runway show photography...

[west coast wonderboy]

wasn't sure which forum to put this in... but,

i may have the opportunity to photograph some runway shows in the near future as a favor for friends but i haven't any experience with this particular kind of photography. does anybody have any advice or know where i might be able to get some info or tips?

thanks.

 

[JesseJB]

I was at a show in the front row and just took pictures with my digital camera. Turned out nice.

 

[LabelKing]

Use a Graflex and throw used flash bulbs at people.

 

[cmrocks]

What kind of camera do you have? I'm assuming that you have an SLR camera of some kind at least. If so, which lenses do you have for that camera? Do you have a flash?

If you're going to be fairly close, you'll want a general purpose zoom lens; something in the 24-70mm zoom range. If you're going to be further back, you'll want a lens in the 70-200mm zoom range. Decide if you want to use available light or if you can use a flash.

If you use available light, up the ISO until you can achieve shutter speeds close to 1/60 of a second (this is probably fast enough to freeze a model walking but you might need to go as high as 1/125 of a second; you'll have to do some trail and error here) at your desired apeture value. I have no idea what the lighting is like so it's hard to give good advice. I would probably want an aperture value around f/5.6 to get a decent DOF so that all of the model will be in the focus plane. Also, most zoom lenses tend to be sharpest around f/5.6. If you want just the model in focus and a nice blurry background then use a wider aperture like f/2.8.

If you're going to use flash, meter the background to see what you're going to need to get a decent exposure. Set the camera on manual settings and expose the background correctly. In these situations, I prefer to underexpose the background a bit so the model will stand out more against the background. The flash will expose the model correctly and have almost no effect on the background since it is so much further back. Put a diffuser on the flash to help reduce flat looking pictures and harsh shadows. If you're flash has exposure compensation, start with a setting of +1 and see if you need to adjust from there. Flash is only going to work if you are fairly close to the stage.

Hope that helps.

 

[ayn]

you need a 70-200/2.8, and maybe a monopod.

 

[west coast wonderboy]

thanks for the input ducaticole,

I'm shooting with my Canon Rebel DSLR with a Canon 18-55mm zoom lens (I'll be right up at the front). I usually avoid using a flash but I haven't worked out with the organizers what the lighting setup will be yet so I may yet take your advice on that into account.

cheers from a fellow vancouverite

 

[airfrogusmc]

Stage lighting can be tricky. Remember your camera light meter reads the world as 18% gray. Allot of times average meters will read the dark background and because it takes up so much of the frame will drastically over expose the subject. Heres my advice. A spot meter would be perfect. Some high end DSLRs have them built in. Meter the face of the subject and open up 1 stop if the subject is Caucasian. Caucasian skin tone is one stop brighter than 18% gray which is what your meter sees the world as. If you don't have a spot meter if you can get to a spot that the same exact light thats going to be on the subject you are shooting (maybe before the event starts and the spots/stage lights are one read the palm of your hand if you're Caucasian making sure you hand is on the same angle as the subject and that you are not causing a shadow to cover your hand and that your meter is reading the info from your hand (fill most of the frame if not all) and open up one stop from that. If the light is not going to change thats your exposure. Make sure if you are shooting movement to shoot at 1/125 of a second or faster. 1/250 would be better.

OOOPPPS meant to say thats if you're not going to use a flash which allot of stage lighting is bright enough so you might not have to.

 

[cmrocks]

I would say that it's easier to just set the camera in manual mode and take a few sample shots until the exposure is correct then go with that and make tweaks to your shutter speed as needed.

Since you're going to be using the kit lens, set it at f/5.6 or f/8 if there is enough light. The kit lens is actually surprisingly sharp at these apertures.