photography tips for engagement party

[Kaido]

Hey Guys,

As i last minute thing a good friend of mine has ask me to take some photos for him at his engagement party, And i was just wondering if anyone had any sort of tips for this sort of photo taking.

It will be indoors and at night. i will be using a cannon 400D. What would be the best mode to use on the cannon i would normally go for full man but would be it just be best to set my aperture and go about changing my shutter speed. ATM im not sure what lens i will be using as i drop my normal lens (18-55) but i think my mate has one of them and i macro lens aswell (40mm).

will be shooting in RAW just incase i need to do some editing later.

Thanks

[_S9_]

fuck your dumb

just google it

oh and learn grammar.

[Kaido]

fuck your dumb

just google it

oh and learn grammar.

Not interested in helping dont post. I have already google it and have been reading up but i would like some personal advice as i know there are some good photographers on antilag

[c.rusli]

fuck your dumb

just google it

oh and learn grammar.

Strong Post! i like :lol:

[MattyP]

What sort of shots do you plan on taking? Social pic type shots?

Indoors - Bounce flash off the ceiling (if it ain't too high, or not coloured) or even the walls if you get people nice and close to it. If you can go buy some cheap diffusers, could help making the flash output a bit more pleasing to the eye.

Outdoors - Well if you want as much ambient light in the shot without too much blur if you move your hand a bit, shoot at around 1/30th - 1/60th @ f/5.6 with the flash front on with second sync flash and that's it.

You could go aperture priority, but then you might see some long exposures if you go outside (unless you limit the shutter in the custom settings)

[Kaido]

What sort of shots do you plan on taking? Social pic type shots?

Indoors - Bounce flash off the ceiling (if it ain't too high, or not coloured) or even the walls if you get people nice and close to it. If you can go buy some cheap diffusers, could help making the flash output a bit more pleasing to the eye.

Outdoors - Well if you want as much ambient light in the shot without too much blur if you move your hand a bit, shoot at around 1/30th - 1/60th @ f/5.6 with the flash front on with second sync flash and that's it.

You could go aperture priority, but then you might see some long exposures if you go outside (unless you limit the shutter in the custom settings)

thanks matty :) (its pips btw :p)

I haven't really had a chance to talk to my mate regarding what types of shots he wants but i am thinking i will do "Social pic type shots" but also want some formal ones like of the family and close friends together etc.

He wants me there while they are setting up also so im guessing those will be the type of in action shots

[Joe]

fuck your dumb

just google it

oh and learn grammar.

*you're

[TJ]

LOL Joe!

[tinto]

Indoors - Bounce flash off the ceiling (if it ain't too high, or not coloured) or even the walls if you get people nice and close to it. If you can go buy some cheap diffusers, could help making the flash output a bit more pleasing to the eye.

That is a top tip - just I was going to say too :)
That sort of lighting pretty much makes everyone look good.
Straight on flash makes us all look like sweaty monsters.

Don't bump your ISO above 200, as it starts to get a bit grainy/noisy on the 400D above that level.

Do you have an external flash to do this? If you don't feel like spending a heap, then hire one from
http://cameraelectronic.com.au/rental.php
and stock up on AA batteries.

The 18-55 kit lens can be a bit dark (and blurry) indoors, but the flash assist (particularly on the 580 ex) should make up for that to an extent.
If you're really keen you could hire something like this lens that should work for most of the shots you're likely to encounter:
http://cameraelectronic.com.au/rental_sview.php?rid=42

Those guys say they will help you out with what gear will suit - maybe give them a call if you're leaning towards hiring.

I'd be passing the costs of the hire onto the person who asked you to do it for them. You won't be sinking anywhere near as much grog ;)

With a canon-specific flash and a good lens involved, I'm ashamed to say I've left my camera on P (or green square) and snapped away. You don't have time to be faffing about settings when they are giving you a prolonged CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE and their smiles are fading.

[YOUR MATE]

Get nudes of the bride and her mates.

My PROfessional tips.

[FitzyB]

I did one, had a 50mm prime (f1.4).

I put it on Av, spun it through to f2.0, and shot most of the evening without a flash, the 50mm did mean i had to wander around a lot to get the right shot.

[Kaido]

That is a top tip - just I was going to say too :)
That sort of lighting pretty much makes everyone look good.
Straight on flash makes us all look like sweaty monsters.

Don't bump your ISO above 200, as it starts to get a bit grainy/noisy on the 400D above that level.

Do you have an external flash to do this? If you don't feel like spending a heap, then hire one from
http://cameraelectronic.com.au/rental.php
and stock up on AA batteries.

