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Settings for Party Photos
This time of year I cover a fair number of holiday parties. Typically dimly lit, lots of booze and groups of 4 to 12 mugging for the camera. Don't have the luxury of an assistant and usually too crowded and rowdy to put an unattended strobe on a light stand for off camera flash. I like to use my 24-70 at f 5.6 and 1/100th sec with the ISO dialed down to underexpose ambient light by about a stop. Depending on the room that can be anywhere from 800 to 3200. Color temp is set to tungsten and strobe is on camera bounced into a rogue flash bender with a full CTO. I use TTL with flash compensation set to 1/2 to 1 stop over... skin tones seem to come out better and the extra punch is handy for people who might be farther away than the ones in the foreground. Just curious what settings/techniques do you use to differentiate your images? Nov 17 14 07:48 am Link I usually use an on camera flash with a lightsphere, aimed to bounce of the ceiling ( luckily there are a lot of venues here with low, white ceilings!). It hasn't failed me yet. Otherwise I try to bring strobes with me and set up a photo booth. For the first hour that's all I do, then pack up everything, put the equipment in the car, and cover the rest of the party with the flash. Nov 17 14 08:06 am Link i like to use my 17-40 f4 (when i can get away with f4). full-frame. i use on-camera flash with rogue flashbender. shutter is usually at 1/100s. and crank ISO as needed. where i struggle is the cake cutting at weddings -- my settings don't seem to freeze the motion very well. for the flash i try to use as little as needed to avoid glary people and/or nuking the ones in front if it's a group. i've never found that e-ttl works very well but it is convenient. if i can use a ladder or stepstool i will when shooting staged portraits. just seems like when people lift their heads a bit life gets better. with multiple people i'll often do the close-1-2-3-open thing. otherwise you have to take a bunch of shots hoping you'll get one with all the eyes open. Nov 17 14 10:02 am Link ontherocks wrote: I know. Alcohol + bright lights = blinkers! Nov 17 14 10:10 am Link we had one groom who basically kept his eyes closed unless he was looking at the bride! and some people seem sensitive to the pre-flash and are guaranteed to have their eyes closed. maybe i should see if the pre-flash can be turned off. even with 1-2-3-open we've had people where the eyes bounced (open-close-open). sometimes you have to photoshop it. and even if the eyes are open the odds of everyone looking at the camera at the same time is pretty much astronomical. 2nd Hand Light wrote: Nov 17 14 10:16 am Link our party shots are with camera set to aperture about f/4 iso around 800, and shutter speed to underexpose ambient by 1 stop. I use a lithium-ion battery light at minimum power to clean up the skin and help a lot on group shots. People need to see their faces close up so 24-70 zoom or 24-120 is needed. I carry some cto or ctb 1/4 to close the lighting differences. I don't like to fully correct the lighting colours because it doesn't feel like a party anymore. sometimes we even go the other direction and add more colours. I also have a tiny crane that can go 9 ft in the air or crawl on the ground and get some nice shots. I don't stand on chairs or lay on the ground. Nov 17 14 11:14 am Link I shoot a ton of corporate events. Many invclude cocktail parties/receptions. My "go to" settings are usually ISO 1250, 1/60 to 1/80 shutter. f5.6 to 8 Flash (Canon 600exrt) set to about 1/4 power with a Flashbender. If I'm outside, no need for the Flashbender and I go straight flash. That usually cuts the strobe to 1/64 to 1/32 ish. TTL rarely works well. I know my distance and get a lot more keepers. However, I do like the Auto setting on my Metz 58 AF (broken foot/mount at the moment). Works great when bouncing off a Flashbender. Not so much straight flash. Nov 17 14 11:32 am Link 2nd Hand Light wrote: In these situations, the one setting I am guaranteed to make sure I have set is to make sure my insurance is paid up on my gear. Nov 17 14 11:37 am Link These people are dancing salsa, moving quite fast. First one. Focal lenght: 24mm Aperture: f2.8 Shutter speed: 1/30sec ISO: 100 Second one. Focal lenght: 24mm Aperture: f2.8 Shutter speed: 1/60sec ISO: 100 The last one is: Focal lenght: 85mm Aperture: f2.5 Shutter speed: 1/50sec ISO: 100 On camera flash, rear curtain, iTTL, bounced of the ceiling, no modifiers. Cameras are set to full manual to avoid nasty surprises.    Nov 17 14 12:30 pm Link When I'm shooting events I tend to keep it around f/4 to create a little more depth and separation between the subjects and backgrounds. Especially at the shorter end of the 24-70, otherwise the images start looking no better than everyone's smartphone photos. I'm usually at ISO800-1600 and maybe 1/60-1/100 depending on how much ambient there is. For flash, I'm on-camera with the IKEA shelf liner diffuser. I usually let the i-TTL do its job and it gives good results. If anything, I'll use it at -1/3 to -2/3 compensation so that things mix really pleasantly. Nov 17 14 12:40 pm Link Good Egg Productions wrote: I wonder if you can show us some images of how iTTL and diffuser handling various lighting situations that often encounter in the parties. I have never gotten any good results from iTTL on or off camera flash. Nov 17 14 02:46 pm Link 2nd Hand Light wrote: ISO 400, F/2.8-4 at 1/60th seconds with aux flash bounced off the ceiling. Ride the ISO depending on distance to subject. The flash freezes motion, not shutter speed. Nov 17 14 03:24 pm Link Leighthenubian wrote: That may be true but shoot at too slow of a shutter speed and you could get ghosting from the ambient light. Sometimes it may add to the shot. Sometimes not. Nov 17 14 04:17 pm Link |
