lens that suits more of the events?

3. If I'm not wrong, the atmosphere is lit with orange lighting thus is iso800 sufficent?

4. Should I go on shutter priorty instead of manual?

5. Is aperture or white balance important??


Thanks in advance

1. If shutter speed go on 30 seconds..You rather not shoot.

You are supposed to go positive shutter speed...go to 40-60 without this "

2. Choose A F2.8 Lens , If u have 1. If not take the 1 with the biggest aperture.

3. Depends on your body..Some can perform well even at 1600...some 800 already start to show some noise on the photo

4. Manuel...set 40-60 as shutter speed.. Aperature at F2.8(u gotta try out)

5. Depends. But afterall , people see your photo. Not your settings.


Advise from me : Please Please Have External Flash.. Without That, Dont need shoot.

Go 1 hour or 30 mins earlier to test out...try all different settings untill u get the correct settings..

 

[shiltontan]

Hi

1) A 30 second or bulb exposure would be too long. In fact, stay with as low a shutter speed as possible that gives you pictures free of camera or subject blur.

2) It depends on what you shoot. These lenses do different things. Your 18-105 would be suitable for group and table shots while your 50mm would be the better of the two for shooting subjects on the stage. Switch if you have to.

3) Colour of light has little to do with brightness. If its is orange, i.e. a warm light source, be sure to manage your white balance- read up on how to do that. Also, if you use the flash on your camera, note that the subject and background white balance will be inconsistent... but let's not get too carried away, concentrate on the basics first.
ISO800 is a good place to start, adjust it accordingly to control your shutter speed.

4) Shutter priority would be better. Use it to determine and set the lowest shutter speed that is suitable.

5) Yes, and yes. In such situations, (low light) you may have to shoot with the aperture wide open. And learn how to set white balance- under warm light, most camera will not cope well.

6) You may consider a flash, but, I guess you are shooting as a hobbyist, so let's take it one step at a time.

OK, I'm no pro, I don't even have a DSLR:sweat:, but I hope this helps

 

[Fireemblem]

ermm i definately hope you are not the main photographer. if you are, with these kind of question asked, good luck

 

[LE0LE0]

I'm attending d&d for next week, I'm consider a newbie in photography, I'm using d90 with a 50mm prime n 105mm kit lens n I would like to seek advice from Professionals out there.

1. Shutterspeed should be low like 30" would it be enough or should I go into bulb mode?

2. Is there a need to switch around the 2 lens as mention above or just stick to which lens that suits more of the events?

3. If I'm not wrong, the atmosphere is lit with orange lighting thus is iso800 sufficent?

4. Should I go on shutter priorty instead of manual?

5. Is aperture or white balance important??


Thanks in advance

Hi VainKid

1. Shutter - Usually for event photography because its fast pace, you might want to try to stick to around 1/60 for starters so that you can freeze the action. If the subject is walking you probably need 1/80 or even faster. If the subject is just standing, you might sometimes get away with 1/50. It depends, but i always start with 1/60 and work from there.

Aperture - I usually stick between f4-5.6. f4 for 1 or 2 pax and maybe 5.6 for 7-10 pax. It depends on how they are standing also.

Focal length - I like to keep it between 17-24mm, so that i have more depth of field. Its also cos at 17mm you're less likely to have Cam shake. You know the 1/focal length rule to reduce cam shake right.
Another advantage of using the shorter focal length is that you are forced to move closer to the subject so you wont have to blast your flash all the time and thus you can reduce the recycle time.
When i started out, i didnt have an external flash, so i used the build-in-flash to cover small events and this is how i maximized the equip i had. Oh i shot in Raw too, so i was able to lighten up the darker shots later during post processing.
Also since you're using the 18-105 kit lens, you're better off at 18mm or the shorter end so you have the max aperture of 3.5 available.

2. I suggest you just stick to ur 18-105. Your D90 is a crop cam, so at 50mm i personally find it abit too far. Also if you shoot at 50mm it'll take away all the advantages of shooting at 18mm.