The 18-55 kit lens can be a bit dark (and blurry) indoors, but the flash assist (particularly on the 580 ex) should make up for that to an extent.
If you're really keen you could hire something like this lens that should work for most of the shots you're likely to encounter:
http://cameraelectronic.com.au/rental_sview.php?rid=42

Those guys say they will help you out with what gear will suit - maybe give them a call if you're leaning towards hiring.

I'd be passing the costs of the hire onto the person who asked you to do it for them. You won't be sinking anywhere near as much grog ;)

With a canon-specific flash and a good lens involved, I'm ashamed to say I've left my camera on P (or green square) and snapped away. You don't have time to be faffing about settings when they are giving you a prolonged CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE and their smiles are fading.


Thanks alot thats great info :)

I think i will go out and hire a flash and decent lens as i really want to take some good photos.

What is the best method with the flash ? should i get someone to hold it or just mount it onto of the camera and point it upwards as GODZILLA suggested ?


For Lens would i be best getting something like u suggested 16-35mm or should i go for a fix 50mm?

again thanks everyone for your input :D

edit do i need anything else filters etc?

[HANS YOLO]

^^^^ as stated before 'Bounce Flash' FTW...makes everyone look nice....just remember if you rotate your camera, rotate the flash too so that you don't lose your light effect :)

[DRKWRX]

id hire a 24-70mm.. Camera electronics are good blokes too.

[tinto]

If you hire the 580 EX flash, it has a little white flap that you can pull out which will help if you can't bounce off the ceiling.

The reason I mentioned the 16-35 lens is it becomes (effectively) a 25-55 when you mount it on a 400D. Which will make it feel similar to the 18-55 lense you're used to.

The 24-70 becomes something in the range of 38-112, which might be a bit tight for shooting indoors where space is at a premium.

Quiz the camera electronic guys on it though - I may be off with those calculations based on the camera you mentioned!

[mitchy]

If you hire the 580 EX flash, it has a little white flap that you can pull out which will help if you can't bounce off the ceiling.

The reason I mentioned the 16-35 lens is it becomes (effectively) a 25-55 when you mount it on a 400D. Which will make it feel similar to the 18-55 lense you're used to.

The 24-70 becomes something in the range of 38-112, which might be a bit tight for shooting indoors where space is at a premium.

Quiz the camera electronic guys on it though - I may be off with those calculations based on the camera you mentioned!

huh? a 16-35 compared to a 18-55 is exactly that.
a crop sensor also doesn't magnify the lenses length, but thats neither here not there.

[tinto]

huh? a 16-35 compared to a 18-55 is exactly that.
a crop sensor also doesn't magnify the lenses length, but thats neither here not there.

It doesn't become longer (that is why i said 'effectively becomes'), but it reduces the field of view so becomes more closed in, like a longer lens feels. It is easier to talk about it in terms of focal length than field of view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor

Or is my understanding of it wacky?
i.e. put a 16mm lens on a full frame 1D and it has the field of view of a 16mm lens
put the same lens on a 400D and it has the field of view equivalent to a 25.6mm lens on the 1D

I was under the impression the EFS lenses had taken that crop factor into consideration when they display their focal lengths. Happy to be corrected.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Full-frame_vs_APS-C.svg/424px-Full-frame_vs_APS-C.svg.png

[DRKWRX]

yeah same focal length you're just losing some of the image... on the blad the 28mm is a wide angle!

[mitchy]

in comparison terms between full frame and APS-C, it does have that effect.

but on the same body the lenses are directly comparable

[DRKWRX]

nah the lens mm is always the same.. its the sensor size that changes.

[mitchy]

nah the lens mm is always the same.. its the sensor size that changes.

that's what i was trying to get at... haha. :p

the lens focal length will never change regardless of the body. an APS-C will just crop the image, of which has the same field of view as a full frame with a 1.6x longer focal length.

[tinto]

Forgive me for the confusion - I'm a film-tard that had to get used to the changes when I bought an APS-C camera and a 16mm lens didn't feel like a 16mm lens :)

[Gleeso]

fuck your dumb

just google it

oh and learn grammar.

The irony.

[mitchy]

Forgive me for the confusion - I'm a film-tard that had to get used to the changes when I bought an APS-C camera and a 16mm lens didn't feel like a 16mm lens :)

haha fair enough.

just FYI, the EF-S lens ARE the focal length they state, the crop isn't taken into account.
from my understanding they are designed purely for the crop sensor, and foul on the full frame mirror.

[tinto]

That is good to know, cheers.

[[Jacek]]

yep exactly what mitchy said

looks like he googled it

and used correct grammar