Bill-
I can only draw from limited experience, but here are my thoughts.
You have a placed a lot on your plate. Not sure your goals can be met
without a lot of assistance. Lighting setup takes time, as does setting it
back up after it gets knocked down! In that environment, it's not
inconcievable. You need time to practice with the equipment so that you are
comfortable with it before you approach the event. Even having used it
casually, you will find yourself quite busy at the event and may overlook
some details.
Prior advise was to keep it simple, and I would second that. You will likely
need the 400 film if you are using flash to catch a group in an expansive
room. If you rent or buy new strobes, you really can't go into the
production mode without allowing yourself some experience with them. Several
rolls of film on more than one occasion to be sure you can predict the
results. If you use a flash meter, make sure you are adept at selecting the
modes so you don't waste time trying to figure it out as I have a couple of
times. Practice makes perfect (or at least better).
A few months ago I did my first wedding. I felt confident with the equipment
and quickly discovered that I had only scratched the surface. Working with
people is a skill in itself. I found myself learning that while applying my
photo skills. The photos came out well, thank goodness, and the people were
great, but even so, it was easy to see that some photos would have been
better had I taken more control of the events. You may not even have that
opportunity.
I also did my first portrait session this week. I did it at cost for friends
who direct a chorus. Each member was in formal wear for the head and
shoulders shots. I used Portra 160. Great film. I used a single umbrella and
a white reflector opposite. I had a projection screen draped with neutral
grey cloth about 4 feet behind the subject and used my 100/2.8 on the OM4T.
This worked out great, the photos were all right on target exposure-wise due
to my flash meter. Again, personal skills came into play. I handled them ok
and got at least one good exposure/pose from all 25 members. Having used
virtually the same setup in my home a number of times, I could rely on the
setup and expect good results.
You will likely not have time to fumble through a large selection of lenses
and mount them for various shots. If you carry 2 bodies for candids/PJ,
mount a lens on each and select the body/lens combo for the shot. Even this
can be awkward. But it's simpler than changing lenses and faster. You may
want an ultra high speed film for the PJ part. Fuji has a very well regarded
1600 speed negative film that would probably go a long way for you.
Don't take your negs to the one hour shop. They don't have time to give your
photos any justice. It's high turnover for profit. You need to find a shop
that knows what they're doing. It will cost a lot more. More often than not,
the one hour places do not have any idea what a cotton glove should be used
for. I watched one young lady handling negatives with her bare thumb square
on the frames. Bad form and bad results. The choice of lab can make or break
your results. The lab choice can be more important than your choice of lens
or film.
Make realistic expectations of yourself and your abilities. If you try to do
too much, you run the risk of getting little right. It's not easy work, and
if you are overwhelmed, it won't be fun or rewarding. Take your time,
practice, plan, and execute.
I hope it all goes well for you, and your clients.
Mickey
----- Original Message -----
From: <nrky@xxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 7:15 PM
Subject: [OM] Event Photography Advise -Please! [Reprise]
> C'mon Y'all,
>
> I'm hurt... nobody's even said boo to my last post, and it was total OM
> content.
>
> As an addendum, I'll probably be able to rent some strobes and umbrellas,
> and a strobe meter...
> and forgot to mention the 75-150/f4 that will be used for the PJ stuff.
>
> To recap:
>
> I've been asked to be the official photographer for the 2002 Midwest=20
> Regional Kuk Sool Won tournament. An all day deal of shooting the=20
> winners on a podium (280 events), Then shifting to PJ mode and=20
> shooting the Master's demonstrations that night along with shooting
> the pix of the new black-belts receiving their "degree" and the raised
> black-belts receiving theirs.
>
> Way worse than a wedding I'll wager...work-wise, but not as distressing
> (hopefully) I'm out of familiar waters big-time with this...never done
> pro-type work at all.
>
> Problem is, I shoot BW for the most part, and slides if I want color.
> For family events/color negative I just take whatever's cheapest at=20
> WallyWorld...I'm thinking of getting Porta160NC to use at this thing
> with some 4800=BA floods (~250W) for the podium stuff (I can set that
> part up and it'll be locked in - there's a place set aside for that)
> I'll be shooting verticals of 4 people at a time Olympics-style and have
> ~20 feet by 30 feet to work with. As I'm the owner of only "crappy"
> Zuik's
> (list to follow) I'd be sure happy for some of you pro's and semi-pro's
> to jump all over this...What lens would you use for the "staged,
> tripoded"
> shots? Is the film choice a good one for this task? (8X10 is the target
> print size)
>
> Now for the PJ stuff...I'll need to get some distance for the Master's
> demo
> part as they can take up a whole gymnasium (the event is at the gym at
> UMSL - St. Louis) and move pretty fast, but I've competed here before and
> - -kinda- know where the action will peak so can pre-focus/frame
> (hopefully)
> These shots probably won't get blown to 8X10's, so can tolerate a little
> less
> sharpness....Porta400NC? Using T32 on BG2?=20
>
> Now for the second part of the PJ stuff - the graduates... they'll all
> come to=20
> a central point to receive the diploma, look back and smile, and once all
> of them=20
> have been graduated, BIG group shot...first part is fairly easy, but the
> group shot
> of 30 to 50 people might be too much for the equipment I have
> flash-wise...
>
> Ok, here's what I have to work with:
>
> OM-4 (main body)
> OM-10 (back-up only because I'm gonna use flash)
> OM-1* (my baby, will bring just to do candids if I have the chance)
>
> *Now it may be the body on the tripod as the strobes will be metered and
> I'll
> have to use a manual body anyway -whoohooo!
>
> 24/2.8
> 35/2.8
> 50/1.4
> 50/1.8
> 50/3.5
> 90/2.8 Macro (Vivitar)
> 100/2.8
> 135/3.5
>
> BG2
> T-20 (and softbox)
> T-32 (and softbox)
>
> Winder1 (as a handle only)
> Winder2 (as a winder <g>)
>
> Enthusiasm but no experience in this sort of thing...
>
>
> Bill >; P
> (Owner of only "crappy" Zuiks, no stellars and can still take pix)
> "Life unfolds on a great sheet called Time (film)*,
> and once finished (developed)* is gone(here)* forever..."
> *provided ya have a good archival system in place.
>
>
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