I'm shooting a 40th high school reunion in a couple of weeks at a major league ballpark and they want a group shot in the stands.
I plan to use flash, but will have a couple of issues I've not dealt with before.
First I assume there will be some ambient light of some kind but I have no clue what type or quantity, or direction.
Second, the seats are 10 across and 7 deep if you skip the first two rows - about 70 folks. There are 150 to be photographed so we'll do this in two sittings. There is a difference in height from me at head height to the back row at head height of around 20 feet. Yeah, these are steep seats. So positioning of the flash will be???? I've considered one head about 10 feet or so above me aimed at them. Not sure if that will vinette or not, but I'm afraid 2 will create cross shadows. Figure I'll need F8 maybe to get everyone in focus.
HELP! I don't get a practice of this...
Second issue is they want head shots with the city as the background. Sounds cool to me, but I need to set the flash (probably large umbrella or softbox) to overpower whatever the ambient is (to avoid color issues) and still drag the shutter I suppose, to get the city in the BG. This at least I can try and do a practice session and see what works.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
i would see what the arena lighting is light, go there at night, color will probably be way off from a flash, it will probably be red. its amazing how even the light will be. i think you could pull it off at 1/30sec @F8+ and high iso, u have a markIII if i recall, iso 1600 is great.
For the group, I think Michael is right, your flash with umbrella is not going to cut it, unless you crank up the ISO, then you have to balance ambient with flash. I'd sure want to either have a colour meter or a trial ahead of time if you were using both because you'll need to alter the flash colour output to match ballpark lights. I've never shot ballpark at night so sorry, I can't help on that one. You didn't say it was night, just that you would have ambient, so some detail would help.
I have the same opinion as Kevin's answer on dusk portraits, get rid of the umbrella and you might have enough power. I just shot a group of 100+ in a large gym with one small flash on camera and 2 on high stands. It worked out well at 400 ISO and I got f:10 with my small 400 ws strobes.
You really need to elevate yourself somehow. Any ball park will have super high step ladders or probably an electric hoist. I'd have the group arrange to get something for you.
On the head shots, I would either shoot this as a green screen and add the skyline in later, or if it's individual or couples, shoot a skyline now, print it at a poster shop onto 48" paper and hang that as your backdrop. It's a whole lot safer. If you use the photo background, spray it with non-glare spray to avoid any reflection from your lights. I've used my own photo backdrops and they look just as good as Dennys if you are careful and test ahead of time. Around here, the charge is $3 to $4 per square foot for a large ink-jet, so cost is minimal.
Just one last thought and not to be critical - sometimes it's best to make sure that there is enough profit in the end to justify the extra work and risk involved. I've turned down a few things lately, even though I could use the gigs - just not enough in it for me vs. time & risk. One was a hockey tourney - 2 full days (28 hours) in a cold arena for $1K range. Tough call but I'd rather go after one family portrait that weekend for the same $$.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I love doing group shots outside. You have tons of room to move things around, and raise lights and such.
It's just a matter of enough power to light them all. A 2000WS pack and 48"x36" softbox would do the trick nicely. The farther back you have the light, the less fall off you're going to have between the front of the group and the rear. For a group that size, 40 or 50 feet would probably work well. I have a Manfroto stand that has a integral boom that must go to at least 10 feet. If you need more height, put it on the back of a pickup truck or something.
One of the more useful things I have for group portraits is a 12 foot step ladder. About $200 at Home Depot, and you'll find all sorts of uses for it.
For the head shots, it's always easier to do things in-camera than in post. If you're worried about colour contamination, find a dark corner to set up your light so that you can see the background behind you, but the subject without the strobe would be in silhouette.
If these guys are a grad class, they'll probably be glad to cram the whole lot of them onto a set of grandstands. I think that would make a great photo.
It will be dark - I start at 6pm with individual shots and the group will be about 9 pm. Oct 11. So it will be dark here in PA.
I have 40D's to work with. They want the pick in a book, double truck, so 11 inches high x 16 wide more or less. I don't want to go beolow 1/30s without flash for fear of people moving and being blurry. I don't want to do ISO 1600 not so much because of noise but that the detail starts to drop off and with an image of 70 heads that is likely to be an issue (IMO anyway)
The 'field' lights will not be on - this is well past baseball season so that is why I have no idea on lighting in the area. I will call and ask but have no idea what teh event person will be able to tell me, technically speaking.
Click on this and you'll get a view AT the place I'll be shooting. If you spin the view (it's ian iPics 360 degree thing) you will see what I've got to work with. I'll be on the first base line (this is at the club on the 3rd base line- but same exact setup).
There is a patio area and if you pan right a bit you'll see the bleachers - backing up isn't possible and I'm not climbing up on some ladder at that location, sorry, they don't have that much money. (fear of heights)
2000ws? 50 feet back? not possible.
Money...150 folks and probably $14 markup above and beyond the COGS and that doesn't include anything the folks may buy. It's a Class of '68- so these folks are all 58 years old. Plan is to do the head shots as they enter the reunion, then the group shot about 3 hours (of open bar) later. Based on two other reunions of this school/age group they will be quite happy...mildy drunk and fun, but mildly drunk means they don't listen well.
Taking 150 (plus 60 spouses) away from teh bar and band to go to the filed isn't going to work - the plan for rain is to use the press conference room on the first floor - but there is ONE elevator and it holds maybe 12 people and it's a 4 or 5 story climb on steps...you do the logistics on this and it's not gonna be pretty. I don't want to try and photography 200 peeved drunks - it's like herding cats when it works well! Take them away from their party for 30 some elevator rides (15 down and 15 up...)
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
If this bleacher area is what I see, this is one insane shot unless you can levitate. Is there no other area?? My second choice (staying home is the first) would be multiple shots across the bleachers and stitch them together in post. I'd say 3 shots would do it. It eliminates most of your flash/camera/levitation problems. PS CS4 make sit pretty simple. I don't think anyone should expect perfection.
I'd have an assistant holding the flash on a pole to get height, aim the flash up slightly so that the farthest point is getting the same power as the closest and go for it. I'd find out if you have AC power anywhere near that you can access. You may not.
Apart from that, I'm out of ideas until I have my morning coffee at least.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
If possible, go there at the same time as your photo and several days before and check it out.
One thing to make sure is if the stadium owners will even let you in with the equipment and lighting. You may need special permission and if you are a professional, insurance to cover any possible mishaps.
Get everything in writing, take names and numbers. Even if everything is in order, there's a good chance someone was left out of the loop and will be out of joint over you being there. Make sure you have the cell number of the head of security, the stadium contacts, copies of your permits & insurance and everything else.
If possible, have a representative from the stadium on-hand to smooth any glitches.
If you have all this in place, you won't probably need to use them. It's when you just show up out of the blue or don't have the needed paperwork in order things get messy...
__________________ Larry Angier
Image West Photography
(fear of heights)
Take them away from their party for 30 some elevator rides (15 down and 15 up...) 
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