Suggestion on Event Photography


Status
Not open for further replies.

NewSuw

New Member
Oct 17, 2008
22
0
0
Hi all... i want to ask for suggestion on event photography.
Recently i went for an speech competition contest as the photographer.
During the event i got no major problem.
what i want to ask is regarding the picture i took.
after checking on the image i realize that most of my picture are blur....
especially because the object move around and i can't get enough shutter speed.
even though i got the correct exposure and angle but my picture are blurred because of the object moving. The solution to this problem would probably use higher Shutter speed but it will make my picture Underexpose.
here are my question:
will it be better if i increase the Shutter Speed and get an Underexpose picture and use Photoshop to increase the brightness OR Pump my ISO to 3200 or more to get the desired Shutter Speed which is sometimes will still makes the picture underexpose under certain angle.
Which solution would fellow member Suggest??

Extra Info:
I use D90 + 70-200mm F/2.8(Rented) for this event....
i got next event coming and i will be using D90 + 18-105 f/3.5-5,6.
 

There are few factors, shutter speed is just one of them ... it boils down to wat setting you use, how you handle the cam ... etc ..

and the picture isit motion blur or just out of foucs .. ? :dunno:
 

Hi all... i want to ask for suggestion on event photography.
Recently i went for an speech competition contest as the photographer.
During the event i got no major problem.
what i want to ask is regarding the picture i took.
after checking on the image i realize that most of my picture are blur....
especially because the object move around and i can't get enough shutter speed.
even though i got the correct exposure and angle but my picture are blurred because of the object moving. The solution to this problem would probably use higher Shutter speed but it will make my picture Underexpose.
here are my question:
will it be better if i increase the Shutter Speed and get an Underexpose picture and use Photoshop to increase the brightness OR Pump my ISO to 3200 or more to get the desired Shutter Speed which is sometimes will still makes the picture underexpose under certain angle.
Which solution would fellow member Suggest??

Extra Info:
I use D90 + 70-200mm F/2.8(Rented) for this event....
i got next event coming and i will be using D90 + 18-105 f/3.5-5,6.

Im just interested to know if the guy/agency who employed you gave you a hard time when you gave them the photos.;p

Regards
 

Extra Info:
I use D90 + 70-200mm F/2.8(Rented) for this event....
i got next event coming and i will be using D90 + 18-105 f/3.5-5,6.

I suggest you rent the lens again. Since you are hardly going to use the wide end of the 18-105 your aperture is going to be 1-2 stops smaller so your shutter speed will be 2-4x slower. You are going to see your problem multiplied.

I suggest just bumping up your ISO to 3200. I've heard that the D90 has a one stop improvement over the D80 in terms of noise and I have found photos taken on my D80 at 1600 perfectly usable provided the exposure is correct. Finally, if you don't have Capture NX or noise reduction software, use your camera to convert the RAW file to jpeg before transferring them to your computer for more editing because photoshop is not good at dealing with noise. I believe you can also do minor adjustments to exposure within the camera. My D60 could do that so I'm assuming the function was carried over.
 

thx for the reply.
The event doesn't allow FLASH...
that's the problem.
what i want to know is it advisable to get an underexpose picture by increasing the shutter speed and fix it later using photoshop. this way i can drop the ISO to around 800-1600 which the noise is still acceptable for my eye.
OR
i increase the ISO to 3200 to get a more correctly exposed picture out of the camera. and only need a bit of adjustment later.

which quality of the picture will be better??
a dark picture that need massive brighten up using software
or
picture taken with ISO 3200 or higher and use software to reduce noise and brighten a bit.
 

I would shoot at ISO 3200 and then use noise-reduction software to improve the quality. If you shoot at ISO800, under expose by two-stops and then try to increase by two-stops in Photoshop the result will highlight the noise at ISO800 and look pretty terrible.
 

My suggestion is go with ISO3200 and do minor adjustment. If you underexpose by one full stop, you will get a lot of amplified noise when you jack up the exposure later.

Shoot in RAW also. Does the D90 do 14 bit? If so, set to 14 bit, can recover a bit more during adjusting.
 

ok so it's better to shot at ISO 3200 rather than fix the underexposed pic using software.
thx guys.
it's the handshake of the people.
the object.
they use hand gesture and a quick one at that....
and they also moving around the stage a LOT.
out of the 600+ picture i take 100+ is the because of the movement of subject.
the less is usually the movement of the hand only.
only blur at the hand.
and i don't think D90 can shoot 14bit RAW.
thx for the suggestion guys.
will try shooting at ISO 3200 this coming event.
if i can't tolerate the noise level will just use my 50mm F/1.4 through out the event >.<
 

Why not rent a 85 f/1.8 or 135 f/2 instead. Even though these are fixed lenses, they will give you a larger aperture, allowing you to quicken your shutter speed. Also, I'm quite surprised that at a speech competition, there is such little light on the person speaking to the point where you cannot get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze gestures.
 

Why not rent a 85 f/1.8 or 135 f/2 instead. Even though these are fixed lenses, they will give you a larger aperture, allowing you to quicken your shutter speed. Also, I'm quite surprised that at a speech competition, there is such little light on the person speaking to the point where you cannot get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze gestures.

I'm more surprised at why flash photography isn't allowed :dunno:

But yea, in the future, like what calebk mentioned, i'd also recommend a faster prime lens, since pushing up your ISO any higher on your D90 isn't gonna give you decent shots imo :think:
 

The light is decent most of the time.
It was me who abuse the use haha....
I use apeture mode f/2.8 on ISO 800 during last event.
the light come from the audience area not the theater...
that's the strange thing =p
so yeah mostly it's my fault.
Wouldn't using all prime lens will makes me keep on changing lens >.<
that's so0ooo though....
 

that's the trade-off ... primes give u better IQ, but you have to move yourself around more often. i don't exactly think u have the time to keep changing lenses in a speech competition. as for your question, I would up the ISO of course. in ur scenario, i would rather slightly noiser photos then blurred/OOF pictures ...
 

I would suggest primes if you are allowed to move around. Is the next event similar to this one? Are there rehearsals you can attend? Both would help you plan your shots better.

Its better to have lesser shots but of higher quality, rather than many shots but of which none can make it.
 

Yes i am allowed to move around the area but not go up the stage.
cause it will be distracting to the speaker and audience.
there will be no rehearsal.
but i know how is the venue and what kind of lightning to expect.
so it won't be a problem.
thx for the suggestion so far guys.

today went to the event area and try to shot with my 18-105mm
manage to get speed of 1/80 F/5.6 and Auto ISO set to 3200.
i am using manual Mode.
the image quality is not that good but it's perfectly exposed.

try to gain the experience for now.
hope to get better by 28th.... got a Magic show to take hahaha....
amateur trying that got the opportunity to learn and experience.
and to learn from all of you fellow friends.
it's been great.
Thanks....
 

Did you use Continuos Servo AF + 9/21 Dynamic AF + Release & Focus? I do quite a few events, and I understand what you are going through.
 

I use either the 17-55 on my D300 or 24-70 on D700, it gives superb reason, see some of my events shots like recent Baptism and Seminar functions.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.