Asked to suppliment live event with photography as well

[dishan]

Hey guys- I own a t2i and a GH2, but have used them mostly for video, almost ignoring the fact that they can also take pictures.

I was recently asked to supplement a video shoot of a live event with some photography as well. I idiotically said "sure", and then realized that I may not be equipped for stills!

I have the Tamron 17-50mm non-VC 2.8, which is plenty sharp and fast for stills (with autofocus), but I'm wondering now if I'm going to need a flash?
I always set up my lighting kit, or just dealt with whatever natural light was there for video, a little bit of grain was acceptable in these situations sometimes. However, I feel like for stills they will be expecting more.

The flash on camera leaves much to be desired, this much I know. But what kind of external flash should I get? Should I just rent one? If they are cheap enough, I guess I wouldn't mind having one in case this comes up again. Is there anything else I would need as opposed to what I already have for video (monopod, lenses, etc)?

I know this is a very generic newbish question, but I'm a little nervous that I may be in over my head!

 

[Cassius]

Equipment is the least of your problems if you don't have photography experience, but both of those things are major issues if they expect professional level photo work. Which they might not. So you have a few options. The first is to try to learn quickly and get what you might need. The second is to talk to the client and make sure they understand that photography is not your profession. The last, which might be the best option, is to take a bit of a loss. I assume you're getting paid, otherwise you wouldn't be so concerned. Use that cash to hire someone who knows more than you do. A student who will do it cheap for the sake of portfolio material would be an excellent choice, or a friend of yours who knows something about photography but hasn't been able to get into it professionally yet. Delegating is an important skill.

Despite knowing that saying 'sure' may have been idiotic, you might end up trying to do it yourself. You'll run into a few challenges, the first being that you need to be in two places at once- video and photography. Just make sure you know what you were hired to do. As for flash, never use the on board flash if it can be avoided. It never looks like anything other than an onboard flash, and screams amateur. You'll want to use the T2i as your photo camera, and the best flashes for those are the Canon brand Speedlites. You can use other brands, sure, and some people might even link you to the cheaper ones that work just as well- but the reality is that nothing interfaces with the camera's brains as well as a Canon flash. In the long term that will save you hassle. Buy a used 540ez or something and it might be a good deal. I try to minimize the use of flash at events, but rooms tend to be dark. It might be good to get an idea of the goals of this, since photos on a Facebook page can handle a lot higher ISO than photos to be printed or shown large.

Your lens is good for a lot of purposes, but if you don't already have one a longer lens may be important. You can't get a musician in close up from a 50mm without getting on stage. 135mm is a good number.

Always shoot Raw. This allows you to forget about color temperature until post, and gives you a lot of leeway in exposure- meaning you can underexpose a stop or sometime two and still get an okay image in the end. Raw files are, however, large and if you're also doing video you need to be prepared for the increased space. Unless you're doing stills when you would have been doing video, in which case it's obviously less space. It's a good practice to take every picture twice, just in case. Sometimes more. That moment doesn't last long.

The longer lens and flash should do you for equipment, but I do recommend a battery grip if you want to seriously pursue photography. Not necessary for this one job. There's not much else that can be learned on a forum. You might have framing knowledge from video, but it's a bit different. You might have color correction experience but again, it's a bit different. Experience is the most important thing that a photographer brings to the event, so I'd start gaining it pretty quick. Or go with my other option and hire someone. I do both services on a professional level, but I've hired both videographers and photographers for jobs since I'm not willing to do both and potentially sacrifice the quality of both.

 

[MarcoPolo]

+1 Your professional reputation is worth more than taking some loss on one job. In the future tell your customer that photography and videography are two distinct fields of professional expertise and there will be an additional charge for a professional photographer.

 

[dishan]

Right- so here's the thing, I did something like this as a favor for my old school a few months ago. They asked me to come document it, whether it was with video or photos, so they could have something to put up on their website. I wasn't paid, it was more for fun (it was a holiday party of sorts), so I showed up with two cameras, gave one to a freind, and we went around the room switching off between stills and video.

The person who called me got my name from that group, as I understand it. I explained that I do video, but I could also do some photography on the side. Really, I said he should pay for two people to come because one person doing both means you will miss something. So I gave him a price expecting to hire someone else to do photography, to which he responded "and how much if I just want you?" already implying that they are willing to sacrifice some quality for a better price, I suppose. If they are looking for the same kind of gig as that party, I can handle that. I just can't get a clear picture of what I'm in for from talking to them (there's a language barrier- English isn't his first language). It sounds like some sort of fundraising event, with people speaking on a podium. So, my biggest worry is that the audience will be too dark for flash-less photography.