Go-to lenses for event photography

Hey everyone,

After years of taking photos for both fun and at my job (I do marketing at a private school), I finally am succumbing to a request of a friend to take photos at a parents 70th birthday party. It's at a restaurant in a smaller party room so it's low stakes (I wouldn't have said yes to a wedding at this point in my photography career!)

My question. I have a Fuji XH2s. I own a 90mm f2, 23mm f2, 18-55 f2.8.

I'm debating buying a newer Fuji lens for this event to capture moments better in low light, what should I be considering?

FUJIFILM XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR Lens

FUJIFILM XF 35mm f/1.4 R WR Lens

Also for group family shots what should I be using?

Finally, do event photographers use an external flash? I always hate the look of it but I'm thinking of getting one just in case of extreme low light.

Thanks in advance for any tips,

Sincerely,

Daniel

dwmcreative wrote:

Hey everyone,

After years of taking photos for both fun and at my job (I do marketing at a private school), I finally am succumbing to a request of a friend to take photos at a parents 70th birthday party. It's at a restaurant in a smaller party room so it's low stakes (I wouldn't have said yes to a wedding at this point in my photography career!)

My question. I have a Fuji XH2s. I own a 90mm f2, 23mm f2, 18-55 f2.8.

I'm debating buying a newer Fuji lens for this event to capture moments better in low light, what should I be considering?

FUJIFILM XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR Lens

FUJIFILM XF 35mm f/1.4 R WR Lens

Also for group family shots what should I be using?

Finally, do event photographers use an external flash? I always hate the look of it but I'm thinking of getting one just in case of extreme low light.

Thanks in advance for any tips,

Sincerely,

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

In the small amount of event photography I've done I've found the versatility of zooms to allow me to grab natural moments and for this sometimes I need reach.  I would spend most of the time with the 18-55 f2.8 and also add a 50-150 f2.8 and if possible a second body so I could change from one to the other quickly.  If you want to do some posed portraits then the 35mm f1.4 and 56mm f1.2 would come along and be chosen based on available space.

Morris

Nothing wrong with fast primes (I like a 23/56mm combo on two bodies - I hate swapping lenses), but unless it’s really dark, my go-tos are the 16-55 and 50-140 f/2.8 zooms. They’re both exceptionally sharp and excellent performers wide open at f/2.8 - which is usually plenty fast enough, and with apertures much wider than that you will often run into DOF issues in a group setting anyway.

While f/2.8 is usually fine, f4 is often not, and 18mm isn’t often wide enough for my liking either, so the 18-55 f/2.8-f/4 might “work”, but wouldn’t be my first choice.

Complementing your 23 with a 56 would be fine, but unless you have a second body, that will mean swapping lenses and significantly less versatility (IMO). FWIW, I shot my father in law’s 80th birthday party in a similar setting to yours with just my 16-55 without any issues. I hate the on-camera flash look with a passion and haven’t shot that way in over a decade now.

As far a group shot goes, I would assemble everyone in as shallow (and reasonably narrow) an arrangement as possible and back up as much as you can to minimize perspective distortion at the edges of the frame and maximize DOF.

I would add a WA.  Fo events i use also the  xf 10-24

I also use a Godox flash which can bounce plus a small soft box adapted on its head Well set the combo with the Goxo fives a rendition quite close to a studio light.

A sample :

and how it set the combo

Note that the head of the flash is turned in reverse position with the white screen in front of the subject. Adjusting  asmall softbox is even better, then setting the angle of the head a bit  downward to prevent shadow from the nose

Usinf ES no noise, easy to get candid portraits

All I do is corporate event work.  And do it full time.  I use the 16-55 2.8 and the 50-140 2.8.  Like weddings, things happen pretty fast so I don't use primes.  I also use a Godox V1 flash. I's highly recommend having some type fo flash just in case.

Don't be afraid of high ISO.  Remember, this is an event.  It's not a fine portrait.  Which I also do.  However, NONE of the event photos will ever go larger than an 8x10.  And probably mostly viewed on someone's phone.  At that size, you won't even see noise.

I shoot at ISO 3200 and 6400 all the time with very high end clients.  Not one had ever complained about quality.

Thanks for this. I guess it may not be necessary to buy a prime with a crazy aperture because I'll be taking a lot of group photos and f1.2 or f1.4 is too narrow!

I'm going to really need to practice with my flash though because I have a godox that I've used once!

I don't have two bodies, but I have an XH2s and a x100v so I suppose I could maybe make use of the 100v in some situations

dwmcreative wrote:

Hey everyone,

After years of taking photos for both fun and at my job (I do marketing at a private school), I finally am succumbing to a request of a friend to take photos at a parents 70th birthday party. It's at a restaurant in a smaller party room so it's low stakes (I wouldn't have said yes to a wedding at this point in my photography career!)

My question. I have a Fuji XH2s. I own a 90mm f2, 23mm f2, 18-55 f2.8.

