Ping: photographers.

[Rhythm Thief]

I've been asked to do a photoshoot of a friend's band while they record this Sunday. It'll be mostly indoor work. I'm a reasonably competent photographer, and I already own a proper flashgun. However, I'd like to be able to set the flash off remotely, and I might buy one of those reflective umbrella things too. Has anyone got any recommendations (including "you don't really need that stuff") or advice on indoor shooting? I can't afford to spend a lot - perhaps fifty or sixty quid tops - so another flashgun is out, but any other tips would be much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Globalti]

DON'T mess around with unfamiliar equipment, it will all go wrong on the night. Don't use flash, the pics will look terrible unless you're an expert studio photgrapher. See if you can get the studio to set up some simple coloured lighting just to give a bit of interest to your shots then set your camera to a high ISO number and shoot away by hand or using a tripod if you really don't trust yourself. Bracket every shot and then edit mercilessly.

When taking portraits be aware of the effect of focal length on the proportions of the face. You can see this if you stand in front of a mirror then watch your nose and ears while approaching your reflection - your nose will grow bigger and your ears recede as your viewpoint changes to one roughly equivalent to a fisheye lens. Portrait photographers uses lenses at around 90mm to get a good proportion in their subjects. Hover around the fringes of the band using a longish lens and maybe a tripod to avoid intimidating the members and get some good unguarded shots.

 

[Tollers]

Indoor in the studio? Id say your best bet for £60 would be an umbrella or a softbox that you can mount your flash on. What camera are you using? If an SLR, the 50mm f1.8 are pretty cheap lenses and with the wide aperture make them great for indoor work but you need to understand dof.

 

[gaz]

i don't have any experience with flash guns or reflectors etc...
but what my experience has taught me is just take lots and lots and lots of photos. and choose the best later. rather than spending 30mins trying to get the best one.

 

[sheddy]

RT, can we assume your kit is purchased recently ? (I believe there are problems trying to sync old 35mm film gear with newer digital stuff)

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I'll be using my Nikon D200, mostly with my f1.8 50mm lens and my 15-30mm f3.5-4 lens. I can go up to ISO1600 and still get pretty good results. I have to say that I prefer using the available light where possible, but sometimes a flash is necessary and it'd be nice to be able to move it around.

 

[Tollers]

I hate to recommend another forum......but dpreview.com comes a close second to CC Go check it out. They're the same as us, but less fit and way twatier!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

i don't have any experience with flash guns or reflectors etc...
but what my experience has taught me is just take lots and lots and lots of photos. and choose the best later. rather than spending 30mins trying to get the best one.

One of the big advantages of digital photography!

 

[Tollers]

I'll be using my Nikon D200, mostly with my f1.8 50mm lens and my 15-30mm f3.5-4 lens. I can go up to ISO1600 and still get pretty good results. I have to say that I prefer using the available light where possible, but sometimes a flash is necessary and it'd be nice to be able to move it around.

You have excellent kit. Im assuming your flash is the SB600? On the D200, i'd go against Rigid and try to keep iso lower than 800. And indoors with DX format, id prefer the 50mm to 90mm. You have the cheapest Nikon lens, but it just so happens to be one of the best! Play with it.

Last advice, get to the studio early and play!!!!!.....oh and enjoy..... oh....and we expect to see the results

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

I went to see a couple of my old School mates in their band last Feb and took my camera to see what I could get. The lighting was shite and it was hard work to get any angles without too much other stuff in the frame, but I shot without using flash and just braced myself against posts/walls etc. and went down to about 1/15 sec and about ISO 400 and was reasonably happy with some of the shots. The lens you have is much faster though (mine is a 28 - 128mm, f4.5 - 5.6 IIRC) so you should be able to get some stuff without resporting to flash using the prime lens you mentioned.

The shots I chose as "reasonable" bearing in mind I've never done any shooting at a gig before and was conscious about blocking people seeing etc. can be seen at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=77839&id=591351791&l=8928202ba6

Have fun!

 

[Muddyfox]

They're the same as us, but less fit and way twatier!

LMAO ... fantastic terminology

Simon

 

[rh100]

I've not done anything similar, but can I suggest trying to practice whatever setup you decide to use, in similar lighting before the event. Leaving you free to concentrate on composition a bit more. Good luck with it, would be interested to see the results.

 

[amasidlover]

I was in exactly your position a couple of months ago - reasonable amateur photographer but not much 'studio' experience (mainly landscape), with a D200, 50 f1.8 and decent flash.

I read a load of tutorials; my favourite being the strobist, and then bought a light stand, bracket, umbrella and 4ft reflector from Ebay (should have bought a reflector stand and a backdrop and stand too in hindsight...)

I got a friend to spend a couple of hours patiently posing before the real model turned up and went through the various basic poses and lighting set-ups that I'd read about.

It quickly became very clear that only certain poses were going to work for our purposes (T-shirt shoot) and this saved a lot of time when the real model turned up.

The other thing that came in useful was a big air circulator/fan which gave the model's hair lots of life.

You've got more of a challenge as you have more than one person so may want to consider more than one light source.

Anyway, my results are here - they're not bad given that I'd only really done landscape photography before...

--Edit--
I used the remote capabilities of the D200/Sigma EF500 which works using a series of pre-flashes; its not as convenient or easy to configure as pocket wizards or the like, but if you've already got a modern Sigma/Nikon flash then its 'free'.

 

[Tollers]

The other thing that came in useful was a big air circulator/fan which gave the model's hair lots of life.

Agreed

but maybe not for a band/studio shoot

 

[Rhythm Thief]

You have excellent kit. Im assuming your flash is the SB600? On the D200, i'd go against Rigid and try to keep iso lower than 800. And indoors with DX format, id prefer the 50mm to 90mm. You have the cheapest Nikon lens, but it just so happens to be one of the best! Play with it.

Last advice, get to the studio early and play!!!!!.....oh and enjoy..... oh....and we expect to see the results

It's the SB800. I think I might get a flash transmitter and reciever (£22 off ebay), that way I can mount the flash on my tripod and put it where I want it. I prefer to keep the ISO as low as I can, I'll see how much light there is in the studio. I agree with you about the 50mm lens, I can't fault it for £70. I'll post the pics up here for you all to see.