Ok, free download week for How to Shoot Your Child's Show Like a Pro is over. If you downloaded it, thanks for supporting me, if you enjoy it please follow up with a good review on Amazon! (If you didn't enjoy it I guess you could post a bad review, but I would rather you contact me privately at bookfeedback@happydragonphoto.com and let me know so I can address whatever issues you found with the book).
Now it's sales time for real and I get to see if it is going to go anywhere. I have been talking about the book in several online forums and looking around for marketing opportunities (speaking of which, if any of you out there are on a PTA or something with a mailing list, feel free to let me know or to plug me to any parents you think might be interested). A fellow Professional Photographers of America member and amazing photographer, Don Nealious, of DNI Photography, made the suggestion that I post a teaser from the book on here, so here it is. Thanks Don for being an awesome mentor! Without further adieu, here's a quick taste of what you will get in the book:
HELP- THE SHOW IS TONIGHT!!!! I DON’T HAVE TIME TO
READ THIS WHOLE BOOK!
If you just picked up this book because your child is in a show tonight and
you are in a panic, this chapter is for you. Stop, take a deep breath, maybe have
a quick adult beverage of your choice (assuming you aren’t the one driving to
the show) and read this chapter with your camera, the manual for your camera
(if you have it) and your computer sitting right next to you. I will tell you how to
set your camera up and how to take the pictures tonight, then you can come
back later and read the rest of the book to learn the reasons why. For now you’ll
just have to trust me.
It should be obvious why you would want your camera and the manual next
to you, but why the computer? Because I don’t know what type of camera you
have, therefore I cannot tell you how to find the settings I am describing on your
particular brand and model. I use Nikon cameras and lenses- while I will try as
much as possible to use generic terms for settings and features, the examples I
give will be Nikon specific because that is what I am familiar with. I am
assuming you have some sort of DSLR, in which case you should be able to
control all the settings I am going to mention. Don’t worry if you don’t know
what something means, that will be explained later in the book. Oh, and before
you read any further make sure you have downloaded all the images on your
memory card, then format the card in the camera so you’ll have plenty of room.
Once that is done put your battery on the charger so you’ll have a full one (and
hopefully a spare) when its’ time to shoot, then read on.
Here’s how to set up your camera.
Lens: If you only have one lens that came with your camera, it’s probably an
18-55mm. If that’s all you have, that’s what you will use. If you have a longer
zoom (probably something in the 100-300mm range) you should probably swap
out and put that one on the camera. Bring both if you don’t know how big the
theater is or where you will be sitting. For most theaters if you have the
18-55mm you’d want to sit near the front, if you have a zoom that goes up to
200mm or 300mm you should be fine in the back row. Whichever you have,
check it out when you get to the show and choose your seat accordingly. If you
have room in your bag, bring both lenses and pick when you get there and see
what you’re dealing with.
Mode: Manual
Shutter Speed: 1/200 Sec
Aperture: F3.5 (or the smallest number / largest aperture your lens has
available)
Flash: If you have an external flash, leave it off the camera. If you have a
popup flash make sure it it down and stays down. (It shouldn’t activate in
shutter priority mode unless you pop it up manually, so don’t)
ISO: Do a quick search on Google and find out what the highest useable
setting is for you particular camera and go with that, or if you want to be
safe, one setting below that. If you can’t find it quickly enough or don’t even
have time to look, use ISO 1600, that should be safe for any current generation
DSLR. If you have a mirrorless system 1600 is probably also safe. Point and
shoots aren’t as capable at higher ISOs, so I really can’t tell you what’s safe for
yours, you will have to look it up. NOTE- just because you camera has higher
settings available doesn’t mean they are useable in the sense I am talking about
here. You may get a picture with them, but it will be so noisy you won’t be
happy with it. So don’t just go to the highest setting you have.
Focus Mode: Continuous autofocus. If you have a choice of focus point
numbers, pick the option that gives you a small cluster around the point of your
choice. If you can set a focus delay, set it for normal or slightly longer. (This
means if someone walks in front of your child right as you click the shutter the
autofocus won’t try to refocus on them instead of your child)
Metering Mode: Center weighted. The icon for this will probably look like a
dot in between two parenthesis.
Noise Reduction: If your camera has a noise reduction option, turn it on and
set it to normal.
Image Quality: If you have the option and a large enough memory card, set
this to RAW + JPEG Fine, as this will give you the most options to work with
later on. If you can’t do both, either due to memory limitations or because your
camera doesn’t offer that option, stick with JPEG fine for now, especially if you
want to share you pictures tonight or tomorrow. (If you are already shooting and
working in RAW then by all means shoot RAW only)
Active Lighting: Turn it on and set it to the middle setting. (Active D for
Nikon, Active Lighting Option for Canon, not sure for others)
Image Preview: Off. This means you won’t see each image on your LCD
screen after you shoot it. Trust me, this is a good thing.
Vibration Reduction / Image Stabilization: This one varies. If you have the
standard 18-55mm lens, turn it off. If you have a longer zoom, leave it on.
Generally, if your shutter speed is less than the focal length of the lens you want
it on, if it’s faster you want it off.
Shooting Mode: Single Shot
White Balance: If you use Auto your shots will not be consistent. Which
setting to use will be dependent on the lights. If it’s an outdoor show, use either
the sun or cloudy setting. For indoors in a traditional theater, I recommend the
tungsten setting if they use incandescent stage lights or the flash setting if they
are using LED stage lights. If you don’t know the difference, ask the lighting
person if you can, if you can’t find out which it is then use the tungsten setting.
Picture Controls: Standard or Neutral.
Exposure Meter: Not a setting, per se, but if you are not familiar with this
display and how it shows up in your camera make sure you find it and have a
basic understanding of how your camera displays Zero (what camera thinks is
“proper” exposure), Overexposure (+) and Underexposure (-) values. If your
camera lets you, set this to read in 1/3 stop increments. You manual should tell
you what it looks like and where to find it on your camera display.
Ok, now your camera is set, let’s talk about how to actually shoot the
show.
Ok, that's it for the free teaser, for the rest you'll have to buy the book! I promise there will be some actual photo based updates soon, but until my ship gets back to shore I don't have the bandwidth to upload images, so you're stuck with getting the thousand words instead of the picture.
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