Friday Night Photo Shoot?

Friday night is possible, if everyone wants to do it then, and we can find a photographer or two to take the photos.

bark? :D

bark

your available after the parade still ?

yessir

Sounds good for me. *wags*

Indoors is fine. Nothing wrong with a little variety in the backgrounds through the years. :)

As for the time, I think it should remain just after the parade. Even if some people aren't marching in the parade itself, it still happens at a time when there are few other con events or activities going on and should maximize the number of people available to appear in it.

I don't want to discourage you from having an evening group shot, but I'll add some words of caution.

If you decide on an evening time, then I suggest you find someone who has a full-frame camera and/or is able to get a sharp and well-exposed image for the group in a dim-light setting (no, it doesn't have to be me). Indoors, the ambient lighting at the Hyatt is okay (not great), thanks to the skylights and large windows around the building. At night, however, the hotel gets very dark, and there aren't any well-lit-for-photography areas.

Your photographer will need enough depth of field to cover the entire group (smaller aperture for larger groups), and a shutter speed fast enough to counter the motion blur. Stabilization (tripod, stationary object, VR/IS/OS/ES/whatever) will allow slower shutter speeds and stop the motion at the camera, but subject motion can be a problem, and more likely in larger groups. ISO is still a factor in that scenario, and it needs to be high enough to produce a good exposure from the selected shutter speed and aperture, and a full-frame camera will provide better performance, there. Of course, most of these issues go away if flash is used, but that can add a different set of problems, especially if it's not well-controlled.

There are good reasons for photographing groups outside and during the day (besides having much more space). The camera setup doesn't need to be pushed to limits in (reasonably) bright areas because faster shutter speeds, smaller apertures, and lower ISO can be used. With those settings, any camera setup can perform well, and you'll have more options (and more people) to get good exposures. Indoors, and especially at night, slower shutter speeds, larger apertures, and higher ISO are needed to get good exposures. Those settings will test the limits of the camera setup and the photographer's techniques.

Again, I'm not trying to scare you, and I understand that you may not need a great image for your group shot (in which case, everything I wrote here won't be helpful). But, do keep in mind that the ambient lighting of the hotel is very dim, at night, and photography is much tougher when there isn't enough light to help.

Anyway, I'll see you at MFF, soon.

very much agreed with all of this ^

the lighting at the hotel can be a bit treacherous for night photography. sure, it looks great for ambient lighting, but it's kinda a photographer's nightmare :P

also flash...it's just not the best in my personal opinion...it can wash out subjects and cause unneeded shadows.

best bet is to get the group of suiters to not move much, and have a high aperture lens, so the shutter speed can be a bit slower to allow the light necessary without much ISO noise (which of course a full-frame would help with)

good stuff ^^

Good points. maybe we should stick to doing the group shot then right after the main parade group photo by this stairs while the skylight is still lit up with daylight.

Okay? The Hyatt's lighting is abysmal! It's like every light fixture is dimmed to 50%. I use more flash power there than at AC or MCFC.

If someone was able to set up a couple of full sized soft boxes, that might help light the group and the scene well enough for a good quality photo with low ISO/low noise.

As I said, the ambient light in the hotel, during the day, is okay. It's a lot worse at night, but it's not pitch black, either. Even when I had a D300s, which was certainly not a good camera for low-light shooting, I never used a lot of flash power in the hotel (nowhere near full power, anyway). But during the night hours, I didn't (and don't) shoot in areas where I'll need to use a lot of it. I have no qualms with using flash when I have to; I can control it.

Softboxes are not good for shooting groups because the light from a softbox is directional. Two of those aimed at the group would send two (somewhat) narrow beams of light to them, and only some will get that light (the rest will be in shadow). Large umbrellas would be a better choice, though they're still not ideal. In either case, a lot of light is needed to fill the modifier - much more than a single speedlight can output. Also, the light on the group, modified or not, would only help with the group's exposure. The background still needs good exposure, and that's handled by the camera (which means that you may need high ISO, anyway).

I was thinking along the same lines that Abrahm just shared on the lighting bit. That hotel's lighting is really funky and dark at night. I don't know that it'd be the best time for photography.

Sounds good to me

I bet ittle still turn out great

cant wait to

see the

photos:3

naked Rusty photobombbbbbbbb!! ( o Y o ) ha! see ya in a few hun!

While a group photoshoot could take place at any time, it seems like your best bet for getting the maximum amount of SSC fursuiters all in one place would be after the parade.