Tips for taking shot in welding workshop

[paul_keith_dickinson]

Hi to the snapper's of the world

I would like some advice on taking shot in my friend Welding

workshop.He is making a cataloge up of his products and has ask if I

would do the Photgraphy( for free as uusual)I will be taking shot of

him welding and also using plasma cutting processer's.I will be

using Nikon D70 and would like some sur

sugestions for settings and lenses

Many Thanks Keith Dickinson Liverpool

[barry__]

Hi Keith

 

Just a couple of points regarding safety not only of your self but your equipment

1/ Don't get too close, cameras and welding, not a good mix, use a medium range zoom and a tripod, consider a ND filter?

 

2/ Wear protective eyewear, even looking through the viewfinder, you can suffer from the results of welders 'arc'

 

Hope it all goes well.

 

Regards

 

Barry

[bill_chiarchiaro]

Keith,

 

If the shooting session won't be under severe time limits, then take advantage of the fact that you have a digital SLR --- experiment with different settings and lenses during the shoot, review the results, and adjust.

 

Some hints:

 

There will be a huge lighting ratio in the scene. Take advantage of spot metering to base the exposure on an area that's not right next to the welding arc or flame (if you're using a lens that gives a wide view), and let the arc or flame be overexposed. Or, again take advantage of your DSLR, use manual exposure, and quickly try a range of exposures. Using a lens with a narrower view can reduce the lighting ratio by restricting the scene to areas close to the arc or flame.

 

Ghosting and perhaps flare could be problems. Some lenses are better than others in this regard. You might want to remove any filters from your lenses. If you're using a lens that tends to produce ghosts or flare, try to use as small an aperture as possible.

 

Do test shots with a white or grey card, or identify a neutral object in the scene, for setting white balance. Shooting in raw mode is probably a good idea.

 

Think about how you want to depict motion. If there's enough ambient light, or if you've narrowed your view, you could use a fast shutter speed to freeze the shower of sparks. Or, you might want to use a slower speed to get blurring to indicate motion or to make the shower look more full.

 

Give some consideration to using flash to bring up the level of ambient lighting; a welding scene can be similar to a backlit scene in sunlight.

 

I was recently shooting in an aircraft restoration workshop. I came around a corner and saw a mechanic using an electric arc welder; I had only a few seconds to shoot before he stopped. A matrix-metered exposure was very underexposed. Shown here is my favorite shot (still not a wonderful photo), which was spot metered on the frame of the vehicle being welded. The lens was the 12-24mm DX at 24mm, with a Nikon L37c filter; the exposure was ISO 800, 1/160 sec, f/4. This was raw mode, with spot white balance during conversion from NEF. With more time, I would have used a lower ISO setting, but I was set up for low-available-light shooting. At 1/160 sec, there was some elongation of the sparks, but a slower shutter speed would have been better for accentuating the shower. There were no ghosts or flare.

 

--Bill<div></div>

[rick_twigg]

Don't forget to post some shots when you're done!

[luis triguez]

Wedding pictures can't be repeated so best thing is refuse politely :-)

 

Anyway: Your first opportunity will be as guests arrive before the ceremony, you can take a lot of shots. Then at the reception (you can use flash)

 

The couple.- Main trouble: Contrast between bride and groom's clothes. Try to take the bride (white or clear colour dress) ahead the groom (probably darker colour or black).

Nice pictures are the couple backs to the sun with fill-in flash (medium telephoto or standar)

 

In the church.- Manual flash much better if it's dark inside.

 

Banketing.- Don't forget the cake-cutting. If you can "bounce" the flash lot better (the white bride's dress will be softer).

 

Don`t forget children (Sure there will be legion of them)

 

Good luck.

[lex_jenkins]

You're kidding, Luis, right?

[vivek iyer]

Bill, Beautiful demonstration of making photos of an extremely difficult lighting situation!

[luis triguez]

Sorry Paul, I didn't read previous answers. I thought you said WEDDING.

Obviously I'm geting older :-(

[bill_chiarchiaro]

Vivek: Thanks! I appreciate the compliment.

 

Luis: Don't feel bad. The first time I read the title of this thread, I thought it was about a training course ("workshop") for wedding photography!

 

--Bill

[lex_jenkins]

That's alright, Luis, you gave me my first good laugh of the day. I really thought you were pulling our respective legs.

[frank granovski]

Using a digicam For welding requires an ND filter so not to harm your CCD. You'll also need to protect your eyes.

[bob_lee2]

Protect your lens. Welding sparks are flying pieces of molten steel that are capable of shooting across a room and fusing permanently to glass.

[work-page]

Measure exposure prior to the actual welding. The UV from the welding will throw off your meter and lead to grossly underexposed pictures.<P>

To get as few ghosts and little flare as possible, keep the welding near the image center.<P>

<TABLE BORDER=0><TR><TD>Ghosts/flare<P>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/2972788"><img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=2972788&size=sm"></a></TD><TD>No ghosts/flare<P>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/2972785"><img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=2972785&size=sm"></a></TD></TR></TABLE>

[gaius1]

In John Garret's B&W Masterclass (a book) he has a welding shot. Shooting data is: ISO 400, 1/2 @ f/22, 80-200mm zoom at 150mm, monopod.

[slewisphoto]

bookmark, I continually shoot welding and these tips are usefull

[slewisphoto]

I'll try that again<div></div>