Our dear friend Julia graduated last Thursday from Starr King School of
the Ministry, the Unitarian Universalist seminary.
She used cajolery and flattery "You're the best photographer I know."
(Like that means much; it's not like she know any pros.) "It means so
much to me!" In the end, she overcame my natural aversion to shooting at
events.
I didn't want to be scooting around looking for angles and vantage
points, so I claim it would have been inappropriate, causing
interruptions to the ceremony. :-) Even some truth to it. So I found a
half decent aisle seat and did what I could from there.
It was my first time using flash to any extent in ages. I mixed up
ambient and flash lighting. As I expected, there was just too much
subject movement in many cases for existing light. The Tamron 28-300 did
an admirable job of minimizing the effect of camera shake, but the
subjects would insist on moving around. :-D
I used the Canon 540EZ for flash, which Chuck has recommended. I picked
one up a little while ago used from KEH for $72, compared to $400 for
the latest TTL for DSLRs, the 580EX II. The 540EZ is manual only on the
5D, but it's not a bad manual. Half press and it shows the correct
distance for the lens aperture, camera ISO and flash power setting. That
makes it quick and easy to get the settings right. Then a test shot or
two, checking the histogram, and it's set. With a fixed shooting
location, fixed manual flash setting is great. I rather think it likely
that TTL would have been less reliable for exposure, what with the
varying light levels across the big dais and varying zoom settings.
In several cases, I had time to try both methods. Overall, I like the
look of the existing light shots, if only for the darker backgrounds,
but I see merit in both. I'm rather pleased overall with the success of
the flash shots, especially for a single, camera mounted flash.
I any case, I discharged my obligation well enough that I'm sure Julia
will be surprised and pleased.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=JuliaGrad>
No Events Please Moose
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