Sydney Gay Mardi Gras - Night time photo tips?

[graciousness]

I am going to take advantage of the photo ops at Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras this Saturday and realised that:

1) I suck;
2) Night time activity photography, I'll suck even more without having any such experience;
3) Don't know if I have enough or the right gears;
4) I hate flash;
5) If I stuff up this photo opportunity, I'll have to wait another full year to get the next op.

I don't want to be disappointed at the end of the night if I end up with blurry, noisy photos. I do want to, at least, have a handful of shots I can be proud of. So to maximise the "best" I can get out of this night, I would really love some advise how I can get some good shots.

I do have a flash, but it's been borrowed for the night (for another event) so I only have the built-in evil flash on the 40D. Can I just plainly avoid taking flash shots and ramp up the ISO or low (f/4.0 or f/2.5) aperture for decent lighting? Or am I being stupid and asking for the impossible?

I have:

30D
40D
24-105 L Lens
50mm f/2.5 macro lens
100-400 L lens (Do people dressed up in tutu's and leather count as wildlife?? )
Velbon tripod

I would really like to do all the shots handheld and avoid tripod. Or am I really just making it more difficult for me?

What can I do with the minimal gears that I have for this festivity?

Cheers and thanks for reading

[jdepould]

One thing you might try is what's called dragging the shutter.

You set the flash to rear curtain sync, then use a slow shutter speed. This gives you sharp, frozen subjects with motion trails, and often kicks up the vibrance of the image. I'd recommend using the 24-105. Shoot it at a nice mid-range ISO and aperture (ISO400 + f/5.6 maybe?) so you aren't taxing your flash/battery too much.

Results look like this:

1/8s, f/4 @ ISO400

Only difference here is that this was a flash on a rope (TTL cable).

[graciousness]

Originally Posted by jdepould

One thing you might try is what's called dragging the shutter.

You set the flash to rear curtain sync, then use a slow shutter speed. This gives you sharp, frozen subjects with motion trails, and often kicks up the vibrance of the image. I'd recommend using the 24-105. Shoot it at a nice mid-range ISO and aperture (ISO400 + f/5.6 maybe?) so you aren't taxing your flash/battery too much.

Results look like this:

1/8s, f/4 @ ISO400

Only difference here is that this was a flash on a rope (TTL cable).

Oh no....flash........I don't have my flash available for the night. Is this really going to b e a big issue? Also, I've NEVER used my external flash (430 EX) so I haven't got a slightest clue what to do with it except mount it, aim and shoot.

I have thought about the idea of playing aroudn with the shutter and see what light/movement I get. But I may be playing with this idea too much if I do it and lose solid photo ops. So I think I'll stick to practicing shooting in AV and get better at it before I can move on to anything else.

[IainM]

These photos were taken in a similar situation - no flash and a camera that isn't exactly an iso beast.







relevant exif;

ISO 1600
90mm 2.8
no flash

They came out okay I guess, sometimes a little noisy. And there were a number of shots that were too blurry.

I think a 2.8 is as high as I'd go if shooting with no flash, using only the light available.
Try to catch people in pools of bright light, and when they aren't moving so fast.

good luck!

[graciousness]

IainM, you give me hope

Those photos remind me a little of the ones I took a couple of years ago in a billiard hall - the stage light was enough to illuminate my victims, I mean, subjects and the background turned out black on the photos. I thought it was brilliant, as the photos (as yours) seem as if they were almost staged.

I will crank up the ISO as I don't mind a little bit of noise to compensate my lack of flash use. This is the only way I can think of to do at the night.

I will be shooting a parade, by the way, so yes, there will be lots of movements and will prove tricky (but fun!). I hope their stilettos and elevator shoes slow them down

[Ambrosia76]

If it is anything like the G & L parade here they will be so bright and colorful maybe not having the flash won't matter. Try taping a piece of tissue paper over the on camera flash to diffuse it that way you will have the extra light but it won't be so stark.

[RichardTaylor]

I shot an illumination "parade" at Parramatta last year.

I used a Canon 5D with a Canon 24-105 with the IS on.
I also used a 500EX on camera flash with the output dialed down (2/3 of a stop I think) just for a bit of fill in some cases.
All pics were shot hand held.

A couple of tips.
Use a lens hood (If it doesn't interfere with your on camera flash) and remove any filters to reduce flare.
Know how to read a histogram.
Shoot RAW.
Travel light.

Here are some examples. (larger images can be seen on my Flickr stream.
(1)

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program Manual

(2)

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired
Exposure Program Manual

(3) These gentleman had their own illumination


Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 47 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired
Exposure Program Manual

[graciousness]

Richard, that photo is amazing! Just absolutely stunning. Now I'm getting really excited

You coming to the parade tomorrow night?? It'd be a shame if you don't...

I've been practicing hand-held shooting today at the botanic gardens and used, for the first time, my 100-400mm L lens, took photos of bats and.....it ain't easy. But not as bad as I thought, too, although I have massive neck pains from looking up and carrying that darn heavy lens.

So I think for the parade, I'll have to be really steady and sober (gosh, that's hard to do in this town!) and just shoot, shoot, shoot. I'm beginning to sort of understand DOF in regards to the use of aperture, but I hope what I've understood so far clicks in tomorrow night.

Let me charge all my batteries before I forget...

[graciousness]

I failed miserably tonight. I didn't realise that this event is just MASSIVE.

Half a million people up and down the streets partying, I could hardly see the floats at all. Couldn't take photos cause it was so cramped and I was not prepared at all for this massive party.

I was hoping to post a photo or two.........

The whole city is vibrating, however, and the energy is electrifying.

I went home defeated and empty handed.

Many thanks for all your advice. I hope I can put it all to practice with another event opportunity.