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- Mar 18, 2013
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Hi all. As you all likely know, I am not a portrait shooter - landscapes, flowers, nature, puppies etc are more my thing. When I had a Nikon I had a decent flash for it that I could use to bounce the light on the rare occasions that I was shooting indoors but I would not say I ever mastered it - it was mostly trial and error with a lot of errors. I have never owned any other lights or off camera flash. So now that you know my lack of experience with lighting, here’s where I need some help...
A friend of mine asked if I would help her take photos of her daughters college softball team for some promotional posts on their social media. I assumed she meant in the spring, outdoors, and I’ve been wanting to get to some practice on people so I said yes. Well, it turns out the coach wants to do this two weeks from now, indoors at the school. I explained that I did not have any experience using lighting or flash, and I know she doesn’t either. She’s a good photographer but usually sticks to birds or her other daughter’s stage productions which have completely different lighting challenges. She is moving forward with this and has asked for my help/advice with what she should rent for lights or OCF. The coach has said he will pay for her to rent or buy a backdrop and some lighting equipment and fully understands that she is not a pro and that they may not get anything useful.
Normally, I would run as far away from this as I could get. I’ve often told others to do the same! But… she’s a good friend and she needs my help and I really could use this as a learning experience. Since they know what they’re getting and have full disclosure about her inexperience and they still want to do it, I guess I’m going to help her. She’s a very funny, friendly person who is very familiar with the team and players so I think she’ll keep everyone pretty loose and keep it fun.
So, if you were going to buy/rent/borrow one or two items for an indoor portrait session what would you choose? And why? I’m shooting with an X-T2 and she has a Nikon 7200. She can use her Nikon 35 1.8 for group shots and maybe my 105 2.8 for individual if we have enough space. I’ll have my 18-55 kit or 35 f/2 for group shots and the 60mm 2.4 for portraits.
Please feel free to respond with your warning about what a terrible idea this is only if you also offer some suggestions on lighting equipment. Thanks!
A friend of mine asked if I would help her take photos of her daughters college softball team for some promotional posts on their social media. I assumed she meant in the spring, outdoors, and I’ve been wanting to get to some practice on people so I said yes. Well, it turns out the coach wants to do this two weeks from now, indoors at the school. I explained that I did not have any experience using lighting or flash, and I know she doesn’t either. She’s a good photographer but usually sticks to birds or her other daughter’s stage productions which have completely different lighting challenges. She is moving forward with this and has asked for my help/advice with what she should rent for lights or OCF. The coach has said he will pay for her to rent or buy a backdrop and some lighting equipment and fully understands that she is not a pro and that they may not get anything useful.
Normally, I would run as far away from this as I could get. I’ve often told others to do the same! But… she’s a good friend and she needs my help and I really could use this as a learning experience. Since they know what they’re getting and have full disclosure about her inexperience and they still want to do it, I guess I’m going to help her. She’s a very funny, friendly person who is very familiar with the team and players so I think she’ll keep everyone pretty loose and keep it fun.
So, if you were going to buy/rent/borrow one or two items for an indoor portrait session what would you choose? And why? I’m shooting with an X-T2 and she has a Nikon 7200. She can use her Nikon 35 1.8 for group shots and maybe my 105 2.8 for individual if we have enough space. I’ll have my 18-55 kit or 35 f/2 for group shots and the 60mm 2.4 for portraits.
Please feel free to respond with your warning about what a terrible idea this is only if you also offer some suggestions on lighting equipment. Thanks!