Advice for shooting a party?

[purplehaze]

We are celebrating my mom's 90th birthday this evening with 90 guests at my sister's home. If the rain holds off, it will be an indoor/outdoor affair. We have hired caterers, so, apart from overseeing the tea service, my only duty is to capture the event on camera. I am thinking I will take the Sigma 18-35 mm for wide shots of the gathering on the lawn and the nifty 50 for all the rest. I will also take the SB-700 and am debating whether or not to take along the Rogue flashbender or just use a diffuser over the flash head to soften the flash effect. I won't be able to bounce off the ceilings or walls, I think, as the ceiling is two-story and it and the walls are yellow. The north walls are basically full-length windows.

This is one of the things I feel less comfortable about and have less experience with, so I'd be grateful for your best tips for shooting a crowd.

[Geoff F]

I'm never exactly over enthusiastic about having to photograph events like this but when forced, and if I have to use flash, I shoot exactly the same as I would when photographing insects.

Set the camera manually to suit the scene. Eg 1/200 F8 Iso 400 then adjust the flash output compensation as required. Once you get the knack this is just the same as varying exposure compensation with normal, no flash, photography. But try a few test shots beforehand. Use the TTL flash metering option.

You can shoot with shutter priority instead but this will give quite variable apertures as the camera settings plus flash both attempt to do the same thing by way of adjustment. So you can end up shooting everything with a wide open aperture.

Aperture priority is another alternative but that can cause unexpectedly long shutter speeds. Which is why I like to set all that in advance then use the flash output to give individual scene adjustment.

At one time, flash units had fixed output so it was essential to add some form of flash power reduction over the flash head, but modern self thinking units auto adjust their output so placing some form of flash reduction/diffusing equipment over the head simply forces the unit to auto increase its output power. Careful use of the flash output compensation will give perfectly exposed results. Setting up a Custom White Balance can be handy and I usually do this for insects, but with modern editing it is simple to vary the white balance if you shoot Raw.

Sometimes, chiefly for close macro work I will add a Lastolite Mini Apollo unit over the flash head to widen the close area of flash but this doesn't really make much difference at longer distances; and it tends to make people feel uncomfortable.

My only other advice, depending on the type of person and actual scene being photographed, is to quietly lurk on the sidelines photographing what is naturally happening without being noticed. That way you will get some nice casual photographs instead of the obviously staged scenes.

[purplehaze]

Thank you, Geoff. Taking manual control of aperture, shutter and ISO and then using the flash to compensate for any underexposure sounds like a great idea. I know what you mean about a modifier making people uncomfortable, which is why I hesitate to use it, but I am wary of creating harsh lighting, too. I think I will take along the few modifiers that I have and try shooting with and without while we are setting up. When using the modifiers in the past, I have tended not to boost the flash enough to get a proper exposure. It will be a challenge to adjust to the changing light conditions, but I will try to keep my head and think rationally.

[wilgk]

Hi Janis
I like the lens selections, you should get nice group shots with the wide & then the nifty fifty will be good for some candid lurk on the sidelines as Geoff suggests.
If using a wide aperture on the 50, you may even get away with no flash on some of them, which would help with the whole 'lurking' scenario.
I agree about obvious modifiers such as Fong dome etc can look a bit 'much' in close spaces with a lot of people.
I use a smaller plastic device if needed in these situations- canon 430 have a small inexpensive one, or do a bit of DIY with an empty milk container if your flash doesn't have one.
Having a tripod or using a bench or table in the house & delay exposure, will let you run around & jump in with some group shots.
That will help everyone relax a bit as well.
I'm find with a group, as they are getting in together, give them feedback as to how they are sitting, standing etc I find if I say , that is perfect just like that with your arms/hands as you had them...seems to relax people,
Candid groups are great, but a bit of direction is also needed to get that candid look.
Do you have any old stories about any of the family that not everyone knows? Telling those should get a smile from some as you get the group together.
The old tricks of I'm just setting up, not ready yet & all finished no more... But secretly snapping away at both times, often gets the shots of the day.
As you would know on the technical side, distance from the flash is important, beware having the group with too much depth, as front rows will be brighter.
A tripod will also let you slow the time to capture more room/ambient lighting to balance with the flash.
If you do think you will be swapping from indoors to outside & back again, maybe set up a couple of temporary 'custom function' exposure settings, so you can swap very quickly. (Think Wedding in the church, vs outside)
Finally my warmest wishes to you for a wonderful celebration with your Mum. It is a terrific milestone to reach & I hope the day will bring great joy to those present.

[purplehaze]

Yes, thanks, Kay, I have a diffuser, and will be taking it along, too. I checked all my settings this aft, and selected the ones I want to start with. I also experimented a bit with bouncing the flash off the SB700's flash bounce card. That could be an option, too. It's certainly a good option for shooting the dog. ;-)

Thanks for the other tips, as well, and for your warm wishes. It is indeed a milestone and no one loves a party like my mom. Believe it or not, I expect to see her dancing.

