On Thu, 6 Jun 2002, Emily L. Ferguson wrote:
> A friend of mine is on the committee of a regional crafts
> organization, and he and I have proposed to the committee that I
> shoot the craftspeople's booths as a service to them (for a fee to
> me, of course).
So your client is this committee, or the individual artist ?
If it's the artist, odds are you won't be selling many pics, IMO.
> I've been considering putting a peanut slave on a strobe and placing
> it in the booth somewhere to get light into the back of the display.
A few ruminations...
Doable...you can clamp a flash to the tent poles (Check out
"Slik Clamp head 38", which is meant for cameras, but would suit
your purpose. About $80). I assume you have a Vari-Power Module for
your Vivitar 283 (if no, order one NOW....it makes the unit infinitely
more useful ) and a hand-held flash meter (or a pro's working knowledge
of flash exposure without relying on any automation, of course).
You would also need a WIDE diffuser for that 283, the 21mm lens
panel being a good idea (or one of those WA (Stofen ?) balloon dealies).
In lieu of a clamp (Why haven't you already checked out the
Manfrotto site for a clamp ?) You could "pull a Bob Vila" and
go to a Home Depot and cobble up your own clamp, using a 1/4"
threaded bolt to mount the ballhead & flash on. You could probably do it
with the best accessory ever created: Gaffer's tape.
[Luis Axiom #78: If there's no camera stores, there's bound to be great
hardware stores !]
Reflections from glass will also be a problem. Plus I assume you
will be shooting the whole exterior of the booths (from outside).
> My friend is concerned about the amount of time I might spend on each
> booth figuring out the shadows and arranging some gizmo unique to the
> booth to attach the strobe. He thinks, from experience at other
> shows, that I should be able to amble from booth to booth, shooting
> off 6 shots or so at each one, doing about 10 or 12 booths in a hour
> or so. He says these shots are really only record shots, not
> supposed to be "perfect" or suitable for the promoters to use in
> advertising. I'm willing to bet, however, that sooner or later some
> of them will show up in such a way, promoters being what they are.
Your friend is absolutely right in that for mere record
shots, you should be able to do that (aren't record shots
painful ? Small wonder photogs tend to take to the bottle !),
and if that is what they want. Yes, artists may hand over slides
to promoters, and I suppose you can contract each one out, but it'll
make for a long, long day...
> My three flashes consist of an SB-22 with a guide number of 82, a
> Vivitar 285HV and a Vivitar 273.
I thought you were all Canon ! When did the switch take place ?
> The Vivitars have guide numbers of
> 100. I have a sync cord for the SB-22 so it doesn't have to be on
> the hot shoe. The Vivitars can also be mounted on the camera. My
> Nikon will sync at a 60th, a 125th, or a 250th. I have two peanut
> slaves that fire the Vivitars. I also have two very featherweight
> light stands.
Refer to the post/answers to the guy who was shooting the tables
at the wedding on PF for getting in some ambient light. I'd keep
it K.I.S.S. and follow your friend's advice the first time.
> What to charge for this service - the charge would be paid by the craftsperson.
I doubt you can get many takers at $50 per set of slides. You're
trying to milk a turnip here...OTOH, you may be able to barter
for some artwork.
> What would be the least time-consuming and effort-consuming way to
> get the best result with the available gear? The shots need to be on
> slide film and noticably better than what one could get with a point
> and shoot.
Put your SB-22 on an L-bracket and let'er rip. Indoors shoot at 1/30th
or so. Outdoors the flash wills serve as fill. You know what to do.
--- Luis
