[watchingskyfallatm]

I'm shooting a corporate Christmas party for a friend on the weekend and I was hoping for some advice as stills are not my forte, (I usually shoot video).

I'm shooting on a Panasonic GH4 (my gf's the Pentaxian, not me!) and my available lenses are:

• 12-35mm, f2.8 (so a true 24-70)
• 25mm, f1.4 (50mm)
• 35-100mm, f2.8 (70-200)

My assumptions would be that I would shoot only using the 25mm (50mm) lens, and at 1.4 with a quick shutter speed, but outside of that I'm not really too sure. Can anyone give me any tips on modes to use, recommended settings, anything else that might be relevant?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Docrwm]

The 50/1.4 will give you a "normal" perspective and has rhe best low light ability but remember that a f1.4 the depth of field will be very thin.

[ramseybuckeye]

I'm shooting a corporate Christmas party for a friend on the weekend and I was hoping for some advice as stills are not my forte, (I usually shoot video).

I'm shooting on a Panasonic GH4 (my gf's the Pentaxian, not me!) and my available lenses are:

• 12-35mm, f2.8 (so a true 24-70)
• 25mm, f1.4 (50mm)
• 35-100mm, f2.8 (70-200)

My assumptions would be that I would shoot only using the 25mm (50mm) lens, and at 1.4 with a quick shutter speed, but outside of that I'm not really too sure. Can anyone give me any tips on modes to use, recommended settings, anything else that might be relevant?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

I think the 12-35 might be more useful and versatile in this setting. I can't see the 35-100 being of much use unless the place is very big, or you are doing porttraits. If ot is a big place it might be nice for candid pics or pics where you want to "compress" a scene. I would probably use auto ISO with the threshold as high as you dare, if it's really dark you may have to use flash. People don't seem to mind using a flash for setup shots like "table shots", but not for candids.

Find the fine line between funny and embarrassing. Try to get everybody in some photos. Try to have fun and good luck.

[Hank]

A couple of quick questions:
Is the place well lit? Will you have room to move around and photograph people?
The 50mm is nice, specially if the room is dark, but the major trade off is that you'd only get one viewing angle, and you'll have a harder time shooting around people. The 12-35 is better to grab groups of people, but if the place is dark or low light, a flash is going to be required.
I usually use the following settings for evening party shots: ISO 800 to 1600, 1/60 to 1/160, bounce flash if the ceiling isn't way up there, and my 24-70mm f2.8 (Sigma). Sometimes I'll put on the 50mm prime (also Sigma), if I can walk around the room easily.
Very rarely will I bring both lens along and change them to get a shot.

The photo below, of a friend, was taken at a bar this past November, using the 50mm lens, ISO 800, 1/125, no flash, DNG. Some minor Photoshop'ing to adjust colors and crop the photo.

Attached Images

 

[watchingskyfallatm]

I think the 12-35 might be more useful and versatile in this setting. I can't see the 35-100 being of much use unless the place is very big, or you are doing porttraits. If ot is a big place it might be nice for candid pics or pics where you want to "compress" a scene. I would probably use auto ISO with the threshold as high as you dare, if it's really dark you may have to use flash. People don't seem to mind using a flash for setup shots like "table shots", but not for candids.

Find the fine line between funny and embarrassing. Try to get everybody in some photos. Try to have fun and good luck.

Thanks for the tips!

---------- Post added 12-09-14 at 12:47 AM ----------

A couple of quick questions:
Is the place well lit? Will you have room to move around and photograph people?
The 50mm is nice, specially if the room is dark, but the major trade off is that you'd only get one viewing angle, and you'll have a harder time shooting around people. The 12-35 is better to grab groups of people, but if the place is dark or low light, a flash is going to be required.
I usually use the following settings for evening party shots: ISO 800 to 1600, 1/60 to 1/160, bounce flash if the ceiling isn't way up there, and my 24-70mm f2.8 (Sigma). Sometimes I'll put on the 50mm prime (also Sigma), if I can walk around the room easily.
Very rarely will I bring both lens along and change them to get a shot.

The photo below, of a friend, was taken at a bar this past November, using the 50mm lens, ISO 800, 1/125, no flash, DNG. Some minor Photoshop'ing to adjust colors and crop the photo.

Not sure if the place is well lit or not... but there's a sit down dinner portion of the evening so I assume it's not going to be all that dark. And yes I should have room to move around.

Thanks so much for the reference pic, it's beautiful. That's what I'm going for too, not overly posed shots, more fly-on-the-wall type stuff. I will try out those settings. Cheers Hank you're a legend.

[Flugelbinder]

...The 50mm is nice, specially if the room is dark, but the major trade off is that you'd only get one viewing angle...
...24-70mm f2.8...

...The photo below, of a friend, was taken at a bar this past November, using the 50mm lens, ISO 800, 1/125, no flash, DNG. Some minor Photoshop'ing to adjust colors and crop the photo...

To the OP,
It is, but it can be done (I'm not the most experienced, but I've recently shot a corporate Symposium (for the OAAG, and have done it in a wedding before) with only a 35, which I personally like (field-of-view) better than the 50 on an APS-C.
I have tried that approach. Work with a very good 35 alone, better than with a good zoom - in that range, because a 70-200 is the perfect complement to the 35, in my opinion...

About the photo, remember you will have to be (very) close to the person to get these kind of shots with these focal lengths, without post-cropping.

All the best.

Paul