[IzzieK]

Good luck tonight...we'll want to see some beautiful result of your lurking around. You got good advice already from our two best people above with Kay and Geoff so I have nothing more to contribute.

[rpcrowe]

Just caught this posting. I hope everything went along well and your mom has many-many happy returns.

[Manfred M]

Janis - I suspect you might want a bit of a longer lens as well. While a 50mm lens is fast, you might find yourself constrained by having to compose by moving around. I find zoom lenses are far more versatile in these settings. You will want to mix up group shots and crowd shots, as well as shots of individuals or small groups.

I think you will the flash bender rather useless it that type of situation. The darn thing gets all bent out of shape in crowds (I have the large one and that's personal experience speaking) and the small Stoffen type diffusers might soften the light a touch, but they still throw off a very hard and unattractive light. If the light is decent, go ambient light. It doesn't sound like bounce flash is an option (it's my favourite on-camera flash technique, bar none), but the room has to be right for it. The walls and ceilings have to be close enough to be useful. Both of the modifiers you are thinking about do cast harsh light. the only way to soften small flash is to use a large modifier (umbrella = off-camera) or bounce (can be on camera).

I suggest you try to get to the birthday reception area with a camera and check out the lighting by taking pictures and practicing a couple of days ahead of time.

[purplehaze]

Yes, Manfred, the Flash Bender and the LumiQuest were both kind of useless. Bouncing off the flash card provided mixed results. I am still confounded by the vagaries of flash. By the end of the evening, I was shooting with the naked flash pointed straight at my subjects.

In point of fact, I didn't shoot much at all as my camera got commandeered part way through the evening by my good friend Michael, who was eager to record the event in video. I was more than happy to let him do that, as he has lots of experience and I have none, and video would make a nicer souvenir. Plus I kept falling into lengthy conversations with people and was neglecting my photographic duty anyway.

Thanks, Richarad, the party was a huge success. My mom has a diverse group of friends from different parts of the city and different periods of her life. Two of her guests turned out to be long-lost buddies who hadn't seen each other since 1946!

Izzie, I gave the cards to Michael to take home and get the video off them to edit, so it may be a few days before I see whether I got any good stills. I think I got a few good family pics at the end of the evening, anyway. Time will tell.

[Manfred M]

Janis - the way to think of flash photography is to look at what light is being used when you use flash. In any flash image there can be up to three different sources of light:

1. Ambient light, which may or may not have a significant impact on your image, depending on the quantity of light and the shutter speed you are using. In most indoor shooting, ambient light is so low that very little of this light will actually impact the image if you are shooting at or close to the camera's synch speed;

2. Direct light from the flash - this is that harsh, hard light from the light that is directed straight at your subject; and

3. Indirect light from the flash - this is the soft light that comes from your flash reflecting off the surrounding walls and ceilings.

All of the flash modifiers light the FlashBender or your Lumiquest modifiers do is play with these two last effects. They spray some light around to bounce and direct a bit of light at your subject as direct light. If you are using them in a place that has very high ceilings or you are too far away from the walls, you are wasting this part of your flash output (I always get a chuckle out of photographers how shoot with them outdoors and there is nothing for the scattered light to bounce off of).

[purplehaze]

Thanks, Manfred. I can see that that harnessing that indirect light is something that you can only really develop a feel for after a lot of practice in a lot of different kinds of settings. The room I did most of the shooting in is huge and most of that indirect light was getting hopelessly lost. I am going to try to make a greater effort to practice this type of shooting in future as it is an area I am really weak in and I would like to be able to produce more reliably consistent results. We may be putting together a casual high school reunion this fall and I would like to be ready for it.

[Manfred M]

Janis - flash is one of those things that is really scary until you figure it out and then you wonder why you were ever not comfortable using it.

[purplehaze]

I truly hope I get there, Manfred. If not, it won't be for lack of help from this forum.

[rpcrowe]

My standard go-to reflector/diffuser is the Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro... The FlipIt portion of that unit can be directed straight up or angled down towards the subject.

When shooting without an overhead or walls off which to bounce the flash - I tilt the FlipIt portion about 45 degrees forward...

[Manfred M]

I truly hope I get there, Manfred. If not, it won't be for lack of help from this forum.

The forum is not going to help nearly as much as getting out there and shooting.

Your ultimate goal is to create images that don't look like you have used flash.

[inkista]

Prepare for lots of neilvn.com links.

I had a similar situation once--a friend's in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary. I'm not someone who generally shoots people at all, but I figured what the hell. A crappy photographer is better than no photography. So, I brought the 5DMkII, 24-105L, and 580EXII along. I knew I'd be bouncing a ton, and my modifier of choice was the Black Foamie Thing, to flag off any direct light coming from the flash, so all the light on the subject would come from the bounce. Bonus, it keeps you from blinding bystanders and is super cheap DIY. A tupperware cap "diffuser" won't work very well in this situation, since it just wastes most of your light throwing it around in all directions. An on-flash reflector can work, but tends to throw some direct flash onto the subject.

