New gig/New lens?

[Cowgirl]

Hey everyone!

I had a guy call me the other day. A Corvette Car Club will be traveling through my area this spring, and they'd like some images from my area. About 20-30 Corvettes PLUS members will be in the early morning outdoor images.

So, I'm thinking about getting a new wider angle lens. I'm looking at Canon's 17-40 F4 L. I'd like to shoot the gig with my 10D, but may also use my EOS3. I've been wanting a new wide angle anyway, for weddings

What do ya'll think? Thats a lot of cars and people in one shot. I'm afraid that their faces will be barely identifiable. Will that lens work you think, or should I be looking at something different?

I'm also planning on standing on the back of my husband's truck bed, with a tripod of course, to get a slightly higher point of view.

I hope I get this gig. I think that it would be fun, and my husband has already volunteered to be my assistant! Don't figure?

Thanks!

Kathy

[kafin8ed]

I just got that lens and love it with my 10D it works great. with that many similar cars I can also imagine shooting a long row of them with a 300mm really tight so you can just see the front wheels of each car or something like that on a long stretch of road. lot's of possibilities, should be fun!

[Photo-John]

Do a test! I'm thinking that might be a job for a medium format camera. The more resolution the better for large group shots. Try to get some people togther for a test, Or maybe just get two or three people and try to replicate the setup with just thos people. Anything to get an idea of how the people will look in the final product.

[Peter_AUS]

Hi Kathy,

I have read very good reports about that lens, the price is reasonable and have it on my "gee I would like that list". The only thing is 71 becomes nearly 28mm when you do the conversion so that might be an issue with the wide angle. Why not rent a lens and try it out, would be a shame to miss this gig, should be great to use in your portfolio as well and up on your website if that is allowable. Is there any higher postion you could get, I'm not sure a tripod on the truck will be high enough for this. Think about the guy who does all those group nude shots around the world and you will understand what I mean about getting height.

I would think they would all like to be aparent in the photos you take and being down the back might not be what they are after. This is me thinking out aloud.

I hope you get it Kathy, I am a fan of your work and always read your posts as I do, most others.

I think I would try it and see the results before hand though. Pick an area, imagine the layout and maybe get some friends to put their cars in postion with people and take some test shots.

Hope that helps your thinking a bit.

[Peter_AUS]

Interesting, that we are thinking along similar lines.

[Photo-John]

Yup. No point in waiting to find out what the problems are going to be. She might not be able to do a complete copy of the final job, but a couple of friends and cars to test the image quality and light ahead of time can't hurt. There are always surprises.

[connellj]

I have very good results with my Canon 10D and stitching together overlapping shots in Panorama Maker III. Of course you must set EVERYTHING to manual so you get the exact same exposure on each shot. Make sure you are not on AWB for instance!


This is something you can practice with and Panorama Maker III isn't outrageously expensive.

[another view]

You might want to try shooting on top of an 8' ladder too, that would be easy enough to carry with. You could use bungee cords to hold a tripod up there too for a little more stability. I think a wide lens like that will come in handy for other shots there as well. Car shows are usually packed pretty tight, and chances are you won't be able to stand where you want. A 17mm on a DSLR won't be really wide but will definately help. Film might be a good choice just because of the angle of coverage vs. digital.