[noob question] taking photos in restaurants/pubs

Newer members often state that they think their question is too basic, or stupid, or whatever, to be posted. Nothing could be further further from the truth in any section at DSLRUsers.com, but especially here. Don't feel intimidated. The only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We were all beginners at one stage, and even the most experienced amongst us will admit to learning new stuff on a daily basis. Ask away! Please also refer to the forum rules and the portal page

Moderators: Greg B, Nnnnsic, Geoff, Glen, gstark, Moderators

Forum rules
Please ensure that you have a meaningful location included in your profile. Please refer to the FAQ for details of what "meaningful" is. Please also check the portal page for more information on this.

[noob question] taking photos in restaurants/pubs

Postby lukipelaa on Tue May 26, 2009 2:16 am

ok.. so i have at my disposal a d80, sb600 and a 17-50mm f2.8 and i have not exactly been playing around with flash often.. and i've been asked by friends to help out in taking shots for their cocktail party...can u guys give me tips on how to take non over-exposed shots for people (group and singles)... and i assume i shld be using af-s or af-a?

cheers...
lukipelaa
Newbie
 
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:36 am
Location: Regency Park, Adelaide, SA, D80

Re: [noob question] taking photos in restaurants/pubs

Postby aim54x on Tue May 26, 2009 10:26 am

I would use aperture priority or manual and keep that lens between f/2.8 and f/4 and using at stofen cap on the sb-600 if I cant bounce off a ceiling. I would probably go with AF-S (single focus) and leave the flash in TTL but evaluate and if you find that you need to bump the flash down do so (or if you shoot manual like me, just ramp up your shutter speed a little). I would probably keep the ISO between 400 and 800 not any higher.

HTH

Cheers
Cameron
Cameron
Nikon F/Nikon 1 | Hasselblad V/XPAN| Leica M/LTM |Sony α/FE/E/Maxxum/M42
Wishlist Nikkor 24/85 f/1.4| Fuji Natura Black
Scout-Images | Flickr | 365Project
User avatar
aim54x
Senior Member
 
Posts: 7305
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:13 pm
Location: Penshurst, Sydney

Re: [noob question] taking photos in restaurants/pubs

Postby lukipelaa on Wed May 27, 2009 4:36 am

ok i tried playing arnd with AP mode in and about so far with the flash and the flash emits out 2 small flashes before it actually takes a photo... whats the reason for that may i ask?
lukipelaa
Newbie
 
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:36 am
Location: Regency Park, Adelaide, SA, D80

Re: [noob question] taking photos in restaurants/pubs

Postby gstark on Wed May 27, 2009 8:22 am

That's the camera's metering system at work. There are some pre-flashes that allow the camera to determine how much light to emit during the actual image making flash. It's normal and expected behaviour.

I would also switch to spot metering, and in order to properly evaluate the images on your LCD, start to learn how to read your histogram. Simply looking at the image on the LCD is very unreliable, as it is not really a view of the image. The LCD is not a calibrated monitor, for instance.
g.
Gary Stark
Nikon, Canon, Bronica .... stuff
The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it - US Pres. Bartlet
User avatar
gstark
Site Admin
 
Posts: 22896
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 11:41 pm
Location: Bondi, NSW


Return to Absolute Beginners Questions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests

cron