1st Communion photos - tips / recommendations?

ablelocks

I've been asked by a good friend to take some photos at her daughters 1st communion - typical family shots and some portraits of her daughter. Any tips or recommendations for me?

I've a Canon 450d, with the std kit lens, the canon 50-250mm telezoom and a canon 50mm.

(I'm a relative noob with a dslr, and have rarely strayed from the std auto settings.)

melekalikimaka

shoot RAW...
look into borrowing dedicated flash, maybe fiddle with tv mode a bit

pippatee

ablelocks wrote: »

I've been asked by a good friend to take some photos at her daughters 1st communion - typical family shots and some portraits of her daughter. Any tips or recommendations for me?

I've a Canon 450d, with the std kit lens, the canon 50-250mm telezoom and a canon 50mm.

(I'm a relative noob with a dslr, and have rarely strayed from the std auto settings.)

I'd say that the location you choose will be important for the portraits ... try to get to a local park ... plenty of Rapeseed flowering at the mo ... even better if you can find bluebells ... they make a great offset to a child wearing white ... just be careful of pollen getting on the dress ...and make sure they are in the shade , don't want them squinting in the sunlight ... if they are backlit, use the onboard flash to balance it out ...

smelltheglove

location location location. I shot pictures of 2 communions a couple of weeks ago. The same method used for both but one communion is miles apart from the other and it was all down to the location. The first one was at a hotel with a very small garden, strong sunshine and harsh shadows made it quite hard to get a decent shot. The second communion was in a golf clubhouse and the setting was just amazing.

Like anything though you really need to prepare for bad weather.

Camera wise I would recommend trying out hte various settings. I could never imagine shooting anything in auto and hoping for good results, its hit and miss when you are not fully in control. If you understand the ethis of shutter speed and apereture it is actually relatively easy to get a hang of. I decided one day just to go full on manual, had never done it before and within a week I never looked back. There are a lot of tutorials online to help you out but I definitely recommend trying it.

Best of luck and dont hesitate to ask for anymore information.

Bella_Blue_Star

It's my daughter's 1st communion on Saturday, and I've been thinking a bit about how to get some good shots too.

I don't know about you, but I tend to get a bit flustered in this type of circumstance, and can sometimes forget the obvious - e.g.
(a) set the aperture and a high ISO, but forget to check the shutter speed, and if it's below 40, the pic is likely to be blurry. So, unless its very bright and you can be sure of a fast shutter regardless of the aperture, it might be worthwhile working in Tv (Shutter priority) and setting it to maybe 60?

(b) Make sure you have ISO of 100 or 200, for good quality
(c) Select flash exposure compensation to reduce the flash power for fill-in
(d) For group shots don't have the Av too small (below 5.6 or maybe even 7.1) because some of the people may not be sharply in focus.
(e) If you're not confident with your DSLR, put it on portrait mode.
And everything else that the others have said.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for nice dry bright day with a bit of cloud to soften the light - need the gods on my side!
Good luck!

Merrion

The priest will likely be a bald sweaty man wearing white - so if you want to do better than I did in the same situation, bounce the flash off wall or ceiling... :-)

NORTH1

Thanks for the tips my daughter's communion this week end too.

Funny how when you go around shotting flower and birds, people then think you can then shot people and also after been asked to photography the daughter's gymnastic's outting last year, you suddenly realise the pressure a photographer is under when there out of there comfort zone.

Fionn

try get out of the harsh light! thats a good tip, look through the view finder to compose! (lots of people just snap away withouth composing the shot) make sure you got:
full batteries
empty card
Default Settings
ISO
Metering
etc.
use either
Auto
or Program Shift
if you can get a speedlight use it
also use it out doors (shoot into the sun) fill flash

smelltheglove

Be wary about shooting in the church, priests are often ok at weddings but ocassions like this they can be a bit reluctant to have a photographer present.

Just think if there are 60 kids, imagine every family brought a photographer. I myself have turned away work like this as I dont feel it is quite, I once was asked to photograph a communion for a distant relative and the priest was disgusted to have a photographer present and even asked me to sit down. He said it was an occasion for celebration of God and pictures would be allowed only when he said so. It happens.

Fajitas!

Always, but always, talk to the priest before taking photographs in a church. It's a sign of respect and manners, whether you follow that or any religion or not - Same as you would before taking photographs in someones house.

AnCatDubh

smelltheglove wrote: »

He said it was an occasion for celebration of God and pictures would be allowed only when he said so.

You should have told him that you'd listen out for 'the real Man in charge' and when he shouted STOP then you'd happily sit down

But seriously, yeah at the ceremony itself will be problematic. I was at one on Sunday last and the announcement at the start that no photographs allowed during the ceremony. Meh - You'll get much better images without the pressure of being during the event anyway. Think location as an earlier poster said. Plan options for rainy days as well as glorious sunshine.

TBH, I can understand the logistical difficulties and ensuing pandemonium if not the spiritual problems that it creates.

