Badly need your help for a birthday photoshoot

[abhishekdg]

Hi friends,
Recently got a nIkon D90 with a 35mm 1.8g lens. Always interested to do outddor photography and never have tried my hands at portraits. Now my boss wants me to do the photoshoot at his 3 year old son's birthday. I have no option to say "NO". And I have no clue how do I make it a success.

So I think I need a flash. So please advice me for a flash .. Can't invest more than 400$ in the flash .. So please advice.
Also can I go ahead with the 35 mm or do I need a better lens? I can always rent it. So if possible suggest me the lens that would mke my life easier.
Lastly, if any one of you could point me to a book or a kindle version of indoor photography it would be great as I do not ave any idea on this.

I am really worried and do not want the shoot to go bad

Please help....

 

[2WheelPhoto]

The pressure is on! Good luck. Any of the Nikon flashes are nice for indoor events =)

 

[Dao]

For indoor birthday party, a standard zoom lens is good for that (even the kit lens). Just pair it with a decent flash that allow you do bounce the light and you should be good to go.

 

[TCampbell]

Actually... a 35mm lens on a D90 isn't a bad combination for basic "straight" shots. It provides a nice "normal" angle of view.... nothing zoomed in, but nothing too wide either. You could use a "standard zoom" (a zoom that offers a mild amount of both wide angle and telephoto -- "kit" lenses that come with cameras are generally "standard zooms".)

As for flash, an SB-700 would work well.

For an INDOOR party: If the ceiling is "white" (has to be a neutral color) and preferably not too high (e.g. 2+ story cathedral ceilings don't work well) then you can tilt the flash head straight up when shooting and pull up the "catch light" card (a piece of white plastic that slides up). This will create a shower of light from above that gives a very soft lighting look with no strong edgy shadows. The catch-light card reflects a small light into your subject's eyes. If you are too close to the subject however, you can end up with the "raccoon eyes" look do to the shadow of the eye-sockets. You can also "feather" the light forward just slightly so that you get a small amount of front lighting with a most of the light coming from above.

For an OUTDOOR party: The flash needs to be pointed straight ahead. I don't have a Nikon, but you can use the iTTL flash mode, but you'll probably want to dial back the flash exposure compensation so that the flash doesn't fire with full strength. You're not trying to use the flash to fully illuminate the subject for the exposure. You're just trying to use it to ease the shadows so that the contrast between the "sunny" side of a person's face and the "shadow" areas on their face aren't so contrasty. You're using this as a "fill" flash. Also note that photos in light shade will look better than photos in full sun.

Keep in mind that when shooting with flash you can't fire away as fast as you want... you're waiting for the flash to recycle (usually about 3 seconds, but it'll be much faster if the flash didn't have to fire at full power.) Otherwise the next shot you take won't have any flash and will be under-exposed.

Also keep in mind that it IS actually ok for a photographer to ask a subject to step over to an area that offers better light. Although with a 3 year old ... cooperation can be tough. VERY short attention spans. I hope you're good with kids.

And the most important advice: PRACTICE with this before the party so you're comfortable with how it all works.

 

[abhishekdg]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation on flash usage.. So which lens do you you propose? Sorry I am getting a little over anxious but wanna have time to practice with the lens and the flash before the party

 

[Dao]

For indoor party, a standard zoom lens should do the job. i.e. 18-55mm for cropped body, 24-70mm for 35mm film/FF body. I often shoot with f/5.6 to f/8 with shutter speed around 1/160 - 1/250. As for the ISO, sometimes bump it up slightly so that I can dial down the flash power (bounced). In that case, I can reduce the flash recycle time.

Once in awhile, I mount a 85mm lens and take some head shots (with wider aperture and lower flash power to isolate the subject).

 

[TCampbell]

Is the 35mm f/1.8 the only lens you have with the camera? Most people have a "kit" lens -- which is almost always the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. Do you happen to have that lens?

The 35mm will provide a view that seems comfortably normal. It won't seem zoomed in like a telephoto -- neither will it seem wide angle. It pretty much comfortable shoots a view that resembles what your eye can naturally see in front of you without moving your eyes around. As such, it's a great prime lens. In the days of 35mm film, that was the "kit" lens (except it was a 50mm because 35mm film is larger than your sensor -- but it provided pretty much the same view. A 35mm on your Nikon will create a photo that has a strong resemblance to what you'd get if you used a 50mm lens on a full-frame or 35mm film camera.)

