event photography portraits??

[willa]

I was asked about possibly shooting a school reunion in June, and the
primary thing they want is a portrait of each couple who attends,
compiled in a photo book with the couple's names (kind of a directory
of who attended, so to speak). So I have a couple of questions which
I thought some of you might have some suggestions on, and which might
generate some interesting discussion topics.

1) logistically speaking, what is the best way to coordinate names/
photos of people you don't know? In the old days of school pictures
and film, they had those little papers you filled out and they stuck
in the top of the camera to go with the shot they took of you. I know
you can add a comment to photos in camera, but that is tedious and
time consuming. So far the best idea I've had is to write down the
image number of the first photo, and then write the people's name.
But I'm guessing that in this day and age of technology, there has to
be a simpler way. Anyone know of one?

2) I currently have an SB800 and SB600 which I can trigger remotely
from stands. But I don't yet have (and think it will be a while
before I can afford) another 600 to use as a rim light, so I'm
thinking that I will need to use my other light/s for rim. So I'm
going to need to gel the flashes. I get the concept of gels, but thus
far in my experiments, I haven't been able to master the actual
application of the concept. So, let's talk about gels, baby! Also, is
there a better way to use/arrange/orchestrate the lighting, or is a
mixed gelled speedlight/stationary set up workable?

[Matt Dunmore]

Willa

I think I would be tempted to get a list of all the people in
attendance and print their names on cards or paper of some sort and
have them hold it up in the first frame and then take a couple "for
real" shots. I cant think of a way that would make it less work at
the shoot.

As for the lighting... you are not talking about glamor shots so I
think you could prolly get away without the rim light. I shot a bunch
a while back without a third light and they turned out pretty good.
You could also use a shoot through umbrella close and also close to
the center of axis on them and it will illuminate both sides of their
face.. then you could use the second speedlite a a hair or rim light
as needed. Only thing you will have to be careful of doing it this
way will be shadows on the backdrop. I would avoid using mixed
light... I dont think you will be happy with the results.

Are they going to print that directory in color? if it is in BW the
color imbalance will not matter anyway. I would not recommend
counting on never seeing those pics in color but just a thought.

Matt

--
Matt Dunmore
www.mattdunmorephotography.com

[Ellis Humphres]

If getting names beforehand is unlikely, buy an 8x10 dry erase board
and have them hold it in the test shot...

Another Idea is to set up a spreadsheet on your laptop and enter each
couples name, address, email, etc... With that info, you could build a
database
and ask them if they would like to be included in future email
solicitations. You might get a few leads that could turn
into sales that didn't cost you anything but a few minutes. I would
ask them if they would like to be included after entering info,
so that they would be less wary of you abusing their information.

[Matt Dunmore]

I like the white board idea. just make sure you can read their
writing :)

matt

On Apr 8, 11:17 am, "Ellis Humphres" <ellishumph...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If getting names beforehand is unlikely, buy an 8x10 dry erase board
> and have them hold it in the test shot...
>
> Another Idea is to set up a spreadsheet on your laptop and enter each
> couples name, address, email, etc... With that info, you could build a
> database
> and ask them if they would like to be included in future email
> solicitations. You might get a few leads that could turn
> into sales that didn't cost you anything but a few minutes. I would
> ask them if they would like to be included after entering info,
> so that they would be less wary of you abusing their information.
>

[Ellis Humphres]

I would for sure write it myself.

In jelly.

Lingonberry.

[jared...@gmail.com]

I would just write a large number on the white board, and have that
number match the number on an intake form.
That way you can record a lot of information and you can update the
white board even quicker.

On Apr 8, 12:01 pm, "Ellis Humphres" <ellishumph...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would for sure write it myself.
>
> In jelly.
>
> Lingonberry.
>