Things to bring for event photography


Status
Not open for further replies.

labla

New Member
Apr 26, 2008
538
0
0
Lentor
Hi guys i got a question about taking photos of events, yesterday i was an assistant photographer for the National Youth Envirolympics Challenge and was using a 400D with 18-55 lens(kit). Light wasn't good and it was in the amphitheater and the light was terrible, so all my shots turned out a little blurr at ISO 400-800. Also, the fact that it was alot of action, cheering and movement, it made the people in the picture relatively, but not very blurr. Was my first attempt, so i didn't know what to bring and i kinda forgot my flashgun, but is it a important factor?

Next, I had to photograph the briefing in the lecture theatre. Did not know what to bring.

Could i get some tips on the tools to bring for such events? Thank you
 

Flash (if allowed) is one of the more important things to bring. If you don't own an external flash, please get one if you can afford-- it will greatly improve your shots if you know how to use it, especially so during events.

Fast zoom lenses are a plus, but if you don't have a few thousand so spare, at the very least get the cheapest prime lens out there- the 50mm f/1.8II @ S$110+. Once the lighting gets difficult and you don't have a flash with you, slap that on and shoot. You'll have to constantly move about cos it's a prime, but i'd rather have a prime f/1.8 than a zoom f/5.6.

Batteries are important, if you're a 'keep shooting' kind of photographer, bring a few camera batteries. I find that 2 batts are enough to cover a 4-6 hour event. For external flashes, at least bring 2 extra packs of 4AAs. Your own water is important as well.
 

at the very least get the cheapest prime lens out there- the 50mm f/1.8II @ S$110+. Once the lighting gets difficult and you don't have a flash with you, slap that on and shoot.

YES! the 50mm f/1.8 is the lens that periodically saves my ass when covering school events :bsmilie: especially in theatre performances when no flashing is allowed.

Like Headshotzx has expressed, low-mid priced telephoto zoom lenses give you severely underexposed shots in the kind of lightings you mentioned

Not to mention the 50mm (f1.8, mind you) is cheapest lens in the Nikon/Canon arsenal ;)
 

Flash (if allowed) is one of the more important things to bring. If you don't own an external flash, please get one if you can afford-- it will greatly improve your shots if you know how to use it, especially so during events.

Fast zoom lenses are a plus, but if you don't have a few thousand so spare, at the very least get the cheapest prime lens out there- the 50mm f/1.8II @ S$110+. Once the lighting gets difficult and you don't have a flash with you, slap that on and shoot. You'll have to constantly move about cos it's a prime, but i'd rather have a prime f/1.8 than a zoom f/5.6.

Batteries are important, if you're a 'keep shooting' kind of photographer, bring a few camera batteries. I find that 2 batts are enough to cover a 4-6 hour event. For external flashes, at least bring 2 extra packs of 4AAs. Your own water is important as well.

YES! the 50mm f/1.8 is the lens that periodically saves my ass when covering school events :bsmilie: especially in theatre performances when no flashing is allowed.

Like Headshotzx has expressed, low-mid priced telephoto zoom lenses give you severely underexposed shots in the kind of lightings you mentioned

Not to mention the 50mm (f1.8, mind you) is cheapest lens in the Nikon/Canon arsenal ;)

Hey guys thanks for the constructive comments. I still have a question does the f/1.8 & f/1.2 make a huge difference, because the price makes a huge one :p I will try to get one the next time i own my own SLR cos this is sorta a friends cam so i only managed to get a kit lens :) but it turned out quite well. Oh ya another question is should the ISO go up all the way to 1600? because i am afraid it will turn noisy i turned it down to 400 and 800 on the day and the light weren't that great so i wanted to slap myself after that.
 

Hey guys thanks for the constructive comments. I still have a question does the f/1.8 & f/1.2 make a huge difference, because the price makes a huge one :p I will try to get one the next time i own my own SLR cos this is sorta a friends cam so i only managed to get a kit lens :) but it turned out quite well. Oh ya another question is should the ISO go up all the way to 1600? because i am afraid it will turn noisy i turned it down to 400 and 800 on the day and the light weren't that great so i wanted to slap myself after that.

Yes it does make a huge difference, one stop, but frankly, settle for the f/1.8.

You can push your ISO up all the way, unless you are printing big (8"x12"). At smaller print sizes (4"x6") or even web view, it's very unlikely that you'll see the noise.
 

Yes it does make a huge difference, one stop, but frankly, settle for the f/1.8.

You can push your ISO up all the way, unless you are printing big (8"x12"). At smaller print sizes (4"x6") or even web view, it's very unlikely that you'll see the noise.

Oh ok. I always thought noise was a big issue. Oh ya could someone also direct me to a place where i can learn to "unblurr" my photos using photoshop, such as layer mask or any other means? I have heard of it but never knew how to do it
 

Oh ok. I always thought noise was a big issue. Oh ya could someone also direct me to a place where i can learn to "unblurr" my photos using photoshop, such as layer mask or any other means? I have heard of it but never knew how to do it

If your photos are blur, they're blur. You can't rescue them by sharpening detail that doesn't exist.
 

what people really want is sharp sharp clear clear with vivid color photos, direct flash doesn't matter, if have bounce light is a bonus to them.

anyway, you can call your blur blur grainy plus out of focus photo as "artistic", see whether people want it or not, if they want, give them same type of photos if you are ask to shoot similar events again.

btw, if some events not allow flash, normally they don't ask for too much, if you able to give them some usable photos, they should be very happy, couldn't ask for too much since flash photography is not allowed.
 

If your photos are blur, they're blur. You can't rescue them by sharpening detail that doesn't exist.

Even like MINOR blurr due to shakes? or just blurr due to movement of object? thanks anyway calebk for ALL of your nice suggestions(no sarcasm) THANK YOU.
 

bring batteries. a whole lot of them.

some lenspens, a lot of cf cards, good lenses, flash, monopod

flash is important, unless you cant use it. but still bring it anyways.
 

Even like MINOR blurr due to shakes? or just blurr due to movement of object? thanks anyway calebk for ALL of your nice suggestions(no sarcasm) THANK YOU.

Think of it this way, once the light is registered on your sensor as data, and is then translated to a digital photograph, and lets say the photo is (drastically) out of focus. If the detail you are trying to sharpen is not even in focus to begin with, you cannot make it become in focus by sharpening; it has to be done right at the moment when you take the photo.

If you have a sharp photo and you'd want to make the sharpening more dramatic, you can do so, but rescuing motion blur/OOF shots is a different story.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.