MikeA01730
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2011
- Messages
- 2
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- Location
- Bedford, MA
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Hi,
I've been asked by my 16 year old daughter & her friends to take photos of them before they go to a semi-formal school dance. I'll be shooting in a home I've never been in, at night.
I've been asked because I've been shooting the girl's varsity volleyball games and posting the photos on a web site. Those photos are good enough that the girls expect I'll be able to deliver some that are better than the typical point & shoot photos that they're used to. I'm hoping I can do that, but I've only made shots like this before with point & shoot cameras and my only experience with the DSLR is with volleyball & other sports. Even though this is going to be completely new to me I'd like to produce some good photos.
I'll mostly pose the girls standing, full-length (to get those new dresses!), with some variety in body position if possible, with the camera at eye level, and with the blandest background I can find. I'll turn on all the lights in the room, or maybe try to light more from one side if it's not too dark. I'll try to find a spot where I can stand 12' to 15' away. Whatever I do will have to be fast because I won't have much time to shoot or ability to get the girls to do what I want.
I'll be using my Canon 60D with a Canon 15-85mm f/3.5- f/5.6 IS zoom. I'm thinking I'll shoot portrait mode, raw, tungsten WB, and evaluative metering.
I did some experiments & found that I can shoot at around 1/10 sec. at 85mm with this lens (thanks not to my skill but rather the great IS and taking multiple shots) without getting blur, so at first I thought I'd shoot at that shutter speed. However on further reflection I'm afraid I'll have motion blur from the animated & talkative girls, so I probably need something faster. Does anyone have any suggestions for minimum shutter speed in this situation?
I'd like to use a tripod but all I have is a very old and inexpensive one that isn't set up to allow portrait shooting. I can fudge it by rotating the head 90 degrees, but then the pan arm is useless and the screw mount must be loose to allow vertical positioning. Also in this configuration the camera isn't very stable, so on balance this doesn't sound like a good idea. I expect to get a decent monopod for Christmas, so I might try that.
For flash I have two poor choices. The onboard flash, even with a diffuser, produces harsh light. I also have a 380EX Speedlight from my film days that mounts on the hot-shoe & doesn't rotate. Since I'm shooting portrait orientation I can't bounce off the ceiling (maybe a wall if I'm lucky), and the direct light is again very harsh. For those reasons I'm planning on not using flash.
I thought I'd use the max aperture (which should be around f/4.0) to provide adequate DOF. I'll use the center focus point and take 4 or 5 high-speed shots for each photo with AI-Servo focus to increase my chances of getting sharp focus and minimize the risks from blinks or other movement.
Once I know my aperture & shutter speed I'll adjust the ISO to get a proper exposure. I might end up with a higher value than I'd like, but I think I'm better taking a hit of possible high ISO artifacts than with blurring from a too slow shutter or insufficient DOF from a too-big aperture. I use DXO for post processing, which seems to do a pretty good job with high ISOs.
That's about it. Does anyone have any criticism or suggestions, particularly regarding minimum shutter speed? I'd like to get decent results the first time out, so I'd appreciate any assistance you can provide.
Thanks,
Mike
I've been asked by my 16 year old daughter & her friends to take photos of them before they go to a semi-formal school dance. I'll be shooting in a home I've never been in, at night.
I've been asked because I've been shooting the girl's varsity volleyball games and posting the photos on a web site. Those photos are good enough that the girls expect I'll be able to deliver some that are better than the typical point & shoot photos that they're used to. I'm hoping I can do that, but I've only made shots like this before with point & shoot cameras and my only experience with the DSLR is with volleyball & other sports. Even though this is going to be completely new to me I'd like to produce some good photos.
I'll mostly pose the girls standing, full-length (to get those new dresses!), with some variety in body position if possible, with the camera at eye level, and with the blandest background I can find. I'll turn on all the lights in the room, or maybe try to light more from one side if it's not too dark. I'll try to find a spot where I can stand 12' to 15' away. Whatever I do will have to be fast because I won't have much time to shoot or ability to get the girls to do what I want.
I'll be using my Canon 60D with a Canon 15-85mm f/3.5- f/5.6 IS zoom. I'm thinking I'll shoot portrait mode, raw, tungsten WB, and evaluative metering.
I did some experiments & found that I can shoot at around 1/10 sec. at 85mm with this lens (thanks not to my skill but rather the great IS and taking multiple shots) without getting blur, so at first I thought I'd shoot at that shutter speed. However on further reflection I'm afraid I'll have motion blur from the animated & talkative girls, so I probably need something faster. Does anyone have any suggestions for minimum shutter speed in this situation?
I'd like to use a tripod but all I have is a very old and inexpensive one that isn't set up to allow portrait shooting. I can fudge it by rotating the head 90 degrees, but then the pan arm is useless and the screw mount must be loose to allow vertical positioning. Also in this configuration the camera isn't very stable, so on balance this doesn't sound like a good idea. I expect to get a decent monopod for Christmas, so I might try that.
For flash I have two poor choices. The onboard flash, even with a diffuser, produces harsh light. I also have a 380EX Speedlight from my film days that mounts on the hot-shoe & doesn't rotate. Since I'm shooting portrait orientation I can't bounce off the ceiling (maybe a wall if I'm lucky), and the direct light is again very harsh. For those reasons I'm planning on not using flash.
I thought I'd use the max aperture (which should be around f/4.0) to provide adequate DOF. I'll use the center focus point and take 4 or 5 high-speed shots for each photo with AI-Servo focus to increase my chances of getting sharp focus and minimize the risks from blinks or other movement.
Once I know my aperture & shutter speed I'll adjust the ISO to get a proper exposure. I might end up with a higher value than I'd like, but I think I'm better taking a hit of possible high ISO artifacts than with blurring from a too slow shutter or insufficient DOF from a too-big aperture. I use DXO for post processing, which seems to do a pretty good job with high ISOs.
That's about it. Does anyone have any criticism or suggestions, particularly regarding minimum shutter speed? I'd like to get decent results the first time out, so I'd appreciate any assistance you can provide.
Thanks,
Mike
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