shooting a pageant in the morning.

[pminor74]

Good evening,

I need help please. I am going tomorrow with a friend of mine to her teen daughter's pageant and I am taking my lovely Sony. My question is what settings should I put it on to get the best results?

Thanks, Pam

 

[Derrel]

That's kind of difficult to say, since we have no idea which of the 207 different Sony cameras you are in possession of.

 

[JeffieLove]

That's not a question we can answer as we don't know the conditions where you'll be shooting...

If you aren't going to be able to adjust your settings on the fly, you should probably leave your camera in Av or Tv. If Av, try to shoot around f/8 but make sure your shutter speed doesn't go below 1/50 (that's pushing it, 1/100 would be even better) and if you're going to be shooting on Tv, try to shoot at a minimum of 1/100. That's the slowest you should go with shutter speed.

 

[pminor74]

Sorry it is a A500

 

[johnh2005]

I am sorry, but after all of the wedding shoot advice I have seen here...

haha OMG I am sorry. I just had to. Forgive my bad humor!

 

[pminor74]

Thank you Sarah for the advice. I am not on photo forums very often. Now I know why. I thought forums were to help others not make them feel stupid. I am a beginner at many of these new things so therefor that is why I asked others for help. People do not have to be rude

 

[johnh2005]

Well, sorry if we seem rude. I was trying to be funny. However, I think that coming to a photo forum the night before you are leaving in the morning to do a shoot is a bit... Short Sighted. Then on top of that you say you are taking a lovely Sony. You did not even bother to say if it was film or digital, Point and Shoot or DSLR. You don't say where it is, inside or outside, in a well lit auditorium or a dimly lit church. You basically came here gave us no information and ask for the "best" settings to get the "best" results. Even if you had a week to discuss all of this and gave everyone here the best possible amount of information available it would not be much help to you. Giving no information and a couple of hours for everyone to respond and you to read is just asking for trouble. Of the three people who responded so far, one told you you did not give enough information. The next told you the same thing and offered VERY good advice with the absolute minimum of information you provided. The third tried to be funny (which obviously failed) and in all reality gave you good advice as well. When the camera manufacturer made your camera they put in a LOT of effort to make the [Auto Mode] perform as well as it could. If they had no probably 50% of the people who bought it would not be happy with it and would return it.

Maybe the next time you come here, to a really great forum, you can do something to help us help you.

 

[pminor74]

She just asked me to go this morning just for fun. It is a DSLR A500. she just wants me to take pictures so she can watch her daughter and not have to look at her thru her lens. I said thank you to Sarah. Like I said I do not do forums very much. Been on this site maybe 4 times. I like the help and usually give more info. I normally do not ask for help but because I do not know what I'm getting myself into tomorrow I can't say much. I know it is in a Hotel in the Galleria of Houston. That is it. I am not doing this to make money I am just going to watch and hopefully walk away with some good pictures for my friend and her daughter. I guess I should have given more info and I will apologize for that but I am not use to that kind of humor and I guess that I will make sure next time I ask for help I will dot all my I's and cross all my t's. Thanks for the assistance.

 

[vtf]

If you shoot auto expect that you will using flash, although you'll have a distance of 6-10' that it will work. If you have ocf that's all the better. If you do not have flash that will work, it will be tough. I normally shoot manual so look for a much higher iso and as wide open as your lens will go. You will want to keep your shutter up because of the movement.
Good Luck, have fun. :thumbup:

 

[johnh2005]

No problem at all and good luck today. My best advice is to take a couple of extra batteries and cards with you and shoot shoot shoot. Take as many as you reasonably can. If you get stuck where you don't think you can get a good shot setting the controls manually or semi manually just turn it on auto and fire away. If your friend is not expecting professional results and is not paying then learn what you can from it and do your best to get the shots you can.

If you have not yet go and pick up a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" from the library, local used book store or wherever you like to shop. This will greatly help you understand the exposure triangle as well touching on some other very good points about creative exposures. Take your time reading the book. Carry it with you. Try to recreate the shots you see in the book as well as you can. There are usually no less than 6 "proper exposures" for every shot. Meaning, you could take the same shot with 6 different settings in your camera and they would all be "properly" exposed. Each one will look slightly different than the last.

Again, good luck today and most importantly have fun with it!

 

[gsgary]

If you don't have a fast lens leave it at home, kit lens you will have to be at ISO3200/6400 the more you zoom the faster your shutter speed needs to be, but minimum 1/100. good luck you will need it