lighting for prom

[Sailor Blue]

Originally Posted by mheck

MIke - are you saying this is what I'll need x2?
Paul C. Buff - 10-foot General Purpose Light Stand

Paul C. Buff - AlienBees B800

Paul C. Buff - Soft Silver PLM

Am I missing anything?

The B800 is a very good high quality studio flash and at 320Ws it is a great choice.

The 64" one is a nice compromise size and you should get a sock for the PLM to make it act more like a softbox if wanted.

[photolando]

Originally Posted by Songman45

100ft 46mm in a long roll magazine and "cut" in a changing bag. And if you think a FX camera has a noisy mirror slap you don't even know.

KA-Klunk!! I hated those things! But man could they take a beating.

I crack up every time I think about the old studio I worked at that did school photography, mostly seniors and all the underclass for high schools. People always talk about great cameras and great glass and here was a studio that did $3.5 "million" a year...with Nords!! Ha!

MArketing and selling. That's what it's all about folks.

[photolando]

Originally Posted by mheck

MIke - are you saying this is what I'll need x2?
Paul C. Buff - 10-foot General Purpose Light Stand

Paul C. Buff - AlienBees B800

Paul C. Buff - Soft Silver PLM

Am I missing anything?

Thats sounds good. I think the silver umbrellas may be a bit too contrasty. I'd go with white myself...unless, as sailor suggests, get the black cover and front diffusion material.

[mheck]

Originally Posted by Sailor Blue

The B800 is a very good high quality studio flash and at 320Ws it is a great choice.

The 64" one is a nice compromise size and you should get a sock for the PLM to make it act more like a softbox if wanted.

I was going to get 2 of everything I have listed from the Paul Buff equipment...I'll change the umbrella to white instead of silver.

Once I get this equipment am I up & ready to rock & roll or is there other things I am going to need?

[keithdewey3]

You have gotten a lot of good advice here.

Her is my 2 cents.

You are going to need to go to the venue to find out where you are going to have to set up before you will know what you need. I shoot 3 proms a year and what we need to do them is always hugely different.

If you setting up in a room with 8ft white ceilings, white walls and the size of a large living room you will be able to do it with 2 lights that are the power listed in the larger kit you linked.
If you are setting up in a huge room, 30 ft vaulted ceilings with dark murals painted on it , dark concrete block type walls that are 20 ft away on the closest side then you are going to need a minimum of 4 AB800s and a background.

Don't plan on selling many prints to the couples. If you set up and shoot them in a unique set you will do better but proms won't make you much money.

I am not trying to discourage you from doing this at all. You will learn a lot even if you don't make money. If you photograph 100 couples you will be lucky to sell $200(retail) in prints. Any sale you dont make the night of the prom will never happen.

Also give thought to how you are going to match the photos up to the client later and how you will deliver them.

I would be happy to answer any questions you have. Looking forward to seeing some of the final result and hear what you think when it is over.

[mheck]

Originally Posted by keithdewey3

You have gotten a lot of good advice here.

Her is my 2 cents.

You are going to need to go to the venue to find out where you are going to have to set up before you will know what you need. I shoot 3 proms a year and what we need to do them is always hugely different.

If you setting up in a room with 8ft white ceilings, white walls and the size of a large living room you will be able to do it with 2 lights that are the power listed in the larger kit you linked.
If you are setting up in a huge room, 30 ft vaulted ceilings with dark murals painted on it , dark concrete block type walls that are 20 ft away on the closest side then you are going to need a minimum of 4 AB800s and a background.

Don't plan on selling many prints to the couples. If you set up and shoot them in a unique set you will do better but proms won't make you much money.

I am not trying to discourage you from doing this at all. You will learn a lot even if you don't make money. If you photograph 100 couples you will be lucky to sell $200(retail) in prints. Any sale you dont make the night of the prom will never happen.

Also give thought to how you are going to match the photos up to the client later and how you will deliver them.

I would be happy to answer any questions you have. Looking forward to seeing some of the final result and hear what you think when it is over.

