[filipelli]

Hey Guys,

I will be taking my d40 with me to an event tomorrow where I will need to take a lot of impromptu and non intrusive shots of speakers, people mingling and just general indoor shots. I was just wondering if you guys had any advice for me, any at all! I want these shots to be real nice as they are going in a yearbook. Any pointers?

Sorry for such a short post! I am really down to the wire preparing for this event, otherwise I would write more!

 

[lan]

What associated equipment do you have? lenses, flashes?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Use a telephoto lens if you have one. You'll be able to stand back and get candid shots without making people uncomfortable. Same with a flash. If you use one, tilt it up so the flash bounces off the ceiling. Good for fill, but it also makes people less aware that they're being photographed.

If you don't have a telephoto or flash, call your local camera store and try to rent them for the day. The SB600 and SB800 are great flashes and I recently gave my father a 55-200mm VR lens for his D40. It's a good one, so see if you can rent one.

 

[vibin247]

What exactly are you bringing to this event? It seems that you're shooting both outdoor and indoor settings, so a variety of gear is going to be needed. Since you're already listed having a D40, what lenses do you have? I would at least bring a wide angle zoom or wide angle prime and a zoom telephoto lens. The on-camera flash is really insufficient for all situations, so a hot shoe flash is recommended. Is the ceiling and walls a light color? If so, bouncing would be effective in order to get a more pleasing result than direct (plus it helps eliminate red-eye), though it takes some adjustment. A good start would be an ISO setting of 800, f/4 @ 1/125, with the flash mode set to i-TTL, and FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) at +2/3. Make some tests before you enter the event and chimp for the histogram when needed.

Renting is a wonderful way to use pro quality gear when you need it. You might want to consider using fast lenses (i.e. 17-55 f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor, 70-200 f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor) if you want to be more unobtrusive with your subjects, especially indoors. It may be a heavy expense (and a heavier bag), but worth it as long as you know how to use them properly. The 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor is an good choice if you're looking for an all-in-one solution.

Otherwise, have fun with your subjects, as your photography will suffer if you're not enjoying the moment