help/advice

was at 2 very big Liturgical Services last month - only took 165 or so photos between them and reasonably happy with most of them . PP is well and truly underway and I'm busy looking at a series of 3 - group photos taken outside and I really had to just get on with what I could . Remembering I'm not as mobile as I was a few months ago , I'd flown in on Saturday morning , stood for nearly 3 hours in the afternoon and again on the Sunday morning I was getting to the uncomfortable stage and moving less quickly and easily than I like

This was taken with the K-x and the Tamron 18-250 . I shot in RAW the whole weekend and because of the problems of not wanting to use Flash [ I was right at the front of the Church the whole time ] I set ISO at 800 having looked at a couple of preliminary shots before the whole thing got underway.

This is in P mode at f9 Speed 1/1000. I've looked at the graph and the 3 colour lines are virtually one on top of the other and pretty even . I've upped the exposure very very slightly .

Now other than having a wider angle lens if I try for this sort of shot in the future , can you make any suggestions as to anything else I should do with this one ?

[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Anhelyna/IMGP2869.jpg[/IMG]

The image looks a touch out of focus to me? This type of shot can be quite difficult, especially as the backdrop of the building can be quite distracting. I'd think it might work better taken more face-on rather than at an angle, keeping the building symettrical behind the people. Also, as this is a shot of the people more than of the building, perhaps a more panoramic crop, say to the top of the central arch?

Thanks - that was the sort of comment I was looking for - it's actually 1 out of , I think, 3 I took of the group - one is certainly more face-on though other folk with cameras are in shot

I can certainly deal with the cropping

This is the sort of thing I'd now probably be better using a tripod for , but with the problem of flying with very reduced cabin baggage limits [ think tiny plane ] makes my tripod a no-no. This was a fly in one day , fly out next day, and 2 two hour services in-between type of trip. I had not expected to be able to get a group shot at all - I was set up for all the internal stuff.

I've a question re 'sharpening' in PP but I'll put that elsewhere

If you're looking for a light weight and small support, thought about a carbon fibre monopod,or one of those walking 'sticks' with a tripod screw on top? Or, one of the travel tripods with fold back legs that make it very compact?

One manufacturer - Giottos - used the 'Vetruvian' man to advertise one such model. http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/7527/Giottos-Vitruvian-VGRN9255-Tripod-with-MH5...

Tripods bigger than a table tripod aren't allowed in cabin baggage, no matter how small the fold or lightweight they are. Even table 'pods can be tricky.
You may get away with a walking monopod if you use it as a walking stick rather than carrying it folded.

Group photos are difficult - especially such a large group. Squarer on would have been better but I wonder then if you could have fit them all in without them being tiny and overpowered by the church building. I guess a panorama crop would work then, as Alien suggests.

I've often taken a lightweight, large (1.75m extended) tripod in hand luggage.