How do I photograph in a Jewish Temple

[JedK12]

My friend asked me to help him out and take some pictures of his daughter posing for Bat Mitzvah pictures in her temple.
I told him I have a nice camera but I'm not a professional photographer.
He says he has nobody else so I guess I'm taking the pictures.

There are a lot of stained glass windows behind the podium but the lighting will be weak.
The podium is high up so I am planning on bringing a ladder.

So I have a Canon DSLR with a bunch of lenses.
I was planning on using my Sigma 28-105 lens for pretty much all of the shots.
I also have the Canon 18-55 lens that came with the camera.

I have a good tripod and also a Speedlite 380EX flash.

So I need some advice on how to take professional looking pictures for them.
I will take some of the Bat Mitzvah girl, the girl and her two older brothers, and finally the whole family.

Should I get a hood for my flash?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on angles, settings, etc.
If anyone has some of their own images so I can see what these are supposed to look like that would be great.

Thanks,
JedK

[kirbinster]

First you need to make sure your camera is Kosher -- Sorry just could not resist

I think the first thing you need to do is to find out if they allow the use of flash at all. If it were me I would use a fast lens like my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 or Nikon 24-70 f/2.8, don't know how fast your glass is. Also I would highly suggest shooting raw as your white balance may get all screwed up by the light coming in from the stained glass at different angles that you might shoot from.

[JedK12]

Thanks for your reply,

Yes I am Kosher
I have to work with the lenses I have. The one I was planning on using is the 28-105 f/2.8.

The pictures are not during the ceremony so I can use the flash.
Raw is a good idea but I've never photographed that way. I have read about it. I do have Photoshop so that shouldn't be a problem.. I think.

What do you think about a Hood on my flash. Do you think that is a good thing to buy for these types of pictures?

Thanks,
JedK

[Benji]

Oy vey another Goy. (Sorry I couldn't resist either!)

It sounds to me like these will be staged portraits not "action" shots taken during the ceremony. If so you have time to think about what you are doing instead of blazing away with the camera in auto everything and hope you get something (usually called "spray and pray." ) Here is how I would do this shoot.

Since you don't mention that you have any additional lighting I assume you do not so you will need to use the speedlight on camera but put both on a tripod and use a sloooow shutter speed to pick up the ambient light (slow meaning about 1/8th second.) YOU MUST USE A TRIPOD for shutter speeds as slow as this or YOU WILL have blurry images. The stained glass should show up well at 1/8th of a second but CHECK YOUR LCD SCREEN to be sure. The flash will freeze the subjects while the shutter speed will allow the ambient light to "pile onto" the sensor. The "usual" shot is the student standing behind the scroll with the rabbi off to one side, both looking at the scroll. Sometimes either the rabbi or the student holds a "Yad" which is held in the hand and is positioned so it points toward a particular portion of scripture. For the family portraits you could do them at the altar or outdoors (weather permitting.)

Benji

[JedK12]

I don't have additional lighting.
There will be no action shots (unless the parents start fighting )

I thought it was a Reformed temple so when I first posted this I was thinking shots like: reading the Torah with the Yad, holding the Torah, and the placing the Talitt on the new Bat Mitzvah but I now found out this is a Conservative temple, so there won't be any of those cool shots.
So now the shots will be much simpler.
Reading the Haftorah which is basically a book. Maybe a few pictures in the lobby of the family but I'm not worried about those.

I do have in my mind the types of pictures I want to take, even now with the Haftorah, but the Torah shots would have been much nicer.

I will use my tripod and slow down the exposure. That's a good idea. I will do some practice shots in my house by a window before I try the real thing.

Thanks for your help,
JedK

[debishop]

Great to see this thread, I am taking photographs of my husband's niece, Bat Mitzvah Jan 9. I have quite a few restrictions, no flash, 55 ft away from subject and no noise from the camera... If you took yours already I would love to see them or hear about it.

[IanWorthington]

I'd get in there in advance if you can, shoot some raw, high iso shots seeing what you need to balance the windows with the flash. Dial the flash down as appropriate. Unless they want something bigger than 10x8 don't sweat the sensor noise.

Can you shoot off cameras flash? Get someone to hold & point the flash.

Try zooming doing the flash+window shots to get a good effect on the windows plus a sharp subject.

Best of luck.

i

[feather1945]

You may want to take some pictures of just the stained glass windows and other objects and use these as backgrounds for a picture with your subject in the foreground if you know your way around Photoshop.

[JedK12]

debishop.

I am taking the pictures Jan 8th, so there won't be much time between my shots and yours.
Hopefully they will be good enough to post. I don't consider myself a pro photographer.

Jed

[debishop]

Good luck to you. I've been told not to worry about the shots during the ceremony due to my hesitation of the 55 ft restriction. yikes! I consider myself an "advanced amateur" so I am not a pro either. Would love to see your compositions regardless.