Manual settings for Ballroom pictures

[Cebu]

Bill,
Your Tagalog is good. You know that the Visayans had to be taught Tagalog.
Funny that because of the over 100 dialects, we had to be taught our "national language"

Mabuhay and Maraming Salamat. (Greetings & thank you)


Colin,

This is the first camera ever that I bought for myself. I had some hand-me-down point & shoots. I am just taking pictures now, hoping that with your help, the photography part will come along later. I'm planning on traveling home this July to attend our 40th high school reunion. Imagine that. Hence the new camera. I hope I'd learn how to use it outside of the Auto mode. Planning on learning to shoot in AV mode with in camera flash. Shots will be mostly indoors in ballroom lighting, I think. This is what I plan to set:
Mode: Av; f5.6; ISO 200; WB: tungsten; Flash on. What do you think? Then beach shots the next day. Help!

Thanks

Big Smile

Rene

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Rene,

Rather than have the answers get lost in the introductions thread, I have copied the post as a new thread here.

The first thing I'd say is that the WB you select should be determined by the dominant light source. What you are suggesting is going to mix flash (colour temp 5500) with the camera set to tungsten (about 3000), so this probably isn't wise unless you put some filtering 'gel' over the flash head to alter it to tungsten temperature. That isn't really practical, so I'd suggest using the flash WB setting, however there are many other variables which may affect the correct decision.

You might want to have a read of the tutorial on Understanding White Balance

I'm sure others will respond to this, so I'll stop there for now and return later if I need to.

Regards,

[Cebu]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for putting my question in thread form. I was a little shy in doing it so I figured I'd just sneak it in the introduction section. I will read the WB Tutorial you provided and I'm sure it would help my understanding a lot. See, what did I say about me being in the basement of this picture taking venture? I'm mixing settings that I should not have.

Thank you very much,

Big Smile

Rene

[Colin Southern]

I'm planning on traveling home this July to attend our 40th high school reunion. Imagine that. Hence the new camera. I hope I'd learn how to use it outside of the Auto mode. Planning on learning to shoot in AV mode with in camera flash. Shots will be mostly indoors in ballroom lighting, I think. This is what I plan to set:
Mode: Av; f5.6; ISO 200; WB: tungsten; Flash on. What do you think?

Hi Rene,

It won't work very well [big unhappy face!].

Problem you'll face is camera shake; typically at those kinds of events the lighting is quite dim - and F5.6 @ ISO 200 will probably give you a shutterspeed around 1/15th to 1/6th. The built in flash is hopelessly inadequate for all but closeup / small group shots. Keep in mind also that if you use Av mode the camera will use the flash to expose the foreground, but will lower the shutterspeed to expose the background - which is where the camera shake will kick in.

If it were me, I'd be shooting as wide open as I could (that still gave acceptable depth of field) and at the highest ISO that still gave me acceptable noise - all whilst using the most powerful flash I could afford (eg Canon 5780EX II). In terms of shutterspeed I'd probably go with manual with it set to something between 1/60th and my X-Sync speed (1/250th?).

Whatever else you do, be sure to experiment in similar conditions before you go to see what's going to work and what's not!

Does this help?

[Cebu]

Hi Colin,

Thanks. I will take your advice and experiment before I go to the big event.

Big Smile

Rene

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,

Thanks. I will take your advice and experiment before I go to the big event.

Big Smile

Rene

No worries

Have you thought about getting an external flash at all?

[BillTexas]

Rene,

I probably missed it, but what camera do you have?

If you're looking for some resources, try Digital Photography for Dummies. No, 'm not the author and I don't work for the publisher. I used to work in a camera store back when cameras used film so I know something, probably not too much, about cameras. The book will answer a lot of your questions and get you started with a better understanding of what you're trying to do.

There are some great tutorials on this website, so try those.

I agree with the advice that you need an external flash. If we knew what camera you have, we could probably make a suggestion for you and you might find a good buy on that online auction place.

When using a flash, particularly indoors, you just have to get it away from the camera. There are plenty of flash brackets that will do that and some are modestly priced.

And, post some pictures.

Have a great time with your new camera.

BillTexas.

[Colin Southern]

Rene,

I probably missed it, but what camera do you have?

A Canon SX10 IS I believe.

[Cebu]

Hi Gentlemen,

Yes Colin is right, I have the Canon SX10 IS. I was considering buying an external flash
for it, but the dedicated Canon EX models are either priced half of what I paid for the camera or priced more than what I paid for the camera. At the moment, my savings for not getting the entry level DSLR went to other accesorries but none left for flash. Maybe
if I save my lunch money for 2 months, I will be able to get one
Anyway, when all else fails, I will shoot in Auto mode and use the onboard flash.

Big Smile

Rene