Advice Needed: V-Lux and the Church Choir

[Tenor1]

What is the optimal setting to take a picture of my church choir? I'll only get one shot at our rehearsal due to time constraints. The church is not overly bright but we can still easily read the music. I'll use the self timer and run back into place.

I'm not sure how many feet back the camera will be yet. There are 4 rows of 15 people each. The church is the typical not-overly bright Catholic church, lol.

I record the concert and make CD's for the choir and want to have a choir picture on the CD. Would it be best just to use the Auto mode?

Many thanks in advance,
Carlos Marques

[cbretteville]

Carlos,
Can't you go there in advance and try some shots from the prosition you'll have the camera set up? This way you'll get some idea. The clothing of the members will have an influence, naturally, but at least you'll get some feel for what to do/not to do.

- Carl

[earleygallery]

Also, set the camera to auto bracket/multiple shots, assuming it has this feature?

[Tenor1]

Thanks Carl and James. I can take some practice shots beforehand. The camera has autobracketing but I was thinking of using the flash. Would it be better to not use the flash?

Thanks,
Carlos

[dugby]

Carlos, I do shoot a lot of orchestra's and can suggest, if your are the prime photographer for this shoot, then do a few test shots as previously suggested.

I found the optimum things to consider are

a) use a sturdy tripod

b) change White balance to a non-auto setting, preferable indoor or tungsten

c) experiment with ISO 200 or 400 to see if you can get an acceptable level of digital noise

d) Manual focus, do not use autofocus

e) manual aperature to maximum, (ie f2.8),

f) Avoid full wide-angle...if possible

g) if you can get the choir to stand still, non-flash digital shots can be a lot nicer looking than flash photo, otherwise diffused flash will be better than a direct flash shot. But your V-Lux1 flash may not be powerful enough for the diffused shot, so you may need to use an external flash

[Riley]

Originally Posted by Tenor1

Thanks Carl and James. I can take some practice shots beforehand. The camera has autobracketing but I was thinking of using the flash. Would it be better to not use the flash?

Thanks,
Carlos

well maybe, maybe not
flash will tend to isolate the subject to a darker underexposed background, thats the sort of shot that might be better for just one or two people

if you dont use flash, spot meter faces (based on a little prior experience as mentioned) for exposure and WB (also mentioned). this sort of style will give softer images perhaps with some flow or movement

Riley