In at the deep end...

Not sure what section to post this in....

Well today was interesting! I had my camera bag in the car, as I often go for a short walk at lunch time to get some air.

It turns out there was a cake sale in the building in aid of Macmillan cancer support and a colleague asked me to get some shots for them. I busied myself taking cake photos (I have never done any food shots, so had to wing it) and then someone mentioned they had managed to persuade a local radio station to come down and broadcast from the sale - And could I photograph that too.....

As luck would have it, the Yongnou 565 speedlight I ordered yesterday turned up from Amazon, with some batteries - So I had 30 minutes to try my flash out before the radio chaps arrived! Having never used a speedlight before, I had a quick google and set ISO400 and varied between F4 & F8 with my 35mm F1.8. Hopefully the shots come out ok, the radio station has asked if I can send some to them too as there photographer was elsewhere.

All in all, it was better than sitting at my desk but I would have preferred some preparation time! I'll post a few shots once I get them through post.

That's great Steve. Nothing beats learning under pressure. I hope you're happy with your new flash unit.

Trial by fire! Share some of the shots here, too?

Can't wait to see the results Steve. I'm sure you did just fine.

Wow, you did better than I would. Not sure I wouldve got through something like that.

Well done... and yes please, share a couple of photos from this shoot

Thanks everyone! I will post some of the shots once I get them done...

I'm very happy with the flash unit thanks, @Marcel - From going to never having used one to taking the kind of shots I was, I don't think the flash could have been any more intuitive. If anyone is looking for a flash at less than£80 delivered next day you cannot overlook this one!

SteveH said:

Thanks everyone! I will post some of the shots once I get them done...

I'm very happy with the flash unit thanks, @Marcel - From going to never having used one to taking the kind of shots I was, I don't think the flash could have been any more intuitive. If anyone is looking for a flash at less than£80 delivered next day you cannot overlook this one!

Click to expand...

Love, love, LOVE my 565EX.

....

Well, I have spent the weekend going through the photos, and got them sent off to the organiser & the radio station.
Over all, I am happy with the results, and I have learned a lot... I will put what I have learned here to help anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation!

1) Get involved as early as possible so you can plan..... I got involved in this "Project" after the cakes were already set out and customers were buying... This stopped me from re-arranging things for better pictures. Ideally, I would have had a separate table with a less busy background, and taken a close-up of each cake, and a shot of the cake and it's baker.

2) Right kit for the job..... I used a 35mm F1.8 prime and this still struggled for the first half of the shots... Poor light & a wide aperture meant a very narrow focal depth in the first half of the shots. Using the in-built flash just bounced white light right back off the white cards and table cloth. Once my speedlight arrived, I could reduce the ISO and have much better control over the aperture. The 35mm F1.8 and the 565 EX speedlight are pretty cheap, but once used together they made everything MUCH easier.

3) Organise people for the shot you want - I missed a few shots of the radio guys interviewing people, because they are just used to radio, and standing close in. I couldn't ask them to talk all facing one way, because they were broadcasting at the time... In hindsight, I should have chatted with them when they arrive before they started interviewing.

4) Find a small event like this and offer to shoot it even if only for your own experience.... This being a small charity event meant there was little pressure on me, but gave me a chance to learn LOTS!

Anyway, here are a handful of the 100+ shots I took... Over the whole day, £678.75 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.


Fairy Cakes



Oreo Cakes



Millionaire's Shortbread



Cup Cakes



DJ's and cake Shopper



Brownies



Russian Cabbage & Egg pasties... Apparently, MUCH nicer than it sounds!



These local radio DJ's are a zany lot.....



A sample of the offerings



Rocky Road

Here's a few more....


Event organiser chats with local radio.... There were plenty of Mic's, not sure why he needed an IPhone too!




Selling like.... Room temperature cakes!




Event Organiser & DJ's




Chatting over a pasty




The baker looks on as the DJ samples the Egg & cabbage pasty.....