I'm debating buying a newer Fuji lens for this event to capture moments better in low light, what should I be considering?

I believe you've got a great kit already, that's more than capable of delivering in this sort of scenario.

Your 23mm should work great in this scenario and I'd recommend sticking with that. You could look into renting an 18mm f/1.4. It's a gem of a lens and is especially good for social events in small venues. The 16mm f/1.4 is also great if you need to go a bit wider.

The 90mm may be a bit tight for a small party room, so perhaps you look for something around the 50mm mark. Both the 50mm f/2 and 56mm f/1.2 are great choices.

The 16-55 f/2.8 is a great choice if you're comfortable with using zooms and know your way around the various focal lengths.

I'm not sure how much experience you have at shooting social events, but if you're having doubts, I suggest resorting to primes. Makes you think more about the composition and gives you peace of mind if things get hectic.

FUJIFILM XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR Lens

FUJIFILM XF 35mm f/1.4 R WR Lens

Also for group family shots what should I be using?

It depends what sort of working space you will have available. The longer the better, but keep an eye on your aperture, you want to avoid blurring people out by mistake.

Finally, do event photographers use an external flash? I always hate the look of it but I'm thinking of getting one just in case of extreme low light.

Yes, flash is your friend. You can just point your flash upwards towards the ceiling and you'll get great fill flash or get a bounce accessory, like a MagBounce.

Thanks in advance for any tips,

The more you know about the venue beforehand, the better. Perhaps you could try to get there a bit early and have time to set a custom white balance, get a better idea of the particularities of the venue etc.

If the lighting ends up being all over the place, you can always switch your camera to Acros or Monochrome, it helps with focusing on the composition.

The X-H2s is a beast of a camera, so you'll be fine. Keep an eye on your shutter speed and your highlights. Exposure comp is your friend!

Sincerely,

Daniel

dwmcreative wrote:

Thanks for this. I guess it may not be necessary to buy a prime with a crazy aperture because I'll be taking a lot of group photos and f1.2 or f1.4 is too narrow!

I'm going to really need to practice with my flash though because I have a godox that I've used once!

My setup for the event would be very similar to photolando.  If it is a small room you probably won't need the reach the 50-140 would give.  My goto lens in that situation would be the 16-55/2.8 and not have to remove it.  In a small room an on-camera flash may be best bounced to avoid harsh light.  If I did this kind of small event I would put a diffuser (round one included in the Godox V1 or get a Stofen-like one to put on the TT-XXX) on, and experiment with angles.  Try straight up and adjust your flash EC.  If you use flash, Flash EC is best by assigning it to a function button or one of the selections in the "Q" menu.  I'm more as traditionalist and don't use Auto-ISO as much as others.

Best if you can scope the location out beforehand and have someone with you as a "model" so you can be better prepared for the kinds of images you'd be taking.  Rarely have I ever taken on a job and not spent time at the location at the approximate time during the day the event would be taking place.

Bring the X100V with you but you'll probably not need it.  BTW, and your technique may differ, but for awhile I have put my cam on AF-C at events because people and I move constantly and I want to make sure I have good focus.  Your newer cam should be able to do that quite well.

Good luck!

For Godox see my post. Add a Pixco small soft box it is even better

baobob wrote:

For Godox see my post. Add a Pixco small soft box it is even better

Any diffuser is good...... AND,  if you do not have an X-H2S, change your shutter to mechanical or one of the combos with mechanical. If you are not "fluent" in flash, and you are in a time crunch... if your cam is in ES, the flash is greyed out for good reason.

Note:  bolded text was changed to correct an inaccuracy.

Like that

Note that I have turne the head 180° in my direction the photographer

This config implies that there is a ceiling not too far  (3-7m) from the flash if not I just shoot directly with adapetd angles in the direction of the subject

The Pixco soft box gives a wide uniform not harsh light BTW The Pixco collapses (to get completely flat) it is light and is easy to carry.

The camera is set in M mode ES adjusting SS at quite a high value if peiople (dancers) are moving fast, aperture as desired. Combining aperture, ISO and power of flash allows to combine ambiant light and flash, useful when there are colored lights.

not at all with the XH2s I use ES all the time with my Godox 860 This is one great asset of the stracked sensor. I can use the flash at very very fast SS

Soft light avoiding ugly shadow with my config

and combining ambiant light adjusting SS ISO aperture and power of the flash

and avoiding !

dwmcreative wrote:

I don't have two bodies, but I have an XH2s and a x100v so I suppose I could maybe make use of the 100v in some situations

I have used the X100V with the wcl (18mm) paired with the old 35mm f1.4 in this kind of situations...great combo.

baobob wrote:

not at all with the XH2s I use ES all the time with my Godox 860 This is one great asset of the stracked sensor. I can use the flash at very very fast SS

I stand corrected.  Thanks