Photography advice, please!

[Dirtygoat]

Hello,

I have a client who wishes me to do some photography in some luxury flats she wants to advertise, and probably sell.

As I am a student, this is my first real assignment, any practical tips, equiptment suggestions or just some info would be cool.

Thanks

[Speed]

Hello,

I have a client who wishes me to do some photography in some luxury flats she wants to advertise, and probably sell.

As I am a student, this is my first real assignment, any practical tips, equiptment suggestions or just some info would be cool.

Thanks

This sort of discussion came up a month or so ago. Try a search and see if you can find that link.

As for equipment suggestions, what gear do you have? That would be a good starting point, and give us an idea of how to advise you.

[Dirtygoat]

Yeah, I know the post you are talking about, I've tried searching, without luck.

I am using a Pentax ZX-50, + 35-80 MM SMC FA 4-5.6 AF Lens. A wider lens would certainly be very good, but I can't quite pocket them at the moment. I don't have a tripod, and my flash is internal. These are two things I should buy asap for the shoot?

[Mike Platts]

I'm not familiar with your equip, but if you need a flash for other projects get a hot shoe flash that you can point at the ceiling (if it's white) to illuminate the room. Otherwise I would buy an alien bee 800 which will give you more lighting options, more power and faster recycle.

I don't think a tripod is necessary with flash. You do need as wideangle a lens as you can get without fisheye distortion though. You can correct for non-parallel lines in PS.

Mike

[Speed]

Yeah, I know the post you are talking about, I've tried searching, without luck.

I am using a Pentax ZX-50, + 35-80 MM SMC FA 4-5.6 AF Lens. A wider lens would certainly be very good, but I can't quite pocket them at the moment. I don't have a tripod, and my flash is internal. These are two things I should buy asap for the shoot?

The 35-80mm should be fine for the shoot, unless they are tiny rooms. Be creative, walk around, get into corners, stand on chairs, or even stand just outside the door to get a few more feet of coverage (of course, without the door frame).

A tripod shouldn't be necessary for this type of shoot. An external flash is though! Internal (pop-up) flashes are very underpowered. Their max range is usually 8-10 feet. Depending on light, film, apeture, etc, you might get 12 feet out of it. But from corner to corner in a 12' X 12' room is roughly 17 feet.

Definitely get an external flash. I would recommend bouncing it off the ceiling for more even lighting. This assumes that the ceiling is white and isn't a vaulted ceiling - in which case you just point the flash where the camera is pointed. Basic flashes run $100 to $150, and should be more than adequate for shooting interior rooms. As is usually the case with most things in life, I would highly recommend getting the most powerful flash you can afford. It's actually cheaper in the long run, since you shouldn't have to upgrade later.

Three months after I got my camera, I got an SB-28 (Guide number 72, if memory serves), which was Nikon's most powerful flash at the time. I have been very happy with it and have not regretted getting it for a minute. Now they have the SB-800 (guide number 125), and I've got my eye on getting one soon - along with an SU-4!

[Dirtygoat]

Thanks for advice,

I went ahead and bought a tripod and an external flash (AF280) which gives me a good few metres on my most stopped down aperture. I went ahead with the tripod anyway, incase my client wants natural light, instead of a flash. But either way, I am going to return the tripod to the shop when I am done, collect my refund and get a MUCH cheaper tripod with the same features, plus a carry bag.

I am a little confused about the flash though. My cameras metering system seems to drop dead when I power on the flash, is this because the flash is taking over a setting itself accordingly to my settings on the camera? The max shutter speed I can hit seems to be 100, my flash sync max I guess, but tha toutta do the job?

[Speed]

Thanks for advice,

I went ahead and bought a tripod and an external flash (AF280) which gives me a good few metres on my most stopped down aperture. I went ahead with the tripod anyway, incase my client wants natural light, instead of a flash. But either way, I am going to return the tripod to the shop when I am done, collect my refund and get a MUCH cheaper tripod with the same features, plus a carry bag.

I am a little confused about the flash though. My cameras metering system seems to drop dead when I power on the flash, is this because the flash is taking over a setting itself accordingly to my settings on the camera? The max shutter speed I can hit seems to be 100, my flash sync max I guess, but tha toutta do the job?

I'm a Nikon shooter, so I'm not sure why your Pentax's metering drops dead when you power up the flash. Read the manuals to see if you can figure that one out.

The shutter speed of 100 is probably the max flash sync speed. That should be more than fast enough for hand holding with a wide angle. Most cameras I'm familiar with have a default sync speed of 1/60th, while my N80 has a max sync speed of 1/125th.

[Mike Platts]

"But either way, I am going to return the tripod to the shop when I am done, collect my refund and get a MUCH cheaper tripod with the same features, plus a carry bag"

Kinda cheesy if you ask me dirtygoat.

[Dirtygoat]

***Correction I was photographing a room for an interior designer, not flats! Correction!!***


Thrifty, cheesy, maybe, but Jessops is even more so...!

The tripod I used was a chinese import, now don't get me wrong, but chinese imports a really really cheap. In Tescos they sell chinese imported jeans for $8...!

The tripod cost almost $100, which is a real rip off considering one can get a decent manfrotto for that price, not a jessops own brand. The neck even wobbles when extended!

I am going to get a tripod which will cost about $23 and has all the features, e.g spirit level and it even comes with a carrier bag and a nice gun-metal finish! Heh heh heh...don't you just love competition? Hit the URL to see for yourself.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ducts_id=99118

[Mike Platts]

O.K. not so cheesy.

I thought you were implying that you had ordered a high-end model to use for your project while intending to return it when you were done. Ordering something and soon realizing that you overpaid because its a piece of garbage is entirely different.

Mike

[Dirtygoat]

I agree with you, getting a high end model and then returning it just is pretty lame, I should of phrased it better.

I must of seemed like real of a lamer? heheee..ee...e