Lens Rental Question: Canon 2.8 zoom

[mom2rtk]

Looks great Janet! Congrats on such wonderful accomplishments for your son. Our graduation was Saturday and there was reserved seating for us too. We chose to sit on the left side and of course they walked from left to right so I missed the best angle for receiving the diploma and walking off stage. I did get some decent shots of other angles. My baby girl graduated Magna Cum Laude and .04 from Summa Cum Laude. I couldn't be anymore proud of her. I will try to post some shots as I get them uploaded over the next few days. It has been one of the most non stop weeks of my life. From award nights for the twins band accomplishments, to my daughter's scholarship awards, to graduation and then the graduation party on Sunday, and tonight was my son's tennis team awards. Several nights we got home after 10pm and my body is just running on fumes. 4 more days of High School for my youngest two while my daughter has one college course final exam tomorrow. Yep, she graduated from High School Saturday yet still has a final tomorrow because of a college credit course. 5 days away from vacation too! Whaaat? All we have planned is where were staying in Orlando for the band trip. Help!

Congrats on an awesome year for your daughter! You have good reason to be a very proud dad! And congrats to you for surviving such a crazy week! Sounds like we have been living parallel lives. Only we get 2 weeks before heading for Florida. I'd be in big trouble if I had to leave in 5 days!

Timmy did grad night last night. Their buses left for UCM at the height of the storm. I had real misgivings about sending him out in the storm, but it's only grad night once. So I swallowed hard and sent him off. They sent a police escort, although I'm not sure what they were going to do to prevent a storm issue. Thankfully he got home safely around 6:25 this morning after shooting baskets and swimming all night with his friends.

So sorry you ended up with the less desirable angle for shots of your daughter getting her diploma. It really is a guessing game in some respects. Even if you know how it was with your daughter this year, you don't know it will be the same for your next one. At least you'll know to ask them after they rehearse during school. Where does your school hold graduation?

I'm really looking forward to seeing some of your shots Mike! I'm glad you had a nice weather day for your ceremony. We were lucky to have the early slot here, so were all done before the storms blew through. Some of my favorite shots of the entire day were with friends outside the auditorium after it was all over.

 

[jimim]

Well, graduation is over. It was a great day. I didn't do as well with the photos as I hoped, but it's really hard when there are so many unknowns. But I have enough to do the scrapbook pages I hoped for, so it will be fine. They also had a photographer there so I'm hoping they got some better angles.

It was lovely having reserved seating. No standing in line 90 minutes in advance waiting for everyone to rush in to find spots. But the seats were indeed a little closer than I would have preferred, so the angle sort of severe.

I had been told by a counselor that my son would be coming down the aisle right next to me, so I had my 17-55 lens ready and was actually taking a couple practice shots down that aisle waiting for him when I realized they were coming down the next aisle over. Oops. Camera was all set up for something different. So I turned off the flash, but forgot to change my settings. This is all I got. I had the camera on program mode when the flash was on so the without the flash the camera gave me 1/15 on the shutter speed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413208/
IMG_9998 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

These are the top 1% who were seated on stage. I good about most of the on-stage stuff. I used 3200 ISO and chose 1/200 for shutter speed. The camera chose 4 or 4.5 for aperture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413960/
IMG_0005 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413886/
IMG_0020 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413814/
IMG_0052 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8757289691/
IMG_0066 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413758/
IMG_0070 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

When the Superintendent recognized the top 1% he asked the parents to stand. Which is all grand, unless you're holding a huge lens and using your arm rest to steady your arm! I still got off a couple shots, but missed my focus a bit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413608/
IMG_0196 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

I did better with presentation of the diplomas since I was seated again:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8757289431/
IMG_0211 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8758413388/
IMG_0227 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

And a shot outside with my 17-55 lens back on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8757289197/
IMG_0319 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Overall I felt like I did better with the 70-200 lens than I did 2 years ago at my first son's graduation. With help here, I found settings I was happy with. So thanks to everyone for the recommendations!

Congrats again! U did great I think! U should be very proud of ur pics and ur son of course! Best of lick to him on his next steps in life!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[KCmike]

Platte County H.S. holds their graduations in the KCI Expo Center up North off I-29 Hwy. I hope to get some shots posted tonight.

 

[mom2rtk]

Congrats again! U did great I think! U should be very proud of ur pics and ur son of course! Best of lick to him on his next steps in life!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Thanks so much jimim!

I keep mulling over that 85mm lens. I appreciate you bringing that up. I think that's where I'm headed for my next lens.

Platte County H.S. holds their graduations in the KCI Expo Center up North off I-29 Hwy. I hope to get some shots posted tonight.

Feel free to post some here or at least let us know where you put them. I'd like to see.

Is it all settling in yet? You're leaving so soon it probably won't hit until you get back.

 

[KCmike]

Here are some first shots...


IMG_9775 by KC MikeD, on Flickr
One side of the Expo Center


IMG_9777 by KC MikeD, on Flickr
Can't see very well but there is a middle part and then the view of the right side of the room.
The big screens were a nice touch for those couldn't see very well. They also showed each student walking during the march which was cool.


