First prom shoot-in the home.

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jason
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Ive been asked to shoot my mates daughters PRE-prom next week. Its only in his home before they all go off to the prom.
I know its never gonna produce amazing photos in someones living room etc but what can I do to make the best of this situation? Is not a serious request but he asked if I could do something. I would like the practice and experience also. I'll be taking candid shots and some portraits and group photos.
Gear I have is;
Nikon D7200
NIKON 35mm F1.8 prime
Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4
TOKINA 11-16mm F2.8
NIKON 80-200MM F2.8 (manual only)
YONGOU 560 FLASH
Tripod light/softbox/umbrella x1 plug in.

I've never used the tripod light rig so is it best to use the flash on trigger, lightbulb, softbox or umbrella??
Use the flash mounted on camera, pointing upwards with deflector(?)
What's the best background? White wall, patterned paper wall???
Use the light coming in from windows?
Use the domestic lights in the house?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Depends what sort of pics they want, maybe look at some examples with them to get ideas? If you discuss and agree together then it should make directing everyone a bit easier on the day.

What equipment to use? I’d stick to the minimum possible to get the look you are going for and only what you are comfortable with or can get comfortable with if you have time to practice before.

FWIW We did this a couple of years ago at home, the theme for the night was “Bond” so we went for black background. Single portraits and group poses. Lighting was a a couple of soft boxes and speedlights.
 
Windowlight and a reflector, or just outside.

Simple rules for portraiture are to use as long a lens as is practical and avoid distracting backgrounds. And it's light, background and gear in that order.
There's really no more to it than that.

More complex rules for making people look good - remember that whatever is nearest the camera looks bigger, keep it fun, if they sense you're stressing, your shots are gonna be crap. communicate - reinforce positives, 'that looks great but could you just... ' rather than 'that's not working can you do...'

And if she's a typical teenager - she'll look better on her selfie than in your pics :(
 
Windowlight and a reflector, or just outside.



And if she's a typical teenager - she'll look better on her selfie than in your pics :(

Like I never had those spots in my selfie LOL
 
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