Red Carpet Style Photos

[butterflyangel]

I posted this before some where. I am not sure where. lol

I have a family friend that I have done graduation pictures for 2 years in a roll. They asked me to do photos for their family Christmas Party. They are going to have a red carpet for the beginning. I am not sure what is the best way to do it. I mainly shoot automatic (still getting used to manual). I am renting an external flash. In this shoot is it better to shoot manual or automatic? Should I use a tripod? Is it better to take a full shoot and crop it later?

Thank you in advance.

[graciousness]

With flash photography, it is always advisable to use manual. It is best to be able to have control of your settings so that you can control the light/exposure with flash use. Sure you can use automatic, but then you're gambling with what photos will come out ok.

In the very l least, you want to learn how to set the flash so that you can compensate the flash output.

Tripod is always a huge help with ensuring you reduce camera shake but then if you are shooting moving people, this may not be a good idea. Also, your photos will come out looking all the same if you just shoot from one angle/vantage point/place. You'd want to vary your shots and angles.

Shoot a little wider if you want, but you really want to avoid cropping as much as possible. You do lose resolution once you start cropping, also, it eats time if you have tons of photos to edit. It's always best practice to frame your shots as well as you can and compose whilst shooting.

If you have time, learn bounce flash. Plenty of tutorials on google and youtube with this

Good luck!