Some Help With Settings

[tonytone]

Hi all i will be going to the London Fashion Weekend at the end of February and there will be a runway show to see, we are allowed to take photos and i will be taking my new Nikon with me. However i wont be using flash and just wondering what would be the best mode to shoot in either Aperture or Shutter? bearing in mind that the models will be walking along the catwalk at a pace.
The lighting will be tricky too with spotlight effects no doubt.
If anyone has any ideas i would be pleased to hear them, many thanks.

[miketoll]

Never had any experience at this but I would try (and chimp!) the following.
Shoot RAW
Metering will be an experiment to see which mode suits best, metering off the model like with partial metering would be my guess but trial and error again.
Probably have to have a high ISO to keep the shutter speed high enough to freeze the models walk.
I reckon shutter speed priority to make sure the speed is enough. Having set speed if you need more DOF you may have to increase the ISO so you can stop down.
Wonder what others think, have fun anyway.

[alanrharris53]

Well I have never done it but I guess it will be similar to shooting gigs, see replies here around that topic http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=6219

I would :-

Use the fastest lens you have
Shoot Raw
Shoot shutter priority and try to get as fast as you can without underexposing (pushing the RAW file will give more noise)
Use centre wighted metering
Use A1 Servo and single point focusing to track the movement (or the equivalent on Nikon - sorry I use Canon)
Try to focus on the eyes/face, move the focus point around to achieve this.
Maybe try to cath the models when they are posing before turning rather than moving.
If the lights are flashing shoot is short bursts of 5-8 photos as you often get different effects and sharper photos that way.

As above Chimp to see how they are coming out - but use the graphs to look at exposure, don't rely on just viewing the photo as they often look OK in camera but dark on the PC.

Try a variety of different settings, eg if they are looking out of focus try apeture priority to give a better DoF and settle for wahtever speed you get - some motion blur might give a good effect if the cloths are twirling.

[tonytone]

Thanks guys for your suggestions yes i can go to at least 800 ISO with my camera no problem. Shutter priority it is them and i thought maybe around 200 speed should be enough to freeze the models movement, centre weighted metering? and like you say single point focusing would be best.
It will be trial and error i think but hopefully they will come out ok.

[alanrharris53]

What lens are you thinking of using? You might struggle to get higher than 1/200th anyway at ISO 800. I am quite often at 1/60th at f2.8 at gigs, which is why I think you need to look at the point when they stop moving. But it depends on the lighting a lot.

[alanrharris53]

PS why not try an experiment, get a willing model to walk reasonable quickly towards you or from the side (if you ar ento sure where the seats will be in relation to the runway, and see what shutter speed you need to stop the action. Doesn't need to be under the same lighting conditions as it will still give you an idea of what speed to aim for.

[tonytone]

Hi Alan i think you are right i am not very convinced that shutter mode will work in the light i will have. I thinking of going Aperture mode and open up the f stop as far as i can and whatever shutter speed it works with maybe. If it is too slow then i will just have to wait until the models stop momentarily to take my shots.
The lens i have is a Nikon 18-55mm which is possibly not the best for type of shoot but its all i have. I have read that the catwalk lighting is very good usually so to show off the models at their best.

[alanrharris53]

A lot of pro gig photogrophers do what you suggest and rely on apeture priority, but I have tried it and prefer shutter priority. If you use a shutter speed that you know will stop the movement, but there is not enough light, then you will get the maximum apeture of the camera and proably an underexposed, but sharp, shot. If you shoot raw you can push this back a couple of stops (but this will generate noise). If you shoot aperture priority and there is not enough light then the shutter speed drops and you get a correctly exposed shot, but it is blurred and you can't do anything with.


Well that's my theory any way - I could be talking rubbish!

But I would just experiment and chimp the results and see what best suits you. You might have enough light at max apeture to get good pics if the cloths are well lit.

[miketoll]

If there is not enough light up the ISO, most DSLR's are pretty good these days.