IMG_9865 by KC MikeD, on Flickr


Expo Center 2 by KC MikeD, on Flickr



KCI Expo Center by KC MikeD, on Flickr

Just wanted to post a few quick ones. The 50mm 1.8 was my saving grace. It performed pretty well in low light. I did try to use the 55-250 when she was on stage and the movement caused some blur. I have one decent one where her back is to me when getting her diploma. I should have taken the shot of the big screen but missed it. I did get several on the big screen when she was walking in. I will try to post that one later. Now I need to figure out the rest of this trip. We're thinking of heading towards Hilton Head, SC for the last part of the trip. Anyone been there?

 

[Luvscrappin]

KCMike,

Congrats to you and your daughter. Your pics are awesome too. I need to get more confidence in shooting outside of P and A , but moments like these where you get no do overs isnt where I want to take chances. I need to practice and practice some more. I understand how the triangle works but get flustered especially when I might miss something important. Great job to all of us parents of graduates!

 

[mom2rtk]

IMG_9865 by KC MikeD, on Flickr



KCI Expo Center by KC MikeD, on Flickr

LOVE these 2 shots. I really wanted one like the first one, but the kids didn't come in until after parents were seated, and they asked us not to leave our seats. I think when it's Katie's turn, I might push the boundaries a little more. I also might have to give up any semblance of looking normal and just go with 2 bodies. It's really the only answer.

And love the shallow DOF on the second one. What a gorgeous smile she has Mike. She's a beautiful girl.

So did your wife hold tight, or did she have to break out the tissues? Katie actually turned to me as it was all starting and gave me the evil eye saying "You're not going to cry, are you?"

My secret is that I actually use the photography to distract me from the emotional side of what's going on. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd lose it.

 

[KCmike]

LOVE these 2 shots. I really wanted one like the first one, but the kids didn't come in until after parents were seated, and they asked us not to leave our seats. I think when it's Katie's turn, I might push the boundaries a little more. I also might have to give up any semblance of looking normal and just go with 2 bodies. It's really the only answer.

And love the shallow DOF on the second one. What a gorgeous smile she has Mike. She's a beautiful girl.

So did your wife hold tight, or did she have to break out the tissues? Katie actually turned to me as it was all starting and gave me the evil eye saying "You're not going to cry, are you?"

My secret is that I actually use the photography to distract me from the emotional side of what's going on. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd lose it.

Funny you should mention that. My wife did cry. I looked over at her at one point and I saw the tears flowing. My daughter asked if I cried and I had to tell her I didn't. I told her that I probably won't cry until she leaves our home. When I know that she isn't sleeping under my roof I will probably break down. Either that or her wedding day.

Thanks for the kind comments from everyone!

 

[mom2rtk]

I need to get more confidence in shooting outside of P and A , but moments like these where you get no do overs isnt where I want to take chances. I need to practice and practice some more. I understand how the triangle works but get flustered especially when I might miss something important. Great job to all of us parents of graduates!

I totally get how you feel. It's why I'm so hesitant to get out of program mode with the flash when I do character photos at Disney. No do-overs, and I just don't want to take a chance.

And you saw my answer upthread when someone suggested going full manual for better results at graduation. I was just too unsure of that to want to risk it. I will say though that even semi-automatic modes (shutter priority, aperture priority, etc.) greatly improve your odds of getting the shot you want. Putting the camera in shutter priority of 1/200 is what kept the shots fairly sharp for me. Without telling the camera I didn't want to go below 1/200, it might have put me down far lower and shown more camera shake with such a large lens.

It really takes a while to learn to think on your feet after years of shooting on auto. I'm still learning. If I had better instincts in that regard, I'd have better shots of them marching into the auditorium.

Funny you should mention that. My wife did cry. I looked over at her at one point and I saw the tears flowing. My daughter asked if I cried and I had to tell her I didn't. I told her that I probably won't cry until she leaves our home. When I know that she isn't sleeping under my roof I will probably break down. Either that or her wedding day.

Thanks for the kind comments from everyone!

Next time send your wife in with a camera too, so she has her own distraction.

I'm going to be a mess when we go drop him off at school. No way around it. No amount of photography is going to distract me from that.

I'm not sure who will be a bigger more blubbery mess..... me or his cat.

 

[KCmike]

I just got my first chance to sit and relax now as we reached the weekend. I went to Rent Glass.com and noticed they had an "L" lens and thought it might be fun to shoot with it while on vacation but I'm a little too late as Memorial Day Weekend won't give me the opportunity to rent the lens. Oh well.

Are you taking any new/rented lenses with you on your trip Janet?

 

[mom2rtk]

I just got my first chance to sit and relax now as we reached the weekend. I went to Rent Glass.com and noticed they had an "L" lens and thought it might be fun to shoot with it while on vacation but I'm a little too late as Memorial Day Weekend won't give me the opportunity to rent the lens. Oh well.

Are you taking any new/rented lenses with you on your trip Janet?

Like you Mike, graduation and vacation are just too close together for much planning. I'm going to just go with what I have. Although having some fun L glass would be pretty cool. I'm not so sure I'd want to take a rented lens to the beach anyway. It would make me nervous.

I might consider it for our December trip though.