I generally don't worry about the color cast of the walls much. I was shooting in a Chinese restaurant with a reddish ceiling, and the slight red tint from the bounce just helped counteract the green from the walls. Dumb luck. But yellow/brown/brick walls can actually help warm up your light to look like ambient, rather than flash. Shoot RAW, gel if you have to, and you'll be ok. The main thing is the direction of the light--always aim your flash head where you'd put the soft box if you had a choice. Your SB-700 has full 360º swivel, so no limitations there. And bouncing off windows totally works, btw.

One thing to keep in mind, particularly with large rooms and high ceilings, is that you can still shoot with high ISO settings, so you're only using the flash for fill and the bounced light from the flash doesn't have to be particularly powerful to be used to good effect. Don't try for iso 100 and f/8, is what I'm saying. Go with ISO 1600 and f/4, and bouncing off a second-story ceiling can still work.

[rpcrowe]

I agree with Kathy... Much of my bounce flash efforts could be considered fill flash...

I used ISO 400 for this shot in Hong Kong (which is about as high as I would go using the 30D that I once shot with) and my exposure for this image was 1/60 second @ f/4...



I was able to utilize my little Canon 270EX for bounce (with a Joe Demb Photojournalist FlipIt) by using a high ISO and using the flash basically as fill...

[purplehaze]

Thanks for the illustration, Richard and the mention of the Joe Demb Diffuser. The SB700 has a pull-out bounce card, but it is perhaps less effective than yours as it is smaller.

Kathy, thanks for reminding me of the Black Foamie Thing, and Neil's site. Those were very interesting and relevant articles; much appreciated, though I expect I will have to re-read them several times over, before I absorb all the lessons. Ditto for the books I spent a portion of the weekend pouring over.

Manfred, I did practice this weekend, much of it while lying on the couch and shooting towards my toes (anybody else do that?). I'll spare you those shots, and the shots of family at dinner last night, but here's a shot I took of my bro inside the cabin of his new keel boat. I was thinking I had bounced the flash backwards off the cabin ceiling, but the reflection on the kettle makes me wonder.

[purplehaze]

Hi, Bill. The party was last Friday, in the evening, from 7 to sometime past 10 pm, but I will have occasion to shoot in that house again, so tips still welcome. I was mistaken about the orientation. The river side of the house in fact faces west and the main room caught a fair amount of shade-filtered sunlight until the sun sank behind the trees.

[William W]

Hi Janis, thanks for answering my question which I have since deleted.

Hi, Bill. The party was last Friday, in the evening, from 7 to sometime past 10 pm, but I will have occasion to shoot in that house again, so tips still welcome. I was mistaken about the orientation. The river side of the house in fact faces west and the main room caught a fair amount of shade-filtered sunlight until the sun sank behind the trees.

My general points of view for coverage of Functions and Social Events when that is not one's bread and butter:

1. Keep it simple.

2. (Assuming shooting with one camera) I'd always advise to use one lens - in the example given I would use the SIGMA 18-35mm F/1.8 DC HSM ART

3. Shoot slightly wide and crop in Post Production.

4. Generally speaking for any Social Event:
> if the Flash is KEY Light or close to the KEY Light then Bounce is typically your friend || Diffusion is generally your enemy
> if Flash is the FILL light (in Sunshine) then Direct Flash is your friend || Bounce and Diffusion are your enemy

5. Don't worry about the yellow walls - bounce if you can.

6. Do not be afraid to use higher ISO with Bounce Flash - ISO 800 and ISO 1600 are both useful and usable on modern cameras.

7. No telephoto lenses - lots of reasons for that opinion, the three most important:
> (assumed you will be) using only one camera ergo lens changes will dictate the image you can get not the moment dictating the image you can get
> the much larger circumference of the circle that you need to compass to get the angle on the shot
> the maximum Flash Working Distance

8. Do not use Aperture Priority with Flash, unless you are absolutely sure you know how to and are experienced at it. (use Manual Camera Mode)

9. (Assuming Nikon or Canon DSLR - maybe other Cameras too but I am certain of Nikon and Canon DSLR) - If unsure of using Manual Camera Mode or if you get caught in a brain lock on the day, then bump the ISO one stop (or just set ISO 800) and use P Mode and Auto Flash (bounced preferably) check that first shot to ensure enough ISO and if necessary bump to ISO1600 and then continue.

10. Shooting Portraiture in that location and with Subject Direction and Shooting Control, then different suggestions will apply - the above points are general and for a "Novice" at any Social Event: the most important point is Point #1 - Keep It Simple

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. . . The SB700 has a pull-out bounce card, but it is perhaps less effective than yours as it is smaller. . .

Often mistaken for a "Bounce Card", it isn't.

It is a "Catch Light Card".

Its purpose is to make a (less powerful) bounce into the eyes of the Subject to create a Catch Light whilst the Flash is angled to make a (more powerful) Bounce off the Ceiling or other overhead area of cover.

Any "On Flash Bounce Card" needs to be bigger - like this below, which is also reversible to use similar to Neil's "Black Foamie Thing".:



***

This recent thread has several relevant points

WW