3. For orange lighting, either shoot at Auto White Bal, or just change it to Tungsten. For indoors i usually shoot between iso 800 to 1600. You can start at iso 800 and work from there.

4. i'm using canon but if i'm not wrong for Nikon at Aperture priority you can set the min shutter speed at 1/60 when you use the flash. If not then just start with 1/60 f4.5 in manual mode.

5. both are impt. but if you shoot in Raw, you can always change the white bal later on ur computer.

Ok that shld be enough for you to get started! And my last piece of advice is to practice practice practice. Shoot your family during dinner or when they're watching tv or something. You need to experiment with your flash and understand it. Becos indoors at night, without a flash, you can basically close shop cos ur shutter speed will be too slow, you wont able to freeze motion. Cheers & gd luck.

 

[hotwork77]

I'm attending d&d for next week, I'm consider a newbie in photography, I'm using d90 with a 50mm prime n 105mm kit lens n I would like to seek advice from Professionals out there.

1. Shutterspeed should be low like 30" would it be enough or should I go into bulb mode?

2. Is there a need to switch around the 2 lens as mention above or just stick to which lens that suits more of the events?

3. If I'm not wrong, the atmosphere is lit with orange lighting thus is iso800 sufficent?

4. Should I go on shutter priorty instead of manual?

5. Is aperture or white balance important??


Thanks in advance

Hi VainKid...welcome. Kerna arrow for D&D? Keke... :bsmilie:

Since you are using D90, answering your query seems pretty straight forward.

(1) Set shutter speed at 1/125 or faster. Compensate with bounce flash.

(2) D&D usually have a lot of going on. No time to be switching lens unless you are quick enough without dropping your lens. Recommend to use your 180105mm kit lens. They are the best for the event.

(3) Use automatic white balance. Speed use ISO 200 since you need to use flash. In some D&D activities using a flash will wash out the picture, then bump up your ISO to 800. Too high you will get chromatic noise cos your camera sensor heat up when you leave it on throughout the night.

(4) Go for shutter priority. Otherwise use fully auto if adjustments leaves you with undersirable picture quality.

(5) Aperture is important but you might not have the time to tinker too much on the day itself. Go for shutter priority. White balance is important but if the venue have ridiculous psychedelic colours then it is very difficult to set your camera white balance without the proper gadget like a expodisc.

Hope that helps.

 

[knpan]

Bro, i hope you are not the main offical photographer for the D & D. If u are pls ask some1 else who can do this. U need to get the basics of the camera first b4 u can shoot the event. Camera settings is the main basic thing, 2nd main part is to worry weather u can capture the event's stuff, if cannot understand the basic, how to capture the 2nd part?

1. Shutterspeed should be low like 30" would it be enough or should I go into bulb mode?
U got to be kidding for using bulb mode or 30 secs. For wide angle, use minimum shutter speed about 1/50th second. For mid range like 50mm or more, use 1/1ooth at least.
2. Is there a need to switch around the 2 lens as mention above or just stick to which lens that suits more of the events?
best for Events is always 2 bodies. 1 wide and 1 mid tele, far tele. SInce u use your kit lens, dont bother changing and set to ISO 2000 at least straight away.

3. If I'm not wrong, the atmosphere is lit with orange lighting thus is iso800 sufficent?
WB has got nothing to do with ISO. Most prob the ambience is orangy, set the WB to abit blurer to neutralise the colour balance in your camera. Dont make it too blue, dont make it too warm. Set to ISO 2000 since u are using kit lens

4. Should I go on shutter priorty instead of manual?
best set to aperture priority as u have no time for manaul .

5. Is aperture or white balance important??
both are important. since yours is a kit lens, the aperture is not fast ( Hole not big enough ), go to the widest hole your lens can go at all focal lenght. WB as above mentioned

cheers

 

[daredevil123]

TS,

You are not ready for this thing. Don't do it. If you do, you will be the laughing stock of your company/school.

