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04-22-2018, 06:01 PM   #1
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Very early morning to late morning shooting

Hi

Our regular photographer is away and I've been asked to cover the ANZAC Day service for our local Gazette.

It's the Dawn Service to honour our Serviceman that have served Countries, Australia & New Zealand through the various wars.

So, I need some advice and I've only one morning left to practice.

It starts before dawn and continues shortly after. The sun rising is spectacular and I certainly want to capture that. I might have a crack at video. It's pretty dark but there will be electric lighting about.

The distance will be between 40 metres & about 10.

Heaps of people so a tripod might be difficult to manage but I'm taking one.

Lenses I have are a Pentax F50 1:1.7. Super Tak F50 1:1.4. Pentax M28 1:2.8. The Kit lens and a Sigma Zoom 18 - 50. 2.8 although I haven't had much success with this lens in any light.

I've a flash but I don't think that will be acceptable. In fact, I'm sure it won't.

Any advice will be helpful, particularly ISO. I don't have time to experiment.

Camera KS-1

Thank you.

Graeme

04-22-2018, 06:25 PM   #2
hcc
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For dawn light, you want to favor a fast lens especially since your will be hand-shooting. Your lenses Pentax F50 1:1.7 and Super Tak F50 1:1.4 will be the ones to use IMHO, although you could consider getting a new fast lens (but unlikely within the timeframe.)

I would try to keep the ISO low (800 ISO max, preferably 200 ISO) and set large aperture.

I suggest to do some trial tomorrow morning at the locations where you will shooting Wednesday to get used to the lenses and lighting conditions.

Hope that the comment may help.
04-22-2018, 06:46 PM   #3
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I have a ks2 and iso 800 is fine. 3200 is rough but black and white helps a lot. here are 2 at iso 3200 but I think iso1600 is good to push to.

04-22-2018, 06:50 PM   #4
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TAv mode limit the ISO between 200 and 800 I have shot at 1600 but YMMV. Think about where you want to be and stake your places. Instead of a tripod, borrow a monopod, mobility between shots, stability when shooting. It is too bad you do not like the 18-50, I would want some range. Instead of shooting into the sun, let the sun illuminate the faces of the participating. I will be shooting pix at the ANZAC day ceremony as well, but far, far from Australia using a K5 and the 18-135 WR. I look forward to seeing your pictures.

04-22-2018, 06:55 PM   #5
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I'd look for still life images at the crack of dawn. Things you can shoot on a tripod with base ISO and deep depth of field where hopefully a long exposure won't matter. Look for symbolizm and associations. Perhaps some silhouettes.

And when the light levels pickup then start including people in the pictures. Fast lenses are fine in low light for selective focus but I wouldn't make all my shots like that. Pictures with two or more people often need the lens stopped down to get some depth of field. It's hard to say from the armchair what exactly to do. You need to be there so use your one practice morning to good advantage and best of luck.
04-22-2018, 06:55 PM   #6
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heres one at 1600 iso all were shot raw with some NR but don't know what.
04-22-2018, 07:55 PM - 1 Like   #7
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My .02, for what it's worth.

If I was in a situation like this I would not want to be stressing about lens swaps. I think if you aren't comfortable with the Sigma zoom, from my use of the F50 1.7 I would put that on the KS-1. A little bit of a portrait length/short tele when you are looking at people in the crowd.

And if it was me, I'd throw my M28 2.8 on a film camera and keep it in a pocket for wide shots. Leave it focused to infinity at an appropriate aperture for the light. I took more than one shot in a crowd over the years on my ME by just holding the camera up over everyone's heads and firing the trigger.

04-23-2018, 12:59 AM   #8
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I would have the F50 on your main camera and not change it. I would shoot manual at ISO 800 when you start and go to a lower ISO when you can. I would recommend making your first shots darkish, rather than trying to get normal exposure. (Hence the recommendation to go manual.) Go as wide as you need and then nail focus on the key subject of each shot.


If you can beg, steal or borrow a monopod (or even buy one tomorrow), it will make a huge difference to your shots. The tripod would probably be a nightmare and you might have security tell you to pack it up.
04-23-2018, 03:41 AM   #9
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Thank you very much. I'll get down there tomorrow and put it into practice. There'll be no-one there so I might take the computer and see what transpires. There'll be no artificial light as there will be on the night but I'll see how it goes.

If it's not too much of a disaster, i'll certainly post here.

I can use the tripod as a monopod, I suppose. Plus, if i get there early enough, I can get a spot at the front.

Maybe, if I get a Dick Tracey hat with a "press" note on the brim, I might get even closer.

Thanks again.

Graeme
04-23-2018, 12:21 PM   #10
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I wish you all the best success.

Although I am a born and bred Canadian, I have an emotional connection to the Anzacs. The mother of my favourite aunt was a NZANS nursing sister. She was on the deck of the SS Marquette and saw the torpedo approach.
04-23-2018, 02:33 PM - 1 Like   #11
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The F50 was the best by far. However, I found that there was a "list." The Tripod was broken.



So, I'll take the F50 and I think the Sigma although it hunts. But I could accept the suggestion and manually focus. Anyway, a new tripod today and more practice tonight. Strangely, Silky pix won't identify the len's except for "A" lens.
04-26-2018, 02:41 AM   #12
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Well, the project was a general failure, I'm afraid. I couldn't get through the crowd and I had floodlights staring straight at the lens if I could get close. So, there was a restaurant nearby at an elevated elevated position that I'll use with permission for our "Greenwell Point Gazette."
But, I'm really interested now in low light photography. I seem to have the equipment, so I'll work on the skill. Maybe next year I'll be able to get myself into an "official" position.

So, thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
04-26-2018, 08:28 PM   #13
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I like that picture quite a lot. The shape of the negative space bisected by the light line of the cenotaph is eye catching, and you captured the worss in focus, which is the most important piece. The lit area is almost a a wedge cutting into the negative space, also very eyecatching. If Iwere selecting photos for your newspaper, I would print this photo, I think many readers would appreciate it as well.

I also enjoy low light photography, I encourage you to develop your manual focus and zone focus skills for low light, almost every lens will hunt when the lighting is to low to offer sufficient contrast for the autofocus to discriminate the focus points.

This may seem counterintuitive, but I have found that a polarizer lens minimizes some of the effect of floodlights, you might try it out.

Good idea on trying to gain some elevation, event photos often benfit from being above, or below, normal eye level.

I faced similar challenges at the ANZAC day I attended, and I can only review them in the K5s LCD screen until I get home, but I think I got at least a few shots.
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