[walro]

I am going to be photographing a graduation at a small private school, and they are having a candlelit procession. I'm planning to use the 50 f/1.4 on the K20, am able to use a tripod, and would probably have the graduates pause very briefly at a specific spot to take individual pictures (only six graduates). They've only had people with P&S cameras taking pics in the past, so they're not expecting a lot. They did say no one's ever managed to get decent shots of the candlelit part, so if we could do that, they would be quite impressed. I do have a second shooter who'll have the K10 with one of the DA* f/2.8 lenses on it. I'm not sure how much she'll be able to do on this part. The pics will likely not be printed at more than 4x6, so I figure I can get by with at least ISO 1600 on the K20.

Couple of questions. First, how would you meter? I'm assuming I'd want to shoot in manual mode. Would I try to expose for the graduates faces, and what would be good to take a meter reading from? Should I also manual focus? The 50 doesn't hunt nearly as much on the K20, especially after installing firmware update, but I'm still thinking I'd want to manual focus any action.

Any other tips, things to keep in mind?

[Wheatfield]

You shouldn't need to meter. The light will probably be more or less the same for each shot.
Before the ceramony have your helper stand where you will be having the graduates stand and get the exposure correct (in manual) before the ceremony. This is where chimping and setting exposure via the histogram is useful. Once you have the exposure dialed in, don't change it unless there is a chage in the light, such as some candles go out, or someone moves candles around or lights more candles. You'll find with candlelight that the candles moving around in the viewfinder as you make slight adjustments to the composition will play havoc with your meter readings, which pretty much makes the meter useless. Set your ISO as high as you need to to get a 1/15-1/30 second exposure time with the lens stopped down a half stop.
Use the tripod.

[jimH]

It's possible that, using your assistant as a model, and in the manual mode, set your primary exposure with the "Green" button, and then do an auto bracket on the exposure.

Of course you would need to use a tripod on those long exposures and impress upon your subjects that they needed to stand still for a few seconds. But I'm thinking that you could get some very memorable shots that the graduates would be very happy with.

JimH

[pentaxdude]

My preference would be a shutterspeed of 1/60th.From there I would set my iso accordingly.I prefer spot metering on the face for best exposure.

[Lowell Goudge]

is there a chance you can arrange a practice session?

You will also need to pay attention to WB since the candle light will be quite red, perhaps use incandescent.

[soccerjoe5]

That'll be quite a challenge Looking forward to your results!

[walro]

Already did it, and yes, it was a huge challenge. Unlike I had thought, there wasn't any movement during the song. That helped immensely, but I had a huge amount of trouble with focusing. I thought I would manual focus, but I had a hard time seeing anything but the candles through the viewfinder. And even in manual, the little green hexagon would only pop up when the candles were in focus. I finally just took a stab at it and tried to get it in the ballpark. The pictures ended up being a little soft, but I think the grads were happy because in past years no one has been able to photograph more than an orange glow! It was difficult to get more than one person at a time in focus, because they were spread out and standing in a semi-circle.

I posted a picture in the post your pictures section. Basically had the ISO set on 1600, aperture on 1.6, and let the camera decide the shutter speed. I'll have to go back and see what it was. In some ways, I would've liked to have an AF assist lamp, but I think it would have been kind of annoying to the people being photographed. So I did the best I could, and they're happy, so that's what counts.

[Lowell Goudge]

from looking at the photo, it appears youo were focused a little behind the subjects, on the wood cabinet.

I think that a fully MF lens and split image would be better.