Help with DSLR settings for an indoor event, please

twirlagig

I don't have my DSLR that long and I am still trying to get to used to all the settings. An awful lot of trial & error so far but am getting a small bit better!
Anyway, I have to take some photographs for an event thats happening in a shop, the shop is lit by, what I think are either large fluorescents or large halogen fittings - Basically its fairly bright. There should be a good few people there on the day and want to capture it clearly.
I would appreciate any advice from ye guys on what settings to select... It's a Canon with the lens that comes as standard and I've no separate flash or anything.
So, any suggestions to get the most out of what I have for this?

Thanks in advance!

GhostInTheRuins

The only thing you really mention is the lighting in the place, so we can't really give you advice about any other aspect of it.

Just make sure you set the white balance correctly, you can probably just change it to one of the in camera pre-sets. One of the florescent or incandescent pre-sets will probably do ya. But if you're shooting raw you can fine tune the white balance afterwards anyway.

Oh, and the shop might not actually be as bright as you think it is!

ScumLord

As long as the room is well lit you shouldn't have to many problems and could leave the camera on auto but to be sure you should probably go and take a few shots to see how they come out before the event.

magicbastarder

as i found out recently, flourescents flicker, so if you have a fast shutter speed, the photos may come out dimmer than you expect if the shutter trips in a 'dip'.

Kenny Logins

What DSLR? I struggled with dim indoor shots on my D5100 but when set to scene > indoor/party they were perfect.
The trade-off was I had little 'creative control' and there was a huge delay for the red-eye and focus assist lamp etc. Not ideal, but if you're under pressure to produce good (posed) shots it's worth experimenting with.

Use RAW, you can do loads to correct after the event.

PCPhoto

twirlagig wrote: »

I don't have my DSLR that long and I am still trying to get to used to all the settings. An awful lot of trial & error so far but am getting a small bit better!
Anyway, I have to take some photographs for an event thats happening in a shop, the shop is lit by, what I think are either large fluorescents or large halogen fittings - Basically its fairly bright. There should be a good few people there on the day and want to capture it clearly.
I would appreciate any advice from ye guys on what settings to select... It's a Canon with the lens that comes as standard and I've no separate flash or anything.
So, any suggestions to get the most out of what I have for this?

Thanks in advance!

Are you getting paid for this "event" ?

I would echo what others have said ... shoot RAW, compensate for exposure in post processing (assuming you know what you are doing there) - if you can get hold of it...try to get a better lens.

Not to be smart, but you really shouldn't be taking on work if you have neither the knowledge or equipment to do it.


That said, buy a flashgun. You WILL need it. Buy it sooner rather than later so you can figure out how to use it properly. It'll help get rid of the awful shadows behind heads that your pop-up flash will give you.

Unless the shop is extremely bright you'll need flash (and keep in mind what's bright to your eyes, may be dark to the camera's sensor).

I wish you the best of luck with it and hope everything turns out well for you.