Borderfox

I have done a few of these jobs where I have organised with the priest to take pictures of all the participants during the service and then some portraits outside, the only issue he had was with tons of flashes going off.

There are good opportunities to get shots outside the Church or at a nicer location which will definitely have better light to boot

mdebets

I have shoot the confirmation (I'm Protestant) in our church for the last few years on request of our Pastor, to cut down on too many people taking pictures with a flash during the service.
You should talk to the priest beforehand, not just at the day of the service, but a few days before.
If he agrees to let you take pictures, there are a few things you can do, to improve your chances to having good pictures.
1) remember it's a religious services, not a photo opportunity, so take a few pictures only, don't shoot your flash like a machine gun, because there is nothing more disturbing a service than constantly seeing flashes and hearing camera sounds
2) Scout the church beforehand and find an unobtrusive position in the front, preferable where you can't be seen from the congregation and which you can reach from your seat without disturbing anyone.
3) talk to the priest and get the order of the service and agree with him at what points you can take photos and from where you are taking them. Don't argue with the priest on this. If he objects to anything you're proposing, don't do it.
4) If your church has a balustrade, see if you can shoot from there.
5) Try and get a dedicated flash. Bouncing it off might be not possible, if the church is too high
6) Try and get a better lense (f2.8 as a minimum) or use your 50mm (I presume it's the f1.8)
7) Try and shoot some photos beforehand, so that the service won't be the first time you are shooting at the church.

ablelocks

cheers for the advice folks. hadn't planned on taking photos during the actual ceremony, but if I get a good spot to the side I'll have a word with the priest beforehand.

not sure about shooting raw - I had thought about it, but assumed that for post-processing I'd need special software (do I?) to transfer to the pc and that my old pc may not be up to the task anyway given the file sizes.

don't know anyone with a flash - would a camera shop rent one?

Gonna practice with the TV mode tonight and see how I get on...

pixbyjohn

Whereabouts are you, I have a 430EX flash. So long as you look after it with your life you can borrow it.
John

ablelocks

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Whereabouts are you, I have a 430EX flash. So long as you look after it with your life you can borrow it.
John

well that's extremely kind of you John - thanks for the offer but I'm in Limerick.

padocon

Thanks for all the tips here, does anyone have some shot they took? I would like to see poses and set up.

AnimalRights

Few years ago, but you get the idea.

padocon

AnimalRights wrote: »

Few years ago, but you get the idea.

Wow fantastic pic! Thanks for sharing!

Bella_Blue_Star

You can check mine out on FLickr if you like. I didn't post many - but may give some ideas. I was a little light on "holy" poses!

padocon

Bella_Blue_Star wrote: »

You can check mine out on FLickr if you like. I didn't post many - but may give some ideas. I was a little light on "holy" poses!

Really like no2.
There all great though!

smelltheglove

One of my favourites from communions this year.

padocon

smelltheglove wrote: »

One of my favourites from communions this year.

Good one, the girl is not actually jumping though, right?

smelltheglove

padocon wrote: »

Good one, the girl is not actually jumping though, right?

lol, no floating in air, i think its gas the way her feet have just disappeared.

NORTH1

and I post my favorite in the random thread.

NORTH1

smelltheglove wrote: »

lol, no floating in air, i think its gas the way her feet have just disappeared.

Photoshop?!

smelltheglove

NORTH1 wrote: »

Photoshop?!

No Its the way she jumped, that picture was not edited bar sharpening. It was a very full dress down to her ankles so her little feet were just hidden.

padocon

smelltheglove wrote: »

No Its the way she jumped, that picture was not edited bar sharpening. It was a very full dress down to her ankles so her little feet were just hidden.

Wow I thought when she would jump the fabric would wrinkle, of did you take them out?

joconnell

I'd go for keeping it really simple and shooting available light in av mode with a 50mm 1.8 lense - set it to 1.8 and use your exposure compensation to go up by maybe half a stop - you'll get lovely warmth and no harsh shadows. No flash to piss other people off either. The majority of the stuff on my flickr is this - really easy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnoconnell/

smelltheglove

padocon wrote: »

Wow I thought when she would jump the fabric would wrinkle, of did you take them out?

No it was tulle material so that wouldnt really wrinkle I dont think. It is honestly the way it was, feet werent taken out, just the way she jumped, I just think it looks like she is floating in air, you can even see a slight shadow underneath.

No photoshop on the feet I swear.

Chicken Run

NORTH1 wrote: »

that one ^^^ is absolutely stunning.
Kids are wonderful subjects when you catch them not looking at the camera - easier said than done.
Also have a go at black and white - done a couple of weddings this way, and the contrast with the boys in dark suits and girls in white is pretty amazing

car

Heres my attempt at taking Holy Communion Photos, any tips or advice good or bad is welcome, thanks in advance.

padocon

Hey all,
Its all rain today so it looks like I will be taking Communion pics inside.
Any Tips?

I Have 400D standard lens and flash. I will use defuser too.