Really need some guidence!! :(

[Noonz]

Hi all! A friend of mines brother is a singer and he is shooting a video clip for his new song. I was offerd to take still photography on the set, this comming saturday. Now, of course i jumped at the opportunity, concidering i havnt had too much (or any at all) experience. Only problem is, i dont know if i have the right equipment. I'm not going to charge anything of course. But i still want to do a good job. Any tips or ideas i should know of??

I have a nikon d90 with a 18-55mm & 55-200 lens' Im not sure which of these to use, i have no flash or anything.. any suggestions would be a really great help.

 

[IgsEMT]

First, get a flash, or burrow someones - you never know when you might need to turn it on. Then, D90 with 18-55, iso 200-800 (based on environment) ataperture priority at 5.6 and have a great time. But watch you shutter speed and try to maintain it above 1/60 since you're going handheld w/o the flash.

 

[I am Ivar]

Congrats on getting to shoot the set!

You might want to check with the guys shooting the clip to see what lights they are using, would be nice if you would be able to use their lighting, to get an uniform look over the clip and stills.

Also worth checking is when you'll be shooting the still. Do you get your own time or do you have to shoot while they are filming? In the last case, you should not use the flash unless they want flashes all over the videoclip ;-)

Personally I think it wouldn't hurt seeing if you can borrow or rent a low light lens

Good luck and have fun!

Looking forward seeing the results

 

[KmH]

Hi all! A friend of mines brother is a singer and he is shooting a video clip for his new song. I was offerd to take still photography on the set, this comming saturday. Now, of course i jumped at the opportunity, concidering i havnt had too much (or any at all) experience. Only problem is, i dont know if i have the right equipment. I'm not going to charge anything of course. But i still want to do a good job. Any tips or ideas i should know of??

I have a nikon d90 with a 18-55mm & 55-200 lens' Im not sure which of these to use, i have no flash or anything.. any suggestions would be a really great help.

Do you have access to a camera blimp? Most video set directors require them to be used during video recording:

what is a camera blimp?

 

[pbelarge]

Hi all! A friend of mines brother is a singer and he is shooting a video clip for his new song. I was offerd to take still photography on the set, this comming saturday. Now, of course i jumped at the opportunity, concidering i havnt had too much (or any at all) experience. Only problem is, i dont know if i have the right equipment. I'm not going to charge anything of course. But i still want to do a good job. Any tips or ideas i should know of??

I have a nikon d90 with a 18-55mm & 55-200 lens' Im not sure which of these to use, i have no flash or anything.. any suggestions would be a really great help.

This is the item of your post that stuck out the most to me.
Why are you not going to charge?

Let me guess the reasons:
1. you are loaded to the gills and do not need the money
no?
2. your girlfriend or wife is loaded to the gills.
no?
3. You do not need money to purchase new equipment, the camera store gives it to you for free.
no?
4. Oh, you stink and have low self esteem and do not want to piss anyone off.
YESSSSSS!!

You will never make it if you cannot buy the equipment and pay for your education - books, classes, software, etc...

If your self esteem is too low to ask for money don't do the job.

Charge for the session, or in reality you are taking a job away from someone else who can use the money.






Sorry, this is how I use to feel when it happened to me in my industry.

 

[creisinger]

You can still license the images if they want to use them for commercial purposes. This way you keep the copyright as well.

Often in a work-for-hire situation you give up your copyright, depending on your contract. I assume you're not going to spend a couple thousand bucks on a lawyer this week to get such a contract drawn up...

Use the settings mentioned above and learn on the fly and try to adjust to your situation. Obviously your "client" is not interested in high fashion photography considering your (non-existing) references. So there is a high chance that (if the images are focused and well exposed) the client will be happy.

I'd say don't worry too much about noise levels. Rather push the D90 to ISO 1000 or even a bit higher but make sure you stay at f5.6 to get some shallow depth of field (otherwise the pics look like they were shot with a P&S).

Even better, use your zoom lens and shoot at 150mm with f5.6 to get even more shallow depth of field. The 12 MP sensor will allow you to downsize to 6 MP to reduce the noise if it's getting too much. Keep your exposure time faster than 1/60 AND use a monopod or tripod. That could save your live. Tripod will sometimes be your enemy but often saves your shots in terms of sharpness!

Good luck!

 

[I am Ivar]

Do you have access to a camera blimp? Most video set directors require them to be used during video recording:

what is a camera blimp?

Ooh nice! First time I've seen one and makes me feel stupid not having thought about that haha

 

[ghpham]

I see these threads quite often these days. If you don't know if your gear is adequate for the shoot or not, then I say you are not ready for the shoot. I'm with Pbelarge on this one.