Basic tips for formal photography?

[Underload]

Hey all,

I'm relatively new to digital photograhy (or photography in general for that matter). I don't own a dslr yet, but I've got an 'advanced' point and shoot, with some manual controls - so I can test the waters and see what I think

My sister has her formal coming up soon, and I was after some basic tips that you guys could possibly impart? I know that you can't plan the situation in advance, but I was thinking because the pre-formal (the part of the formal the family is invited to attend) is going to be held outdoors and late afternoon, that I'd probably shoot wide open in apeture-priority?

That way I can let as much light in as possible, and if I get some soft bokeh at the same time, so much the better.

Any thoughts, ideas?

Thanks very much

[Justin]

Not a bad idea with wide open - but the bokeh or OOF will change with your distance to the subject and focal length.

More important perhaps is lighting. If we are talking about dusk /evening, then you are definitely going to need some fill flash.

P&S tend to over-flash IMHO - so if you can wind the flash down a little and try to reach an exposure that balances the flash with the natural light you will get some nice portraits. Perhaps around 125/s at f4.5

[shutterbug]

Which P&S?

Why not practice now??

[Underload]

Which P&S?

Why not practice now??

Panasonic FZ5.

Re practice - fair call. I've got some uni stuff on the go at the moment, but if I get a chance later in the day, I will

[robw25]

i used to put a ping pong ball over the flash on my sony 717 to cut down the flash a bit

cheers rob

[gstark]

That way I can let as much light in as possible, and if I get some soft bokeh at the same time, so much the better.

That may not be quite as easy as it sounds - the bokeh part. Understand that your PHD camera has a very small sensor, and this will affect the way that OOF areas are rendered. In a nutshell, you don't have the same optical effect at 2.8 on a PHD shooting at, say 8mm (which might be the "normal" focal length given the size of the sensor) than you would shooting with a 50mm on a DX sized sensor at ostensibly the same aperture. As a guide, the typical PHD's sensor is smaller than the fingernail on your pinky.

By all means try it, but I would be trying this beforehand to see what you can get from the PHD. That way you can learn how the camera will behave, and then you can start to produce predictable results.

And it is only when you know your equipment well enough to be able to produce those predictable results that you should then go and start shooting something important - something where others are reliant upon your skills to produce the goods.

As others have suggested, dialling back on the flash is also a useful technique.

[shutterbug]

There are heaps of factors..main thing is it will depend on the amount of light at the location. Avoid using flash if you can.

[Underload]

Thanks for the tips guys - it's all reasonably new to me, so the experience was worthwhile. I did what I could, and the results are ok. They're just for family reference, but some aren't too bad. Others are shockers, but I expected that in advance


Thanks again.

[Matt. K]

Some basic tips for formal photography are:
Wear a suit and tie
Call everyone Sir or Madam
Don't slurp your soup