If you have the kit lens, it offers you a little versatility because you have a short range to zoom the lens either mildly wide or mildly tight to frame your shots. I'd use that lens if you have it. But if not, you'll find the 35mm works great. But you'll need to "zoom with your feet" to frame the shots (not really a big deal... people did this for decades.)

 

[abhishekdg]

Nope i sadly do not have the kit lens. The reason I didn't get it is because I wanted to have a prime lens so that primarily I zoom with my feet and take pictures which , to my knowledge, help me improve my skills at photography in the early days. Once I gain a little experience plan to get a 16-35 mm , 24-70 and a 70-200 lens as my final kit.. Till then do not wanna waste money on the kit lens.Don't know if I am right or wrong in my approach...
As of now then would go ahead and order the flash..
Also if you could suggest some online books it would be cool as I know nothing in flash photography..

 

[KmH]

Unfortunately, though the AF-S 35 mm f/1.8G lens on a D90 gives the equivelent FoV of a 50 mm lens, it is still a 35 mm lens with an appreciable amount of barrel distortion.

If you shoot close ups of people their noses will look larger than normal in the photos.

The second problem many neophytes run into, is DoF so shallow they lose control of what parts of a scene have sharp focus, because they don't yet understand how DoF actually works.

As far as flash, start with the best book available that covers the fundamentals of photographic lighting - Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting

And watch this video as often as necessary to understand it all:

 

[abhishekdg]

Well KmH , so do you suggest that I go with a 50mm lens (rental) for the shoot? DOF is not so big a problem for me as I wouldn't go below f2.8 mostly will be at f4-4.5 as I care for sharper images more than the Bookeh..

Also how do you rate SB-600?Or the cheap Yongnou-565EX..People compare them to the cannons speedlights..

 

[Rosy]

Hi friends,
Recently got a nIkon D90 with a 35mm 1.8g lens. Always interested to do outddor photography and never have tried my hands at portraits. Now my boss wants me to do the photoshoot at his 3 year old son's birthday. I have no option to say "NO". And I have no clue how do I make it a success.

So I think I need a flash. So please advice me for a flash .. Can't invest more than 400$ in the flash .. So please advice.
Also can I go ahead with the 35 mm or do I need a better lens? I can always rent it. So if possible suggest me the lens that would mke my life easier.
Lastly, if any one of you could point me to a book or a kindle version of indoor photography it would be great as I do not ave any idea on this.

I am really worried and do not want the shoot to go bad

Please help....

you obvously have received GREAT technical advice. Keep composition in mind. Capture those moments that will be memorable to the parents. Yes, get the 'posed' shots but try hard in capturing the birthday boy's personality in your images. Those are priceless

I didn't read every response in detail, but make sure your shutter speed stays above 100, 200 or higher would be better - them little rascals move quick and you don't want blurred images. You might have to boost up ISO, play with your aperture, etc.

PRACTICE and give it all you got

You'll do GREAT!

 

[KmH]

I recommend you use a pro quality zoom lens like a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens instead of a prime lens.

LensRentals.com - Rent a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S ED

For just $130 you can buy a brand new Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

 

[abhishekdg]

Well things have got worse as I recently travelled to my boss' house and found that the lighting is going to be too dim.. I am sure I would not be able to use a f/4 or f/4.5 without uoing the ISO to 1600 which really makes me worried. So was wondering if you can give me an idea about any good indoor lens with Vibration Reduction that would allow me to be within reasonable ISO and also have a shutter speed that can be hand held without blurring..

Any idea?

 

[Dao]

Is the ceiling of your boss's house very high?

 

[SoCalTiger]

Well things have got worse as I recently travelled to my boss' house and found that the lighting is going to be too dim.. I am sure I would not be able to use a f/4 or f/4.5 without uoing the ISO to 1600 which really makes me worried. So was wondering if you can give me an idea about any good indoor lens with Vibration Reduction that would allow me to be within reasonable ISO and also have a shutter speed that can be hand held without blurring..

Any idea?

VR isn't really going to help your situation since you are shooting at relatively close distances indoors. Additionally, because you will be shooting kids and moving people, you need to maintain a shutter speed of 1/100sec at a minimum. At 1/100sec or faster, VR really won't make a difference at a focal length of <=50mm.

Do you use/have access to Photoshop? There are a number of ways to remove ISO noise.