Questions about shooting a birthday party

[rylan]

Hey everyone,

im pleased to say i have been asked by a close friend to take some shots of her sons 1st birthday party. this is an event they will want to remember, and id like to take the best shots that i can with what i have. I will be using my 50mm f/1.8 II, with no flash.
she would like some portraits of him on his little horse, and i thought its a great idea.
the time of the party will be when the sun is striking the front of the house. and i will be using natural light for these shots of him. any tips from you guru's? anything will be greatly appreciated.
and ill be sure to post up some samples on sunday after the event.

-Rylan

[Frog]

Inside or outside? I would consider using fill flash. I'd also get the shots of him on the horse before the guests arrive.

[rylan]

yeah, its going to be inside. i only have my on board flash on my xt.

ill be doing those pictures before everyone arrives.

[freygr]

Use the flash. Other wise you may be fighting the DOF of a wide open 50mm and by the way it's not pretty. You what to control the DOF other wise the light level will control. If you don't or can't use flash you will have to set your ISO as high as you can before the noise becomes a problem.

[rylan]

well i can use flash, will it make them turn out a little better?
with good lighting to begin with will the flash help?

[WesternGuy]

Suggestion, make sure you get down and take pictures from his eye level. We adults often take pictures from our eye level so everything has the appearance of looking down on the children.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

[Greg McCary]

The onboard flash will work good but you need to play around with exposure compensation with it. It will need adjusting depending on if it is a brightly lit room or dark. I do better if I use the zoom and stay back from the subject. You will get more candid shots if you don't crowd them

[rylan]

yeah, i will be at his level thats for sure. i hate shooting downwards at the subject.
they should turn out alright though, thanks for all the help everyone.

[rylan]

well it went really well, shot 99% of the time outside. got some great shots, and they loved them.

im at work right now but im gonna post up some samples when i get home!