Need some advice...

arsalann24

Senior Member
Hey everyone,

So I've been tasked to help shoot at a party for my aunt tomorrow and I'm a little nervous. I'd like to say I'm decent but not amazing. It's good enough to where the people who want the pictures think I am really good.

Just some background on the equipment I have:
D5100
35mm f1.8 lens (this is my goto lens)
18-55mm Kit Lens
55-300mm f4.5/5.6 Lens
Insignia TTL Flash (NS-DXFL2N) It comes with a bounce card, do I need diffuser??

Ok, so the party is going to be indoors, it is pretty well lit.The place has beige colored walls, we are looking to have close to 150 ppl at the party. I plan on taking portraits and plenty of group shots of people on a stage and of people sitting on their tables eating, etc.

With the external flash I'm thinking I should be good to go. I'll be pointing the flash up and not directly on the subject I'm shooting, I'm hoping the bounce card will help as well. After reading some of the forums on here it looks like somewhere around 400 ISO I should be good. I'm think I'll be in "A" mode. I'll take a few test shots when I'm there but do I need anything else or am I forgetting anything?? I think I'm just nervous because I haven't done something of this scale, and I want to do my best.

If there's any advice, comments, questions that you have for me I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, do you guys think that the 35mm is good for the whole party or do you think I should change it up??

Thanks again!
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
With the bare flash pointed up you are in essence using the ceiling as a diffuser.

I wouldn't photograph people while they are eating.
 

weebee

Senior Member
How big is the room? Between the 18-55 and the 35 you should be ok. The 35 may not do all your needs. You'll probably come into situations where you'll need wide angle. Hopefully at 18mm you will be ok. You have a spare battery for your camera? I tripod might come in handy as well.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
With the external flash I'm thinking I should be good to go. I'll be pointing the flash up and not directly on the subject I'm shooting, I'm hoping the bounce card will help as well. After reading some of the forums on here it looks like somewhere around 400 ISO I should be good. I'm think I'll be in "A" mode. I'll take a few test shots when I'm there but do I need anything else or am I forgetting anything??

Sounds good, but it would have been good if you could have said "10 or 12 foot white ceilings". You said stage, so it is not in a home... Ceilings could be high, or dark. You will need white ceilings for bounce. Your plan all sounds right if the ceilings are OK. Practice a bit today with direct flash too, just in case. What causes problems with direct flash is turning the camera up on end for portrait view, which puts the flash at the side, which makes terrible dark side shadows on a near wall behind the subject. Keeping the flash directly above the lens helps that greatly. And watch to avoid overexposure. Flash Compensation is how we control TTL flash.

You don't want the diffuser, but the bounce card will help. Other than possibly the ceiling, white balance will be your main problem. If not using a white balance card, I would include a few shots of the various scenes that specifically included white things (not off-white), to help with white balance later. White shirts and collars, white plates, white name tags, white menus, etc.
 

arsalann24

Senior Member
Thanks for the all the comments, just wanted to let everyone know that the pictures came out great. I'll be posting them soon. While we're on the topic of posting, where do most people post their pictures? Everyone wants me to post on Facebook, since everyone is on there, but I heard the photo quality drops. I also have a flickr account, any other suggestions?

Thanks again!
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I don't have a public photo account, so post most of my photos straight to Nikonites. Works well for me.

Glad your preparations paid off in great shots!
 
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