Advice needed for upcoming event

Stephen P

I'm new to the world of DSLR's. I just recently bought a Sony DSLR A200, the kit lens is a 18-70mm F3.5-5.6. It's the OH's cousins communion in a couple of weeks and I've offered to take some nice photo's of the day. I'm going to be buying a tripod soon. What I want to know is what's the best...how would I put it...way or mode to use to take good photo's? I want to make sure the pictures are clear and am able to fit as many people as I can in the photo and not be too far away from them. Buying a new lens is out of the question at the moment, I'll have to do with the one I have. If it's a nice day would I go with shutter priority or aperture or manual? Or even just portrait? And what about a cloudy day?
I'd be grateful for any advice at all. I'll probably touch the pictures up afterwards in photoshop, I know my way around it fairly well.

Thanks in advance!

AnCatDubh

well first of all - you poor divil. In at the deepend

So a steep learning curve for you - and with learning in mind I had a post on this thread (which is a useful thread in its entirety), which may be of interest to you.

Practice, practice, and practice some more before then. Know your camera and what it can do. IMHO, Manual mode needs a little bravery and confidence that you know you can control the camera and how it will react to the environmental factors on the day.

Standard portrait theory would suggest an aperture setting of f9 or f11. Reduce if you want to get creative bokeh backgrounds. Always focus in the eyes of the subject. Learn to compose, lock, and recompose.

If you get near the day and aren't satisfied that you have enough courage to get good results then i'd suggest program mode - yes, it works out lots of things for you like aperture and shutter but you are guaranteed properly exposed shots although you are limited in terms of the creative side of what you may want to bring out. If reasonably confident in your abilities then probably go aperture priority, and if you become a ninja overnight then head into the unknown of manual.

Research the types of shots that you want to take in advance. Flickr and pix.ie will be your friends here.

Try use natural light in so far as is possible/practical and be weary of the effect of a direct / harsh flash which will come from your onboard flash - if using it then at least try to diffuse it with something and again, practice, practice, practice to ensure you've gotten it.

Good luck.

Fionn

i'd echo the last posters sentiments
you poor divil!!!
kidding!

you'll be grand with that setup, if you dont have a flash look to getting your shots in daylight outside the church or somewhere you've scouted out already, you have thought about a background? if not maybe you should think of someplace nice - no cars litter etc. - that sort of thing! saves time in PP
portrait mode woulf be a good choice, and if you have a tripod - absolutely use it - it'll deliver lots of less blurry shots. If you dont know how to use the different shooting modes on your camera this event isn't the time to start learning really, stick to Auto Mode or one of the other modes like Portrait if the day is cloudy or dull, if you can find the 'White Balance' function you can change it to suit cloudy, bright, indoor etc. scenes!
and as has been said look at other examples of composition on the web - theres lots out there!
try and keep things simple - it'll make taking the shot you want that little bit easier!
and good luck with it

Stephen P

Thanks for the replies above. I will take all comments on board in preparing myself. I'm going to practice a lot before the day. I probably wouldn't be confident enough to use manual mode just yet. I've never totally understood the benefits of using White Balance, is it used instead of a flash or with the flash? The camera has onboard flash but I hope I won't have to use it on the day if it's nice out. I'll take a drive up to the church soon and check out nice spots for photo's.
They're going to a function room in a pub afterwards. The lighting will probably be low, in this scenario what's the best mode to use to get nice natural pictures?
Thanks again for the advice!

CabanSail

+1 to shooting RAW, as it will allow you a lot more lattitude to correct WB & exposure later.

Try to avoid using Flash if possible. The internal Flash will give your shots a flat "snapshot" look & is generally quite harsh & unflattering light (If you can get an off camera flash & bounce it, then it can work, but that is a whole new world) I think the Sony's have built in VR (IS), so make sure you use that in low light. If needed then bump up the ISO.

Stephen P

The Sony A200 has the option to shoot in RAW + JPEG. Or just RAW. Which option would be best?
Thanks bedlam, I'll check out those other programs for editing.

CabanSail wrote:

...I think the Sony's have built in VR (IS), so make sure you use that in low light...

Thanks CabanSail. What's VR (IS)? It's probably something obvious that I know
I only like using the flash sometimes as it can make the picture look un-natural.