 

[LuckyTiangco]

Please get 2nd photographer more experienced than you,some photographer here do that for free for experienced and he also can teach you some basic settings.At least you save the event and you will also learned something.Different setting will confuse you.Try first at your home before the actual date.I'm not a pro and also learning.Cheers...

 

[VainKid]

Hiya guys sorry to say I'm the only photographer, I'm new about 2 month old and Kena arrow to be taking event which I don't even know what is wat, I do not have any external flash too. I'll try it out I guess and I'm really worried about the outcome.

Can I use auto white balance, build in flash?

Basically it's not a 50 or 100 table event so I guess should be quite ok. It's like small company event for 5 tables only.

Anyway can anyone advice on Important subject for event? Thanks

 

[woefulwabbit]

You're in serious trouble, but there's still hope.
This easiest way not to screw up would be to get an external flash. Optimally you want to do bounce flash, but you really want to have experience with that first. Otherwise, just adjust the head for direct flash. Your pictures won't be fantastic, but you probably won't screw things up the exposure or get lots of motion blur.
Use 50mm for portraits and candids, use the kit lens for group and wide angle shots. Don't forget to stop down aperture for group shots

 

[Dream Merchant]

Hiya guys sorry to say I'm the only photographer, I'm new about 2 month old and Kena arrow to be taking event which I don't even know what is wat, I do not have any external flash too. I'll try it out I guess and I'm really worried about the outcome.

Can I use auto white balance, build in flash?

Basically it's not a 50 or 100 table event so I guess should be quite ok. It's like small company event for 5 tables only.

Anyway can anyone advice on Important subject for event? Thanks

The others have already made suggestions.

Just do your best, but be sure to give the organizing comm some fore-warning that the photos may not come out nicely because of inexperience. Make sure it's an email. Let nature take it's course.

 

[Reportage]

post when exactly and where. If happen any photographer got time for the event simply to burn batteries and etc, considered lucky.

But for your function at so short notice, my best advice is set to portrait mode and try to "fix" the shots. As long they dont move, should be good enough.

Take Raw.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

I wonder who might be so "wu liao".... :think:

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Hiya guys sorry to say I'm the only photographer, I'm new about 2 month old and Kena arrow to be taking event which I don't even know what is wat, I do not have any external flash too. I'll try it out I guess and I'm really worried about the outcome.

Can I use auto white balance, build in flash?

Basically it's not a 50 or 100 table event so I guess should be quite ok. It's like small company event for 5 tables only.

Anyway can anyone advice on Important subject for event? Thanks

Whether it's 5 tables or 50, the kind of equipment you choose to use will determine the kind of photos you can produce.
What is the standard that you expect to produce? Something like PnS but sharper and clearer? Then using the kit lens and pop up flash will do the trick...
It would be quite overwhelming for you to go and get an external flash (buy/rent) and try to use it properly for the D&D on such short notice.

Make sure your employer understands the limitations of your equipment/experience, and doesn't expect the kind of photos that a paid event photographer would charge thousands for...

 

[skysunsandsea]

i used my camera with built in flash with flash diffuser for a dinner of 20 pax. in a restuarant with orangy lights. pictures were acceptable when take portraits and small groups. but when it comes to group photo, my built in flash was not powerful enough. i guess an external flash is a must...

 

[VainKid]

Thank u guys for the advice. I decided to give it a try

 

[daredevil123]

Thank u guys for the advice. I decided to give it a try

Good luck. And remember to post some samples.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

good luck! All the best!

 

[szeping]

Hi TS, is the DnD action packed (any performance etc.)? If it's then you should know the way to freeze the motion either by flash or faster shutter speed. I hope it's not since it's only a 5-table DnD.

I suppose it would be mostly group shots, so just use built in flash with increase FEV + diffuser might do the job... But make sure the distribution of people will not be too wide as your built in flash won't cover a wide area (light will fall off at edges). And beware of your kit lens hood casting shadow on your photo if you are zooming.

Enjoy the shooting