Need help with party photos

[bratkinson]

I guess the first question would have to be...how many in the surprise party? This is another way of estimating how big a room will the party be in? This affects how far you can back up to get 'group shots' of 8-50 people at a time. Which affects how wide of a lens you'll need.

I shot a small party of about 20 people a year ago using my crop sensor 60D and 24-105, but also had my 16-35 when I needed to go wide. Good thing I had the 16-35 with me. To get a group shot with 6-7 people shoulder to shoulder and being able to back up about 15 feet maximum, I had to go to the 16-35 to get them all in the frame. Two rows of 3-4 people would not work very well as they were all approximately the same height. I decided not to use my external flash as there was enough sunlight coming in from the wall of windows on one side of the room.

Given that you're shooting in a lounge, I'd expect it to be somewhere between quite dark and very dark. Even with you 50 f1.8, going no flash probably won't cut it. I'm guessing the lounge may be somewhat crowded with other, non-surprise-party patrons, as well. So quarters probably will be tight. As such, I'd plan on using the 18-55 for to get the angle of view needed in close quarters. That will require the flash, as well. As TCampbell indicated, drag the shutter to get some illumination on the darker areas of the lounge without overexposing their faces. I'd also suggest bringing the 50 and/or 85 along, too, but leaving them in the car. The location may change, they may move the party to an outdoor area, etc. Better to come prepared for almost anything than to not have what'll give the best results.

 

[jan211]

Thanks everyone for Your help. II ended up taking the 40 mm and the kit lens with the flash. It Went ok. I did make 2 big rookie mistakes. First, the backgrounds were pretty bad when I got home and downloaded the pics (open closet doors, exit signs, bathroom signs etc) . I couldn't figure out how to blur the background and I should have been paying more attention to what was in the frame. I'm in my 5 th week of photoshop element class, so I guess I could use the practice. The 2nd rookie mistake (and I shouldn't even be calling it a "rookie" mistake because that implies I'm new to photography when with this mistake one would think I was new to the planet), I did not make sure my battery was fully charged and for some odd reason, did not think to bring the back ups. So, just after the birthday "girl" arrived (80 years young, God bless her), my camera died. The good news is that I was able to photograph those people who were on time. Well lesson learned.

 

[creisinger]

Thanks everyone for Your help. II ended up taking the 40 mm and the kit lens with the flash. It Went ok. I did make 2 big rookie mistakes. First, the backgrounds were pretty bad when I got home and downloaded the pics (open closet doors, exit signs, bathroom signs etc) . I couldn't figure out how to blur the background and I should have been paying more attention to what was in the frame. I'm in my 5 th week of photoshop element class, so I guess I could use the practice. The 2nd rookie mistake (and I shouldn't even be calling it a "rookie" mistake because that implies I'm new to photography when with this mistake one would think I was new to the planet), I did not make sure my battery was fully charged and for some odd reason, did not think to bring the back ups. So, just after the birthday "girl" arrived (80 years young, God bless her), my camera died. The good news is that I was able to photograph those people who were on time. Well lesson learned.

Yes, the battery story... I remember those days

It should be the only time you make that mistake because it's painful to go through it, so it should stick!

The only thing I wanted to throw in was to use a low aperture which would help to blur out the background. If you would be shooting at f1.8 or f.2.8 and the subject is at least 3 feet away from the background it should blur it out enough so that it's not distracting anymore.

Otherwise you can use GIMP to create a mask that helps blurring out the background to make the subjects stand out better.

 

[Assassin1412]

Thanks everyone for Your help. II ended up taking the 40 mm and the kit lens with the flash. It Went ok. I did make 2 big rookie mistakes. First, the backgrounds were pretty bad when I got home and downloaded the pics (open closet doors, exit signs, bathroom signs etc) . I couldn't figure out how to blur the background and I should have been paying more attention to what was in the frame. I'm in my 5 th week of photoshop element class, so I guess I could use the practice. The 2nd rookie mistake (and I shouldn't even be calling it a "rookie" mistake because that implies I'm new to photography when with this mistake one would think I was new to the planet), I did not make sure my battery was fully charged and for some odd reason, did not think to bring the back ups. So, just after the birthday "girl" arrived (80 years young, God bless her), my camera died. The good news is that I was able to photograph those people who were on time. Well lesson learned.

I just thought I'm the only one about the battery story , I'm newbi at photography too and made more worst mistakes . I think your aperture is higher than it should be that caused background issues hmm