shooting at parties

[jli]

Two friends are having a combined birthday party tonight and they've asked me to bring my camera. I don't think they're expecting amazing art, but I thought the situation might create some interesting discussion.

There's an all-black dress code, except for the birthday girls, who'll be wearing bright colors. This should make for very interesting shots!

1. I only have the 18-55mm kit and the 50mm f/1.8 on a Canon 1000D, but I'd still I need a bag for the extra lens. I'd rather not have to carry a bag all night, especially since it's not black!

The 18-55mm would be more flexible and let me get group shots, but I'd rather use shoot with the 50mm since it'll be indoors, at night. I'm leaning towards the 50mm since I'm more confident I can get some relatively in-focus/sharp and interesting shots, and I figure someone else can take group photos with a point-and-shoot .

When you shoot casual parties (that you're also supposed to be participating in), do you carry a bag full of lenses?

2. Thinking ahead, I imagine most people wearing black might throw off the camera's meter, so I think that means I should be setting the EV compensation somewhere between -1/3 and -1, right?

Thanks,
John

[BCampbell]

I use the Canon 50mm f/1.8 to shoot indoors all the time. It works really well for those low light situations. The problem is, it's effectively an 80mm lens on our cameras, so you're really limited to tight shots. You're going to have to work to get some variety; i.e., anything but close headshots.

The kit lens will be mostly unusable in low-light situations on that camera. You're probably best off leaving the bag and just taking your camera. I always travel as light as possible.

As far as metering, the camera should actually be okay at handling that, but take a few shots and double check. If the camera overcompensates for all the black yes you'll underexpose, but you may also want to overexpose to catch all the details. More important is making sure you have a good white balance setting if you're shooting jpg, color temperatures can change from room to room.

[wulf]

How did it go?

I'd generally agree with the above. If I had to make the choice and particularly because you don't mention an off-camera flash, I'd have gone with the 50mm lens. By stepping back to get more than just headshots you get another benefit - increased distance brings greater depth of field even when the lens is wide open or approaching it.

Wulf

[jli]

Originally Posted by BCampbell

The kit lens will be mostly unusable in low-light situations on that camera. You're probably best off leaving the bag and just taking your camera. I always travel as light as possible.

Originally Posted by wulf

How did it go?

I ended up just taking the 50mm, which was a good idea. It was crowded, most people were drinking, and I wouldn't have felt totally safe with changing lens in the middle of it all .

It was a good learning experience. I was using ISO 1600 all night, typically shooting ~f/1.8 to ~f/3.2, without flash. I probably should have gone with a faster shutter and darker photos, since I had to throw out a ton of blurred shots.

I had some focus issues, as well. A very small handful came out with okay sharpness at full size. Since these were more or less just for facebook (~400x600), it wasn't so bad. But I felt like auto-focus had a pretty hard time working quickly/accurately in the low light, and there was a lot of movement, so it was tough to get sharpness. I also did a lot of focus-and-recompose, which maybe threw off the sharpness at such big apertures, but with a crowded scene, I didn't think that AF with all the points would work well.

Originally Posted by BCampbell

More important is making sure you have a good white balance setting if you're shooting jpg, color temperatures can change from room to room.

Yeah, another thing I learned . It's still my first month with an SLR, and I've always left white balance on "auto" - until I was looking through what I shot and saw 2 essentially identical photos that had completely different color casts. Though that was a tough situation, with a mix of warmer light from the living room and white fluorescent from the kitchen.

Originally Posted by wulf

I'd generally agree with the above. If I had to make the choice and particularly because you don't mention an off-camera flash, I'd have gone with the 50mm lens. By stepping back to get more than just headshots you get another benefit - increased distance brings greater depth of field even when the lens is wide open or approaching it.

Yup, I don't have any flash equipment, and I hate the look of the built-in flash.

I did have fun positioning myself farther away to get more in the scene. It was somewhat challenging because of the crowded space, and people inadvertently stepping into the frame. I should have used the opportunity to get more frame-within-a-frame shots, though!

Thanks for the suggestions!

[BCampbell]

Originally Posted by jli

It was a good learning experience. I was using ISO 1600 all night, typically shooting ~f/1.8 to ~f/3.2, without flash. I probably should have gone with a faster shutter and darker photos, since I had to throw out a ton of blurred shots.

Sounds like you did it right to me. I'm usually shooting ISO 800 or 1600 for things like that, on a Canon 300D, and I learned to just live with the noise.

I wouldn't try to underexpose if you're planning on pulling details back out. Especially at high ISO, all you're going to do is exacerbate the noise. here's an example of what that looks like. I forgot to bump my ISO up there, and trying to get pull anything out of that just made it a mess.

Sometimes you just get what you can, for indoor, low-light shooting I tend to leave the 50mm at f/1.8 and 800 or 1600 ISO and not worry too much about it (but then I'm also usually participating in the party too...).

I had some focus issues, as well.

Yep, this will happen in low light.

but with a crowded scene, I didn't think that AF with all the points would work well.

It doesn't, you are better off using just the center point, especially since you are sometimes trying to catch a fleeting moment.

I've always left white balance on "auto" - until I was looking through what I shot and saw 2 essentially identical photos that had completely different color casts.

It is kind of aggrivating. I try to take a couple practice shots first thing in the rooms I expect to be shooting in, and pick the presets that work best for each. Sometimes it's the same one, sometimes not. Of course, eventually someone's going to light some candles or turn off some lights or plug in some christmas lights -- whatever, not much you can do. Shooting in RAW to give you post processing control over WB is not a bad way to go.

I did have fun positioning myself farther away to get more in the scene. It was somewhat challenging because of the crowded space, and people inadvertently stepping into the frame.

Yeah, one of the tougher types of shoots you can do. Personally, I find that the best shots from a casual party are usually not those that are technically the most "correct", but those that capture... something. The feel of the moment. It's important to know broadly what gear and settings are best, but I think best to at some point stop worrying about it and "feel" your shots.

But you haven't had your camera long, this is good learning and should get you going pretty quick. The first major shoot I did with my DSLR was a charity event, and the conditions were hell; high cielinged room completely surrounded by plate glass windows, with almost everything facing toward the interior. So here I am with a camera I just got, not a very good one at that, with just the kit lens, forced to shoot toward windows all night, basically into a setting sun... Oh yeah, and the gradual shift from natural light to artifical as the night went on. It was not fun, I was not happy with the results, but man I learned a lot. You can see the results here. It's not pretty. Anyway, you have to do this kind of stuff, challenge yourself, if you want to improve, so good job.

[jli]

Thanks for the help and encouragement!