Ignoramus in need of help!!

[thenovice]

Hi there,
I'm sorry in advance for asking such stupid questions but in my defence i am a beginer who's been asked a favour quite above my ability but i want to do the best job possible for a friend.

Here's the rub - not really too comfy with indoor shooting but the brief is indoor modelling/ boudoir shots. So really i have 2 main problems which i was hoping someone would be kind enough to help me with....

Firstly, i've just upgraded to a Nikon Coolpix 5000 and hotshoed a SB24. I've done a few practice shots & initially had a problem with blurring which i sorted by heavily lowering the ISO and varying the Fstop accordingly. The next problem i'm really having is the white balance which i'm having trouble understanding - if anyon'e familiar with the camera perhaps they might recommend a setting for the conditions as the presets don't really look that good.

Overall, the pictures are crisp but look very amatuer which may be as a result of the white balance - &/or the second problem.

The second problem is I don't have any light source other than the SB24, the window & the house lights (halogen) - & i don't really have the funds to buy a studio lighting rig. Is this part of the problem of the pics looking very amatuer? or should the house lights and speedlight be enough to compensate? i have tried rebounding the light from the SB24 and this seems to work quite well although it can over expose on occassions.

Any words of wisdom would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks in advance.

Carl.

[Greg McCary]

I am not familar with the camera you are using but I have had luck this way. I use a zoom lens stay away from the subject 10 or so feet, this gives the flash plenty of space to light your subject, set my flash to manual, bounce the flash from the ceiling, and lowering my aperatur two steps from what the falsh recommends to compensate for loss of light with the bounce.This works very well as not to make the subject white from a close flash, it also stops red eye. But you have to bounce the light just right. If you lean forward when you shot you can bounce the light over the subject all together. If you want studio quality though it might be tough. I have shot some pretty neat pictures of my daughter this way. In rooms with just incandecent lights. Good luck. And keep your camera horizontal. The flash won't bounce off of a wall.

[purplefin]

how do you bounce it from the ceiling? by tilting the flash piece back?

[another view]

Great camera, got one myself. I think the main problem that you're having with white balance is that there are so many different color temperatures that you're working with. Electronic flash, like the SB24 or any others, will be about 5500K. Standard incandescent light bulbs might be in the 2200-3100K range, depending on what they are. Indirect daylight (light thru the window but not direct sun) might be 8-10,000K. If you set the camera at 5500K, the incandescent light (and anything lit by it) will look yellow - and the daylight will look blue. Try to keep the types of light that you're using similar and you should be OK. I'm not much of a studio shooter but you might even look at the 500w quartz flood lights that they sell at home centers, and bounce that light off the ceiling. This light, with regular household incandescent light, will be fairly close. Not ideal, but probably an improvement.

BTW, not stupid questions at all...

[thenovice]

Thanks so much! You guys are really kind. These answers have really helped & your advice is so much appreciated.

I do now have another quick question specifically about the CP5000 - relating to the Tele Lens advice - i was thinking of getting one and found that the TC-E2 seems to pop up alot as the choice to go with the CP5000 but was wondering if indeed that is the best lens for the job?
Also, is it worth buying a polarising lens for low-light situatons? reason i'm thinking that is that slight over exposure seems to be a tiny prob with my test shots (but i have since taped up the internal flash - yet to try that).
And one final thing - Lens hood for the Tele Lens? or is that an unnecessary?

Thanks again for your kind help - i'm feeling happier about the project now which is half the batle! lol!

& again sorry if these questions are a tad remedeal!

[another view]

I'd stick with either of the two Nikon adapters, either the 2x or 3x. I haven't had either of them but have their other two adapters (wide and fisheye) and they're really good. I'd probably go with the 2x unless you're really sure you need the extra focal length. You'll also need the adapter that connects it to the camera, can't remember the number of it and there are two different ones depending on which lens adapter you use.

I'm a little confused by using a polarizer in low light situations. They're great in a lot of situations, but they do cost 1-2 stops of light and I can't remember using one in a low light situation myself unless I wanted a really long shutter speed. This isn't a good idea with the CP5000 because long shutter speeds will give you a lot of digital noise.

[olyabell]

Thanks so much! You guys are really kind. These answers have really helped & your advice is so much appreciated.

I do now have another quick question specifically about the CP5000 - relating to the Tele Lens advice - i was thinking of getting one and found that the TC-E2 seems to pop up alot as the choice to go with the CP5000 but was wondering if indeed that is the best lens for the job?
Also, is it worth buying a polarising lens for low-light situatons? reason i'm thinking that is that slight over exposure seems to be a tiny prob with my test shots (but i have since taped up the internal flash - yet to try that).
And one final thing - Lens hood for the Tele Lens? or is that an unnecessary?

Thanks again for your kind help - i'm feeling happier about the project now which is half the batle! lol!

& again sorry if these questions are a tad remedeal!

Hi I don't know where you are located but you might be able to hire a lense for the shoot from Nikon - generally you can hire it on a weekend when professional photographers don't have shoots on - I work with Canon and they as well as some studios have these facilities.

Do you know anyone who you can borrow a light meter from? I used to borrow lots of equipment when I was starting out and photographers were very supportive and helpful.

Good luck