Jitters set in and the prayers to DPS Gods begin!

[julie1015]

After so much time as a hobbiest, someone spotted some photos I took at a friends wedding. and emailed me. They want to hire me to take a few family photos and candids at a 75th surprise birthday party. Holy smokes am I nervous!! I have plowed through information on here. I have googled. I have stalked other peoples photos. Now it's time.

I beg of you all. Fill me with your knowledge. Tell me your hints of the trade. Advise me the best way you know how. This girl is NERVOUS!

This is what I have:
Nikon D100
50mm f/1.8D
70-300mm
28-90mm
Nikon Flash Speedlight SB-800

[autofocus]

Outdoor, and/or indoor shots?...or all indoor? If you can, always good to scope out the location first to see what you are dealing with as far as lighting, wall and ceiling colors, possible places for setup shots, etc. The obvious suggestions are to shoot in RAW, use a plastic dome on your flash which you'll want to bounce whenever possible. If you are not comfortable shooting in manual mode, throw the camera in Program mode / TTL on the flash and let it work for you...it is the fastest way to get quick grab candids without fussing with settings. Pay attention to your flash output settings and adjust as needed. Keep it simple, and try not to worry

[julie1015]

Originally Posted by autofocus

Outdoor, and/or indoor shots?...or all indoor? If you can, always good to scope out the location first to see what you are dealing with as far as lighting, wall and ceiling colors, possible places for setup shots, etc.

See, so nervous I forgot that important detail! It's in someone's home. I don't know if it's small and cramped, or open and airy. My biggest fear is not capturing the "surprise" moment. Wouldn't that be a kicker!

Thanks for the tips! I have never shot in RAW - and no little about it, only that it's the way to go.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by julie1015

See, so nervous I forgot that important detail! It's in someone's home. I don't know if it's small and cramped, or open and airy. My biggest fear is not capturing the "surprise" moment. Wouldn't that be a kicker! /

Thanks for the tips! I have never shot in RAW - and no little about it, only that it's the way to go.

Do you have a RAW converter available? It's probably the most important tip I could give you. It'll give you much more latitude for correcting exposure and white balance issues...well worth learning

[Sweetlifephoto]

A backup body, flash and extra camera batteries. When you are starting out you probably want to borrow them or even rent them, but Murphy's law is always in force.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by autofocus

use a plastic dome on your flash which you'll want to bounce whenever possible

This is good advice. Another important consideration is flagging your flash. That just means you want to block the light from the flash that would hit your subjects directly. My default settings for a dark interior are f/2.8, 1/100th or so, and 800 ISO. I ride my flash exposure compensation up and down as need. I'm generally in the +1/3 or +2/3 area. A home will generally have more ambient light than a reception hall, so adjust accordingly.

I'm going to post a few outtakes from a reception to illustrate the example, so hopefully the mods are OK with it.



Image 1 is bounced flash that is not flagged. You can see the harsh shadow cast on the wall because there is still some light coming out of the dome diffuser that is hitting the subjects directly. This is also shot at f/5 instead of f/2.8 so there's more background clutter.



Image 2 is bounced and flagged. Better, but I bounced the flash on the wall/ceiling directly behind me as you can see from the shadow on his shirt. I probably needed to swivel my flash head to my right to illuminate her face and give more directional light.



Image 3 is bounced and flagged. Here the subjects are in better position for my bounce angle, eliminating the majority of her shadow on his shirt and getting more light on their faces.

Finally, how do you flag your flash? A simple cut piece of black foam and rubber band. There is tons of information about this technique over at http://neilvn.com/tangents/. Here's a shot of me looking ridiculous but it shows the bounced and flagged flash. A couple of other notes: I tend not to use a dome diffuser, but I always use some kind of gel on my flash. I find Pale Gold or Straw to be a good one for dealing with many interior conditions. I don't get too crazy over trying to control color though. Between the different light sources and colors of walls you can only do so much.

[mshockley]

Rentham this is a great response! Should prove very helpful to the OP

[julie1015]

Thank you Rentham! The third shot is what I would love to see as my outcome. Fingers crossed!! I know I'm making more out of this than I need to, but I don't want to disappoint!

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Rentham

This is good advice. Another important consideration is flagging your flash. That just means you want to block the light from the flash that would hit your subjects directly. My default settings for a dark interior are f/2.8, 1/100th or so, and 800 ISO. I ride my flash exposure compensation up and down as need. I'm generally in the +1/3 or +2/3 area. A home will generally have more ambient light than a reception hall, so adjust accordingly.

I'm going to post a few outtakes from a reception to illustrate the example, so hopefully the mods are OK with it.



Image 1 is bounced flash that is not flagged. You can see the harsh shadow cast on the wall because there is still some light coming out of the dome diffuser that is hitting the subjects directly. This is also shot at f/5 instead of f/2.8 so there's more background clutter.



Image 2 is bounced and flagged. Better, but I bounced the flash on the wall/ceiling directly behind me as you can see from the shadow on his shirt. I probably needed to swivel my flash head to my right to illuminate her face and give more directional light.



Image 3 is bounced and flagged. Here the subjects are in better position for my bounce angle, eliminating the majority of her shadow on his shirt and getting more light on their faces.

Finally, how do you flag your flash? A simple cut piece of black foam and rubber band. There is tons of information about this technique over at http://neilvn.com/tangents/. Here's a shot of me looking ridiculous but it shows the bounced and flagged flash. A couple of other notes: I tend not to use a dome diffuser, but I always use some kind of gel on my flash. I find Pale Gold or Straw to be a good one for dealing with many interior conditions. I don't get too crazy over trying to control color though. Between the different light sources and colors of walls you can only do so much.

Good advice Mike..right out of the Neil workbook. I sometimes find it a little tough in tight small crowded rooms to put into practice though. Plus, if the OP isn't shooting RAW, she could have some nasty colored light coming off painted walls yielding some sickly looking skin tones. But it is far and away the best way to do it when the conditions are right for it.