Inexperienced. Need advice for first job.

[Christopher McCarthy]

Hello all,

I know this is a digitalVIDEO forum, but I need some photography advice.

I purchased a canon 7d about 2 weeks back, and it is my first camera, so I am very inexperienced. I have my first job tommorow with it, and would like any advice on settings or anything else you guys/ladies can give me.

The job is to take pictures at a sponsered tailgate party at a college football game. The pictures will be posted on the business's website.

-I have a canon 7d with the kit EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens

-It is an 8pm game but the tailgate will begin at 4pm, so I imagine some of my shots will be daytime, and some dusk/nighttime.

-Most of the shots will be of people drinking, playing games, and having fun. maybe some scenery, stadium, buffet shots as well

-I can do some color correction, but as I am completely inexperienced with that too, I am hoping that minimal C.C. will be needed

Could anybody help me out with some settings suggestions?
Should I be changing the settings as day turns to night?
Any other suggestions of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, everybody.

[Robert Turchick]

Unless you have an understanding of all the manual controls, I'd suggest you put it in full auto and let the camera do the work.
Then take a course on photography or get with a pro for some one on one advice.
And then take LOTS of pics til you know the camera inside out.

[Christopher McCarthy]

Ok. Just to clarify...
This is not a paid job. I'm doing it as a favor for somebody. This person would not be hiring a photographer if I wasn't doing it. It's a very relaxed situation. It was like "Hey, you just bought an expensive camera, huh?""Yea""Why don't you come out to the tailgate party and take some pictures, and maybe I can post them on the website""Sure." So it's kind of like a practice job. There's no pressure, no real expectations. So I figured I would try to treat it like a real job and do my best and get some experience. And if I can deliver a couple of good pictures for my friend to use for his website, great! If I fail miserably, no big deal.

Lol. I already got alot of flack from other forums for this post. "Don't do it!" "Abandon ship!" so I had to edit this in there as well.

I plan on just keeping it in "creative auto" mode and seeing what I can do.

Any other general advice?

[Olof Ekbergh]

Just go for it.

During bright light use a 250th or higher shutter speed.

Work on composition and getting great expressions from people as it gets darker go wider. When at 28mm you should be able to get good shots at a 1/15th of a second. Just remember that people move and IS does not fix that.

The really cool thing about digital cams is you can review the shot right after you shoot, like we used to do in the 60's and 70's etc. with Polaroids. Zoom in when checking exposure to make sure you are not blurry.

One piece of advice. As it starts to get darker, kick up the ASA to 1600 instead of using the flash. As it gets even darker start using a tripod.

Use the P mode instead of the auto mode. And turn the flash off. When in P mode you can easily change the shutter speed and f-stop and stay properly exposed. When you get more experience you will be using aperture mode a lot. But dont worry about it right now.

I could go on for hours, but really just go for it.

[Olakunle Olanrewaju]

thats actually a good advice from olof

[Jon Braeley]

OK here's what you should do.

Do not start shooting immediately you get there. Keep the camera in your bag. Have a drink - chat. Walk around. Make friends. What you do not want is people smiling and waving into the camera, so feel at home first.

Shoot in aperture priority (Ap) with your eye on the shutter speed to keep it at 125 and above. Start with 200 asa. It will be very bright and sunny so you could even start low at asa 100 if you do not have any filters. Get close to your subjects - crop tight. Use focal lengths around 50 to 70mm for a natural candid feel. Avoid big group shots but tell the story in pieces ... start with one group or person and connect them to others as you keep shooting.
Use auto focus - practice first. Focus and hold it (lock it) on your subject then you crop or frame your picture then shoot. In that order.
With your level of expertise I would avoid short depth of fields so shoot above f.8 and up to f.16. You can try f.4 if you wish but your lens is limited.
Use a monopod if you have one as the light dims - you should be fine up to 7pm at least. Switch to higher Asa values as light fades. Focusing is more difficult and depth of field much shorter here so try manual focus if you are close to the subject.
Hope this helps.

[Galen Rath]

In a college photography class, you would be taught not to show your photos to others using the camera's LCD screen. Show your work to others, later, in a more professional manner.

[Liam Hall]

In a college photography class, you would be taught not to show your photos to others using the camera's LCD screen. Show your work to others, later, in a more professional manner.

They do teach some absolute tosh in college these days...

My advice: go have some fun. Swap between the various modes and see what you like. Use Aperture priority with a large (small number) f/stop, get in peoples' faces, snap away and by all means chimp as much as you like:)

[Doug Bailey]

Hi Chris,

Here are a few more suggestions:

Check that Auto Focus and Image Stabilizer are both switched on, on the left hand side of the lens. I still forget to switch one or the other on at times.

I have subscribed to 3 photo magazines for more than 5 years, always something new to learn.

Join your local camera club.

I have listed "Seven Quick Start Pro Photography Tips for shooting with a Canon 7D" on the front page of my web site to help you, please take a look & feel free to ask questions.

Best of luck with this gig, you have a great camera and will have fun learning it.

Regards,
Doug.
http://www.BaileyNatureGallery.com

[Phillip Palacios]

Originally Posted by Liam Hall

They do teach some absolute tosh in college these days...
)

Love it. Agreed.

DON'T use the built in flash. That is a dead giveaway for amateur photography. Don't use flash at all until you at least have a grip on the relation between fstops, shutter speed, and ISO.