Which lens to use? I have a photo opportunity tomorrow, where I'm to photograph the volunteers of the Christmas Dinner. I already know how I plan on posing the people, but am unsure of...

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

I have a photo opportunity tomorrow, where I'm to photograph the volunteers of the Christmas Dinner. I already know how I plan on posing the people, but am unsure of which lens to use. I have the following equipment.
Sony A77v
Minolta 28-70mm 3.5-4.5
Sigma 18-250mm 3.5-6.3
Sony 35mm 2.8
I plan on having the table straight and in front of them. They are lined in two rows. Tall in back, short in front. If any are wearing white aprons, have them stand towards the middle of the people, to hide the aprons. This should get rid of the power line coming down the wall, as seen in the Thanksgiving party I posted a few years ago. I know this is short notice, but any advice is welcome.
Everyone have a safe and happy Christmas.

tramsey Loc: Texas

I would have them get rid of the aprons altogether if possible and then use the Sigma 18-250.

agillot

The sigma , it has all coverage covered , from wide to tele .

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

daninr8 wrote:

I have a photo opportunity tomorrow, where I'm to ... (show quote)

You Need to be higher than the volunteers, so you will Want to have a Step Stool,
and plenty of light.

Best Wishes,
JimmyT Sends

Edit: Have someone to spot you on the stool.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

How big is the venue, and how much room do you have behind the group, and how far in front will you be with the camera? What is the source of the light, and can you control it? Are you planning on indoors or out?
Ideally I’d like to have strobes winged out several feet from and a few feet above the camera, and aperture as wide as possible to keep all the volunteers in focus, but foreground and background out of focus. A smaller fill light low if you’re indoors.
A better answer is possible with more information…..

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

mikegreenwald wrote:

How big is the venue, and how much room do you hav... (show quote)

It's indoors. No real control over lighting (Natural from skylights, Florescent bulbs for other light). About 10' in front of group and table, with about 5' behind group to white wall. Have no extra equipment for lighting or positioning. Have to take photo with limited time, and only get 2 tries to get it correct.

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

Jimmy T wrote:

You Need to be higher than the volunteers, so you will Want to have a Step Stool,
and plenty of light.

Best Wishes,
JimmyT Sends

Edit: Have someone to spot you on the stool.

I don't have access to a stool, so I have to take the photo from the same height as the volunteers. I only get 2 tries to get the photo.

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-171594-1.html. This shows what I'm working with.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Personally, I’d shoot the Sony unless you can’t get back at least 10-12’ from the group. Unless you’re using a flash, you may need the faster lens, plus 35mm is a very nice FL for a group setting. You can always take the wider zoom with you if you can’t get back far enough.

MJPerini

Jimmy T is correct about elevating the camera position, and would strongly recommend some flash fill.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

If you can't find a stool, use a small stepladder. Jimmy T is right about a fill flash.

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

This is how the photo came out. I know that I have to improve my technical skills, but I have until Thanksgiving to get the extra gear that has been suggested in this post. Step Ladder, External off camera flashes, and diffusors for the flashes. Any other suggestions? I cannot have the table moved, so the fuse line on the wall by the window has to stay. I try to get the picture right in camera, because I DO NOT understand post-processing.

(Download)

Pentax21

daninr8 wrote:

This is how the photo came out. I know that I have to improve my technical skills, but I have until Thanksgiving to get the extra gear that has been suggested in this post. Step Ladder, External off camera flashes, and diffusors for the flashes. Any other suggestions? I cannot have the table moved, so the fuse line on the wall by the window has to stay. I try to get the picture right in camera, because I DO NOT understand post-processing.

I think you would be better served to buy or download a free post-processing program and learn rudimentary edits than you would to buy gear for this shot twice a year. Then all of your photography would benefit. It is a learning curve, but you will improve most of your photos with some cropping, an auto fix, and a little sharpening. That is as simple as learning the icons and drop down menus of the program.

Gimp is a good free editor, and PhotoShop Elements would be a good one if you're willing to buy. This photo would benefit from two simple edits. A crop to take out the empty left side and top, and an auto adjustment, which would fix the exposure and show faces better. You could also sharpen it a little.

Once you learn just some editing, you will begin to understand what you can fix, which will allow you to shoot things you're concerned about getting right in camera.

mmills79 Loc: NJ

Just an observation and food for thought, also acknowledging you may not have had control over this but, I think looking at the table set up and not knowing exactly what was to the right in your scene, it might have been a better composition to angle the table such that it was more in front of both white walls with the pictures on them as the background. If that would have been possible, I think adjusting the table slightly would have made a better composition and created a nicer viewing angle & background rather than having those grey cabinets on the left in the frame. At this point I would crop the left side of the frame a bit so the greyish cabinets are not as distracting. They don't really add anything IMO to the picture.

Granddad Loc: UK

The Minolta 28-70mm 3.5-4.5