juanbalv Loc: Los Angeles / Hawthorne

Take pictures man. Don't worry about your equipment. Your equipment is fine. Enjoy yourself.

Kiwi1 Loc: New Zealand

Yes just do it the the D70 was an ok camera early in the digital error I owned one. Better still get one of him giving her a kiss on the cheek might get a reaction, then he won't notice your photo skills or lack of them...what's that saying a picture says a thousand words... The technique is called 'distracting the viewer' probably used by the SAS. One thing though you might need a good pair of running shoes! Just enjoy the moment they are not fourteen for long, wish my kids were still that young.

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

its your kid! get the photos

wrgrimes

With 2 sons, I got experience with pre-dance pictures. Used D70 & D200. First advice- have fun, enjoy the children! Second- everyone will be in a HURRY to move own. If they are with friends, you and the pro will be working among the iPhones. Others may give better advice, but I would ditch the reflector and umbrella (unless it is a small hook on diffuser). Your flash should be iTTL which works great in the Nikon system. Indoors- bounce the flash (and diffuser if you have one), the camera takes care of the settings. Outdoors- natural light or fill flash. Again, the D70 is very good with fill flash. With your D70, use 35mm or greater focal length (50mm is good) to avoid the wide angle distortion of shorter focal lengths. Generally, aperture priority with smaller f-stop (your lens should do f4 or f4.5). Select an ISO to give a shutter speed of around 100. I earned points with the children and parents- everyone gathered for pictures before the dinner or dance; I would process my shots and print picture packs during the dance; the children would all drop by to visit and pick up prints on the way to the after party (you get to check on the them and they don't even know it).

tomcat

If you want to really get a laugh out of him, play a good-natured joke to break the ice. Take a roll of film and your D70. Tell him this is your first time ever taking pictures and how do you get the roll of film into the camera? If he is anything outgoing at all, he will really laugh at this and then you do too.

Murray Loc: New Westminster

Go for it....also you might pair up with dates dad, you might get some insight.

mp97070 Loc: Central Oregon

Could be worse, beats the heck out of shooting with a cell phone!

Horseart Loc: Alabama

OK, think about this. There are all levels of photography, all levels of cameras and all levels of photographers. I have seen SOME amateurs who make better photos than SOME pros. Take a look at that photographer...he's not the best, not the worst. Same with all of us. Now, if you are NOT that good, so what. Tell him that you realize that all you can do is your best and hope it's good enough to please yourself and ask him not to laugh. Talking with him about it may ease your mind. Then, take your snapshots, pictures or photos. Who knows, they may turn out better than his!

wwjd38 Loc: Wyoming

[quote=bucklev76]On the 16th my 14 year old son has a a date to the Highschool semi formal with a beautiful young lady, and I was excited to maybe use some of the little bit I have learned, about photography and hopefully get some nice pictures with my poor man's kit I have been assembling.



We all start out in the "beginner position" and I'm sure felt wimpy. Especially when we start looking at all those awesome photos that are out there. But the only way we improve is to just start shooting, go for it. I just dug out my first camera, a Canon 50D, with an 18 to 200 mm lens. I love shooting with that camera, sure, it does not take as sharp of a photo as my 5D Mark III & 24-70mm 2.8L lens, but I can still take some awesome photos with it. Just like you can take some awesome photos with your 70D. Haul your camera with you wherever you go and try to shoot a few photos every day. Play with shooting in manual, and use all of your adjustments, ie... shutter speed, aperture (F-stop), and ISO. The more you go out and have fun shooting the more your learn and improve. Go out and enjoy!

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

We'll put.

fourg1b2006 Loc: Long Island New York

I would go for it. Nobody will expect you to have professional equipment. If you don't do this, one day you will look back and regret it.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I'm sure that the images you make will be loved by your daughter more than those taken by others.

LeeK Loc: Washington State

I occasionally enter a local newspaper's photo contest and follow the winners regularly. It is apparent that the camera is not what makes the picture. As someone said before, it is the one taking the pictures. Several of the winners of this contest have used their phones. Plus, from what I understand (still feel I am fairly new at all this) unless you want to enlarge the picture quite a bit, again, the camera is not important. You also know the 'story' you want to tell and, to me, having a picture that will bring back the memories that are important to you make it worth while.

wrgrimes

Hope the dance and pictures went well last evening and everyone had an enjoyable time.

swartfort Loc: Evansville, IN

well, After all the back and forth, I hope there was no "drama", and that best case scenario happened and you made inroads with a new friend with a helpers heart and a photogs mind. How did it go? Can we see some results???