I agree with a lot of what is being said here about “are you sure about this” but in the giving advise area...Flash 580 EXii with a Rogue Flash bender large. Two would not be a bad thing if you can and plan to use a flash. Plus play with using both flashes at the same time.Class 10 memory cards at least 32 GB more the better. Also easy change method between cards.4 batteries and a quick charger for them. Also a battery grip that takes AA’s as a backup is good. You can find this cheap at Amazon or eBay.You have one camera a 17-50 2.8 lens is needed. Depending on the venue and how far away from the action you might end up at any time a second camera with a 70-200 2.8 lens would be a good idea. I would take 3 lenses max with you.Also be very aware of filling up the buffer. When the conga line starts and you are trying to get close ups of everyone as they join it you will see how fast you can fill the buffer and how frustrating it can be to know you are losing shots you want. Knowing your equipment can help here tons.Make sure you are good for being on your feet the whole time and do not plan to be able to eat or sit during the whole event. Keep hydrated. You do not want to be eating or on a bathroom break and the Birthday person does something photo worthy.If there is any schedule make sure you know about it and figure out in advance where you need to be to take the shots. I prefer to be setup in the area something is going to happen before hand and let the guest fill in around me so I can get the shots. Wading through the crowd normally means tons of missed shots.Also make sure your post process plan is going to allow for the time needed to deliver the photos in a timely fashion. How many photos are you planning on taking? And yes RAW is the only way to go. How many are you planning on delivering? What form are you delivering them? DVD? Playable DVD with music? Standard Photos? What sizes? How many of each shot? Coffee table books are also nice options. --I took a course in art last winter. I learnt the difference between a fine oil painting, and a mechanical thing, like a photograph. The photograph shows only the reality. The painting shows not only the reality, but the dream behind it.

You make this far too complicated. One extra battery is plenty. I would take along a charger, however. One piece of advice I have not seen given is that, except for the pictures where you anticipate very large blowups, stick to sRAW. You will save a ton of space. -- Jim http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt

One more thing I haven't seen mentioned, how are your people/social skills? Are you up to it to get a spontaneous reaction from people and pose them? This will make or break the shot regardless what gear you have and what technique you use.Often you need to work really hard to draw the attention of all the persons in a group. I usually do it on the count of 3, that usually works well. I also try one shot where people lift their arms in the air and cheer for more energy in the shot.You also need to handle other people who shoot the group, as there's bound to be other people with cameras in a group of 300. They will draw the attention as they often know the people in the group as well as the reverse. So it can be hard to get all the eyes pointed at you at times. This is one of the few times a photographer must step up and get noticed.Distracted and a little dullHere everyone is engaged and cheering:freeframedwrote:alright so have my first paid event coming up in a week or so and and i am considering renting a lens for the event.THE EVENT: the event is a rather large birthday party 250 - 300 guests it is being held in a hotel convention room (indoors) the will be dj's, dancing, lights etc.so there may not be too much light to work with.MY KIT:i currently have a Canon T2i coupled with the kit 18-55mm IS lens, the only problem is that it is not a very fast lens by any means, F 3.2 (or some were right around there) i also have a Vivitar DF-383 flash that i plan on using as well.So taking all that into consideration, could i get away with the kit lens?RENTAL: i am considering renting either of these two lenses. Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM Wide-Angle Lens Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM Wide-Angle LensAny thoughts or insightful tips is greatly appreciated!

Good idea with the arms up in the air thing... I usually do that when taking a picture of a group of kids, as at least it all gets them looking at me at the same time and doing the same thing (otherwise there's always a kid or two looking at a bug on the ground or his fingers or poking at the kid next to him or something).Also, when taking a shot of a big group there's bound to be a few people blinking. One way to prevent that is to tell them to close their eyes, and you're going to count down to zero, and then you want them to open them."Three Two One Zero Everyone open your eyes" pause a second for the slower ones Take the shot

In the one picture with perfect expressions, one person will have his/her eyes closed. Fortunately if you have a couple of pictures, it is easy to clone them in. -- Jim http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt