Suggestions for shooting a little girl's "princess party' which will be outdoors at noon at a park (there will be shade). It will be sunny and 78 degrees. 12 little girls. Duration: 1.5 hrs.

Shooting with a 5DII.... Which lens would you use?

70-200mm f/2.8L IS
24-105mm f/4 IS
85mm f/1.8

I love a beautiful bokeh, and I want these to be really neat images. I also need to be practical as too much foot zoom will cause me to miss some shots?

Thanks!

bev

70-200

squeakski wrote:
70-200

+1...but very heavy! May want to think about a monopod!!

70-200
heavy
maybe - but more likely if you only hold the camera and not the lens.

Wide angle would give a nice feeling of intimacy to the photos and the pictures might serve better as a memory to the girls themselves. Of course you would lack the background blur on these shots. Anyway my recommendation is to take a few photos with 24-35mm also. 24-105 might serve better for group photo as well.

If it is too bright you will not be able to use max. aperture unless you have an ND filter on the lens.

A flash preferably with orange gel would probably give nicely toned fill for the images if needed.

Lastly I have found that foot zoom results in better photos. Zoom is convenient for capturing more moments but the compositions and focal lengths are probably not as good as they would be with a fixed lens.

You seldom regret packing too much, if the shoot is in a fixed location. So just pack all the lenses and you will have no regrets.

Beverly
From experience with my own girls, I suggest 24-105 and 85. You will want to include small groups or even the whole bunch of them, e.g., around a table or playing together. Some wide shots bring you amongst them. Don't forget to go down to their level. Then add the neat portraits you are after with your 85.
And please show us your results afterwords.
Best regards

35 f/1.4 - skip the zoom...YOU be the zoom.

Good feedback guys, thanks...

Anybody every strapped on two cameras with 2 different lenses? I have a 5D plus my 5DII. Never tried using two cameras at once; would be even heavier with the 70-200 in tow on one, plus I like to shoot in manual mode.

Is manual going to be too challenging? Since I want bokeh should I shoot Av mode with exposure compensation? I shoot RAW but I'm never happy with Av or Tv modes.

Thanks.

I personally would use the 70 - 200. You can catch the children in their natural state, not posed. I feel candids are the best, BUT, at the same time, you'll want group shots so i would also strap on the 24-105. Good luck and have fun

Beverly Guhl wrote:
Good feedback guys, thanks...

Anybody every strapped on two cameras with 2 different lenses? I have a 5D plus my 5DII. Never tried using two cameras at once; would be even heavier with the 70-200 in tow on one, plus I like to shoot in manual mode.

It's good to always have a backup body with you. At least then you have all the flexibility so you can choose whether you want to change the lenses or bodies. Anyway, two cameras are pretty heavy load to keep around your neck for such a long party.

Your personal preference is the telephoto shots with the background blur. I guess wide angle will not be used that much and you can change the lens when the kids are taking their seats in the table, or when they are getting ready for the group portrait.

Is manual going to be too challenging? Since I want bokeh should I shoot Av mode with exposure compensation? I shoot RAW but I'm never happy with Av or Tv modes.

Thanks.
If the sky is constant (overcast or blue without clouds), I guess manual is pretty safe. Just remember to check the exposure meter in the viewfinder and the histogram on the LCD now and then.

When shooting in AV mode, I like to use the center point metering and AE lock button. I usually dial a little bit positive exposure compensation and meter the light on the brightest area of the face. (The target is to get the brightest spot middle bright, and then adjust the exposure so that the highlights fit in your camera's dynamic range. Better to check the amount of exposure compensation on the location.) Or you can use center weighted mode which is a little bit safer and still pretty safe for portraits.

I shot my little brother's birthday party a little while ago, and I shot with a D300 switching between the 70-200 f/2.8 and the 35 f/1.8. This combo worked very well for me! The 70-200 for the candid shots and the 35 for the group shots and indoor shots.

Wonderful info, thanks!!!

Here's a wall where I'm to set up a portrait area. There will be an adult Princess seated in a chair, and each little girl princess is to sit on her lap for their portrait. The mom wanted a "princess background". I'd posted earlier today wondering how to tackle this issue, and after looking at the Disney site for princesses I decided to take my background stand and a roll of 11' wide regal blue paper and cover this wall down to the grass. I'll do some nice PS artistry on the blue (will post pics when this is all done; I was a digital artist long before I took up photography so I know I can make the final portraits really magical). I've got 2 AB800's with my Vagabond to ensure I nail a great exposure on the portraits.

I'm feeling better about this part of the shoot now. The choice of lens is greatly helped along by all the generous and kind input by you folks. Thank you.

Personally I'd worry more about flattering light on the faces than Bokeh making background which distract from the faces. The best strategy for dealing with noon sun is to shoot into the direction of the sun with it rim-lighting the subjects, and filling with flash on a bracket. The bracket is critical to make the direction of the flash mimic the natural direction of light outdoors from above.

24-105mm would be the logical choice because it has the most useful range for wide, medium and H&S shots.

If using two cameras without flash an easy way to manage them is to attach both sides of the strap to the non-grip side of the camera and hang the strap over the shoulder. When not in use the camera will hang lens down under the arm along the hip, and can be swung up into action with the strap still over the shoulder.

I shoot a lot of kids' parties, and my go-to lens is the 35L. Too bad you don't have one in your bag. I don't know if renting one is an option for you. From what you said about wanting bokeh, the 70-200mm or the 85mm will give you the nice telephoto look with blurred backgrounds, but of course, you don't want all (or even the majority) of your shots to be telephoto, especially for a party in this type of atmosphere. If you can't rent a 35L, then you'll definitely want to pack the 24-105L. I own the 24-70L, but the majority of the time, I'll choose the 35L because I want the intimate look but still with nice separation/bokeh.

cgardner wrote:
Personally I'd worry more about flattering light on the faces than Bokeh ...

If using two cameras without flash....

Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I wanted as much blurring of the background as possible because it's a park with high contrast stuff and other kids and objects around. Plus these are little princesses, and I wanted a soft, dreamy background. I was counting on bracketing a fill flash as needed, and thought the rim lighting would be great for the subjects, too. I like your setup for the dual camera usage!

timhpark wrote:
I shoot a lot of kids' parties, and my go-to lens is the 35L. ....

I actually just got back from the camera store and they're holding a 35L for me, so that's now covered. I'm very excited about shooting with that. I'll probably use my 70-200 part of the time, too; I really like the look it gives. I looked at some shots taken with the 35L last night and was inspired to rent one. Thanks for sharing your experience, it's very affirming I'm on the right track here!!

btw, your website is beautiful, and your work is fabulous. Do you shoot most of the children photos with the 35L? That's the look I'm going for.

Thanks, Beverly! I'm glad you'll be able to use the 35L! Coupled with the 70-200, you'll be a great shape! Ever since I got the 35L, it's been my favorite lens, and it serves me well in most party scenes!

PICS FROM THE PARTY.....

Please note--the party was moved from a park to the grandmother's house. Day of the party it was quite OVERCAST, and finally RAINED. Party was outdoors then indoors. I had to setup for portraits indoors, as well as shoot festivities outdoors, then festivities indoors in a frantic hurry. INDOOR shots were taken with the 24-105L. OUTDOOR shots with the 70-200L at 2.8 Parents were taking pics and video, so the telephoto kept me out of their way and as a result I was able to zoom in and get very uninhibited shots of the kids. The bokeh helped isolate the subjects and tone down the chaos a bit. [I rented a 35L but all my test shots convinced me it was defective; there was nothing sharp wide open, so I didn't use it.]

Outdoor examples... (no fill flash used since it was overcast but bright enough)

1.

Wow Beverly, I really like your work. And I must say you really adapted well to the changing conditions and requirements. I love the last two group shots and the edits on them.

capguy wrote:
Wow Beverly, I really like your work. And I must say you really adapted well to the changing conditions and requirements. I love the last two group shots and the edits on them.


Thanks!!! Adaptation, yeah, it was so stressful! Here's what one of the source files looked like. I hope the parents will like it enough to buy the retouched version. Doing something on spec is always a risk, but at least it shows the other parents what is possible and may result in more sales; ya never know. Impulse purchse!!! ha Thanks again!