In essence, what you have here is a telephoto lens. What you need for this job is at least a wide angle to slight tele zoom. When shooting groups, you would have to move a large distance back, which is not always possible in tight quarters, besides you would loose flash power. I would caution against accepting this job, as the equipment is not suitable, and would cause you to break out in sweat while trying to overcome the limitations.Bernd Taeger..

I think the previous poster missed the bit about you having the kit lens (18-55) as well; that is what you will need for group shots at a party..

If you are going to be using the onboard flash, remember that it is quite weak. So increase the ISO a bit (to 400), and stick to a relatively wide aperture (say f/5.6), both of which will give you more range, and don't get too far back. You are not going to be able to shoot candids across a room - group shots from a few feet away will be much more like it. Just remember to get fairly close so that the group fills the frame, otherwise you will have small bright white faces and oceans of underexposed black room in the background..

If you are a little bit nervous, just do what you know how to do already. You have plenty of experience with a compact P&S. Fine - so use your camera like that. Set the shutter to the flash sync speed, whatever that is; ISO 400; f/5.6; white balance to flash; then leave the settings alone and shoot away without getting too distant from the subjects. Forget the tele zoom, stick to the 18-55, it has plenty of range for this..

There's a lot more you could do with a DSLR but the time to learn is not when you are doing the shoot. Get people in groups looking happy and laughing. The pictures do not have to be professional works of art to provide a happy memory of the occasion; they do have to be well composed (which you can handle), in focus and well exposed (which the camera can handle)..

Good luck!Mike..

Fused0ne,.

I personally cannot offer any advice however, I just wanted to say congrats on your offer. Being nervous is to be expected. In fact, studies show that a person performs better being a little "on edge" as opposed to completly cool and calm..

As the previous poster said, relax and you will do fine. Do what you know to do..

We would like to see the shots when you are finished..

Congrats again and good luck!.

Mike.

Just starting out and having fun at it!.

Nikon D80 18-135mmNikon Coolpix 3100 (Hey, I had to start somewhere)..

Thank you everyone for the replies. I will tell my sister to tell the person to call me. I will then let them know I am in no way a professional, only fair to tell the truth right?.

As to what to charge I have no idea, any suggestions on that?.

Also the cost to print, that gets figured into the price I charge right? Or is that apart? My sister suggested giving them a CD with the images, and then they could print what they wanted. But that some how dont seem right, to just hand them a CD and say "here print what you like.".

Thank you again very much...

Hey FusedOne,.

Congrats on getting the gig. I'm new to SLR as well so I probably won't have too much advice for you. I remember there was another thread from a guy who shot a Quincenera. You might do a search on it. I remember it was kind of amusing because the mother of the daughter got really angry at the photog (or so he thought). He had heard from someone else some rumor she was really upset about the photos.

It was a fun read though!.

Its amazing how much $$$ gets spent on this event. Kind of like "My Sweet 16" on MTV, going overboard..

Anyway, is this goign to be largely indoors, outdoors or both? If indoors, you might think about getting a faster lens than the kit. the Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a great low-light lens. Optics are fantastic. I purchased one and love it. At the very least, it'll make an excellent portrait lens since it's not very wide. But definitely look into getting it, at $80 it's a bargain..

As to the printing, I'm not a professional but I'd expect that you should get them some prints in addition to perhaps giving them the CD. Not sure how anybody else does it, but I would expect that you would charge for your time to take the pics and post process. Then you'd charge additional for any prints they order. Or perhaps include a certain number of pics with the quoted price, then additional prints are extra. That's how I'd do it, but I'm not a pro so I might be completely off. I'd give them a proof sheet of the pics you took and ask them to select what they want, what size, how many, etc..

Also, definitely shoot in RAW. Being a beginner, RAW will be your best "insurance" policy. I'm new too and always shoot in RAW b/c I know I will mess up something. So take processing the RAW images into account for your quoted price, since processing can take up a lot of time..

Good luck with it and I'd love to see your results! Have fun with it!.

Just trying to learn.

Blog: http://novicephotog.blogspot.com/Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9778447@N07/..

Well I was thinking of getting the 1.8 but then thats not good for group shots right? I am going to sit in the dark and take some images with the kit lens and see how I do..

Thanks again for the replies. I am still figuring what to charge, what to do...

Hey FusedOne,.

The 50mm may not be good for group shots if you don't have enough room to back up. Indoor group shots, 50mm is prob. not wide enough. But it's still a great lens to have, especially indoors and it's better than not having a fast lens at all. Let me know how you do with the kit lens indoors. I haven't shot much of the kit indoors.

On the other hand, the 50mm performs wonderfully indoors..

Also, having a good flash would be a nice to have. It may not be absolutely necessary, but if you are going to use the kit inside, it may be close to necessary. In addition, the flash would be good for fill flash as well on your portraits. I am looking at the Canon 430EX flash. There is a s tronger one out there, but I think I'll go with 430 first b/c of price. I personally don't like the built in flash and rarely use it and try to avoid it..

I think for pricing you should try to find out what the pros charge. You can either figure your price from an hourly rate or a "package rate" depending on what they give you. If they give you an hourly rate, then just work out how many hours you expect to be shooting, how many hours you expect to be post processing. Then apply some discount to the hourly rate (whatever you feel your comfortable with and that's fair). Then you can get a number to give to them as a quote. There are two ways to look at the rate.

This is what I do:.

1. If I am very experienced with what client needs, I charge the full market rate. Most clients want a fixed bid, not an hourly, so I figure how many hours it'll take. Pretty straight forward..

2. There have been projects I've worked on where I've been less than an expert in, more in the intermediate/beginner range. Two ways to work it. I can take the standard market rate and apply a discount to that rate. Say standard rate is $100/hour, I may figure I'm worth $50/hour based on my skillset. Then I figure how many hours it will take me to complete and there is my quote.



3. An alternative is to look at it differently and this is my preferred method: I figure out the market rate for an "expert" and take that number, say $100/hour. Then I estimate how long I believe *an expert* would take to complete. Say an expert may take 40 hours to do the job. So I would quote $4K in that case. However, it may take me 80 hours to complete it.



I think that this methodology could apply in your case, same concept. deciding b/w 2 & 3 depends on what you know and what you feel comfortable estimating. If you feel more comfortable estimating what a pro would do, I go with #3. If I have no idea how long an expert would take, I go with #2 and estimate a discount rate. Sorry if this is basic and I know you were probably looking for more concrete numbers. That is the fun on bidding on any type of project! It happens in all areas, my "day job" too.

I usually don't over bid though, never works out that way it seems. But call a few pros in your area, find out what they charge, and apply a discount. Remember, people expect good quality no matter how much or little they pay, especially for an important event such as this one you are shooting. BUT, at the same time, if you are giving them a steep discount and know you aren't a pro, they can't expect the same product at the end of the day. But they'll still want nice, good photos regardless.

Exploit your strengths, remember the basics and you'll do fine. Best of luck and do keep us posted on what you decide and how you do. We'd love to see some shots when you do it!.

Most importantly to the above: estiamte your out of pocket expenses: gas, incidentals, etc and include that in your bid. Make sure your out of pocket is at least covered so you aren't out money. Worst case, you underbid, but you aren't out money and you had a great learning experience.Just trying to learn.

Blog: http://novicephotog.blogspot.com/Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9778447@N07/..