Thanks for all the advice! The venue is inside a gymnasium. The jr class will have an area decorated for me already to take the couple pictures & class pictures. I realize I may not make a lot of $ from this & I'm ok w/ that - that's why I was hoping to spend around/under $500 on lighting equipment. I also want to be able to use the new lighting for indoor on location type settings for newborns, families, kids, etc....so will the Paul Buff stuff I'm considering going to work for that? Do you/can you suggest a cheaper brand?

[Steven G Webb]

If the Buff equipment is in your spending budget, get it. Yes, you'll be able to use it for the portrait projects you mentioned. There are cheaper brands, the come with less reliability, inability to mount modifiers and/or having to spend extra money on mounts and such. Buff is the best bang for the buck and their customer care is second to none.

One thing that was not mentioned is triggering the lights. You'll need something to connect to the camera and at least one of the lights (the second can fire from it's optical slave). Buff has an RF transmitter/receiver that is reliable and should work fine in your close quarters. The flash units come with a 15' cord that will tie your camera to the light but in spaces with lots of people around these can present a bit of hazard. Silly things go wrong, like the sync cord not being long enough, someone "clotheslining" a cord, or forgetting you're attached to the light and walking with the camera in-hand causing a crash. You can get a single transmitter and receiver, or two receivers.

Your PLM idea is good. You might be as well served with a pair of shoot-throughs, just a matter of taste. Those 60" modifiers might present you with a space problem if you go into a smaller room for that other work.

Organization in shooting and identifying is a good topic. I shoot horse shows where there are hundreds of exhibitors and we take thousands of pictures at each show. We HAVE to be able to quickly match pictures to exhibitors. So I understand keeping track.

Here's an idea:
Get some 9X12 envelopes. Have your customers or assistant write their names and what they are ordering on the envelope, the can also place their payment inside. As they come to be photographed take the envelope and place it face down in a bin or box. If you have an assistant doing to printing, great. Keep the batches of envelopes with the cards (photos) that match. The order is verified with the payment amount, the payment removed and the order placed into the envelope for delivery. You can then place the envelopes on a table where they can be picked up after they are processed.

Best wishes with the endeavor.

Steve

[alanbutler57]

I guess things have changed alot in the last ten or twelve years. I think we cleared close to $10 per shot profit at the gig I shot. Different times, different places I suppose.

Hopefully, you have a way to get "pick-a-pack" pricing from a wholesale lab like Miller's or Pound's, this makes things much easier. They used to offer special discounts for the "one package prom" option where everybody got the same package, and simplified everyone's life, particularly now that so many will simply buy the cheapest package anyway and scan a print.

The other "gotcha" is keeping up with which "negative" goes with which order, especially if you don't know most of the kids.

Have a couple of standard poses in mind, particularly for the common circumstance at that age of the girl being taller than the guy, a wider stance for the girl, weight on her back hip slightly behind the guy can help.

Good luck and Have Fun!

[photolando]

Times have changed and I hate to say it but prom sales are waaaaaay down. So much so my buddy who works for one of the larger high school photo studios says they have to include a fee for photos in the prom ticket to make any money. The school charges like an extra $10 per ticket and each student gets one photo. Another friend does the same and only give them CD's. Probably better since a CD is very cheap. Rarely do they buy anything extra. But you do get the $10 from "every" student and not everyone will do their photos. So a 200 student dance will yield about $2000, minus costs.

[keithdewey3]

Originally Posted by photolando

Times have changed and I hate to say it but prom sales are waaaaaay down. So much so my buddy who works for one of the larger high school photo studios says they have to include a fee for photos in the prom ticket to make any money. The school charges like an extra $10 per ticket and each student gets one photo. Another friend does the same and only give them CD's. Probably better since a CD is very cheap. Rarely do they buy anything extra. But you do get the $10 from "every" student and not everyone will do their photos. So a 200 student dance will yield about $2000, minus costs.

I do the same thing as your friend. Depending on your market the price you can charge varies. Also it is unlikely the school will approve the added cost of tickets unless you are providing something special for th e occasion. I set up a background and set that matches the prom's theme.
With so many cameras around few schools will be interested in pictures that aren't unique.