Shooting portraits of maiko-san indoors - advice needed

[mooseontheloose]

Hi all,

A very sudden opportunity has come up here in Kyoto to shoot a pair of maiko-san (apprentice geisha) inside a traditional Japanese machiya home. It's completely set up for photographers only. There will be 2 portrait sessions and 2 dance sequences and 1 lunch in which we (up to 20 photographers) will be able to take portraits of these young ladies. I'm not sure how it will be set up (hopefully it's not paparazzi-style), but I'm going to try it anyway because this is the first opportunity of this kind that I've seen.

Here's the problem. I don't usually shoot portraits, and all of this will be indoors with (I imagine) fairly low lighting. We are allowed flash only during 2 of the sessions - one dance, one portrait. Everything else is without. My old flash (SB-28) is dead due to battery corrosion. I do have an even smaller, older Nikon flash (SB-15), but I haven't really used it since I got it (it came with a camera I bought). I do have a small handholdable reflector as well. We've been encouraged not to bring tripods, but I'm going to bring mine regardless. The session is tomorrow (sign up was yesterday) so I basically only have tonight to figure things out and do a little practicing/developing.

I'll probably bring 2 cameras - one for colour, one for black and white. Even though I push film a lot, I don't really like what I get - the only success I've had is with pushed Tri-X in Diafine and Delta 400 in Finol (the effective film speed in that developer is 640). However, even at 640 I think I may be close to the lower handholdable limits. For colour I have Provia 400x in the fridge (and I feel it pushes well to at least 800). I wouldn't mind shooting colour neg, but I have almost no experience with it and I'm afraid having underexposed areas that will look like crap afterwards. Similarly, for black and white, I don't want to push too much and end up with really grainy photos. I know this is a no-win situation - I can't have everything - but I'd really like to make the most of this opportunity if I can.

Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions for film (stock and speed) and developer combos, and maybe what I can do with my little flash (that can't be moved to bounce light).

 

[R Paul]

Hi there
Good luck with the shoot. Let us know how it works out. I,d be interested in doing something like that,and I'll be in kyoto in Sept
Rob

 

[mooseontheloose]

Thanks Rob.

I was surprised to hear of this - you would think that there would be more opportunities like this here in Kyoto, although maybe this is the beginning of something more.

In any event, I just bought myself a monopod (the kind with feet) - it's something I've been considering buying for a while now, and it seems less intrusive than a tripod in a small space, so hopefully that works out. I think it'll let me go to lower shutter speeds, if needed.

 

[mgb74]

I've never seen a flash that can't be bounced. You might need a cord, or a hotshoe to cord adapter, and maybe even a hotshoe to pc also. But it can be done.

But I think the sb-15 does bounce.

Also, you can use mat acetate in front to the flash to help diffuse the light, though with some loss of light.

 

[spijker]

How about this?
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The ISO1600 results look very good to me.

 

[R.Gould]

With fast film, say 400, a monopod should allow yoy to shoot at 1/2 second and up, with no problems, I assume that you will be using an slr, with a rangefinder you should be able to handhold at 1/2 second with no problems, Yesterday I was using my old leica at Hamptome museum, very low light work and I hate using flash, I hand held every shot from 1/2 sec to 1/15 sec, no problems, I prefer a monopod to a tripod for slr's, less intrusive and used correctly for the type of work you are looking at easier to use and allows you to move around, Good luck with the shoot, hope all goes well
Richard

 

[mooseontheloose]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I think I'll stick with Delta 400 and 3200 for the most part (maybe both shot 1600, depending on the light), and possibly HP5+. I haven't shot with the 3200 in a while, but I picked up some fresh film yesterday. I also forgot about having some FP 3000B in the fridge - I hadn't thought about bringing my Polaroid, but it might be fun for a few shots (or a pack's worth). Indoor lighting is quite limited in Japanese homes, and can be darker if there are wooden ceilings - just practicing around my home I can barely get 1/10th of a second at f/2.8 at 800. I'm hoping the monopod will really help me out here. Luckily one session will be outside, so I should be able to get some good shots then.

 

[tezzasmall]

Just reading this, I am left wondering how the session went for you Rachelle? And any chance of us all seeing some of the final pictures?

Terry S

 

[mooseontheloose]

The session went well, Luckily it wasn’t as dark as I had feared, and I didn’t need to use my monopod which I had brought along (and bought especially for the occasion). I mean, I probably should have used it, but I would have lost more shots than gained any. Even though there were only ten photogs at the session, it was really crowded and things moved fast. I was using two cameras to minimize the time needed to change film, but when I did it still meant I missed some set ups that they were doing. In any event, I’ll try to get scans of negs (or ideally prints) done soon.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I'd love to see our pics, Rachelle. I shot Geisha girls at a temple in my town many years ago. It was a challenge, to say the least!

 

[Theo Sulphate]

...
But I think the sb-15 does bounce.
...

The lamp portion of the SB-15 can be tilted slightly.



If it still works after many years of non-use, that's good. I pop my flashes every month to keep the capacitors in top shape.