First large-scale candid shoot at work - advice?

[jeff_swayze]

Hi all,

 

I've been asked (volunteered?) to shoot a bunch of photos for a corporate slide

show at my company. They want candid photos of several hundred employees "at

work" - in meetings, at their desks, etc. - primarily head & shoulders. Lately

I've been doing a lot of reading/practicing of studio lighting techniques, but

this is a bit outside my comfort zone.

 

Equipment-wise, I'll most likely be using my 1D MkII and attached 550EX with a

Lumiquest Softbox. I think this is about the softest light I can get without

going off-camera or using an obtrusive softbox. I just wish I could take the

light off-axis a bit. I've also got a Sto-fen Omni-bounce that I could use.

 

Most of my office has drop ceilings about 9' tall, so one thought would be to

use the sto-fen aimed straight up and use E-TTL to manage the exposure. I

haven't had much time with the Lumiquest softbox, so I'm not sure how that will go.

 

Any thoughts on my plans, or words of advice/encouragement? These photos will be

seen on a powerpoint slideshow for a couple of seconds, max, so I'm not going to

spend a lot of time composing them. Run and gun for the most part, but I want to

get the most out of the experience for myself.

 

Thanks!

[trebor_navilluso]

If you have low 9' white ceilings there's really no need for diffusion. Just shoot the bare flash strait up at it. All your diffusor will do is attentuate the light further. No softbox can equal the size of the lit ceiling.

[picturesque]

I agree with Trebor. Most offices have white ceilings and walls, so bouncing off the ceiling and walls (try it--it looks great) is the best thing. Plus, you don't have to shoot at ISO 100 for quality if the photos are going in a slideshow. Higher ISO--maybe 800--would be fine (don't overexpose to keep noise down). For shots without white walls and ceilings, things may be different, although higher ISO, shutter drag and diffused direct flash (maybe you can get someone to hold an off camera flash) would be OK. If you haven't already found it, read planetneil.com, under Techniques, re using on-camera flash--the parts about bouncing off walls.

[craig_shearman1]

Be careful getting into taking pictures at work. At first it's fun, but then people get the idea that there's a staff photographer available for every little thing they want shot and next thing you know you've overloaded with requests that go far beyond what you're interested in and keep you from getting your regular work done. Been there, done that, not doing it any more.

[jeff_swayze]

Trebor: Thanks for the advice. I know it's common to bounce off the ceiling, but won't that create "raccoon eyes?", or do I need to drop the ISO and drag the shutter as Nadine suggests?

 

Nadine: Very good info, and thanks for the link. What a great resource!

 

Craig: I will remember this. Our company usually hires pros for this kind of thing, but I think the scale is larger than usual...

 

All: I will take some practice shots tonight and tomorrow to see what I can do. The planetneil.com site and others I've found (like dg28.com) have been fantastic resources. Thanks!!

[brenkku_delany]

Hi Jeff,

 

a lot depends on the ambient light : the quantity and its colour - often a mix of

fluorescent and daylight which don't mix well ( unless the fluorescent are daylight tubes ).

Post processing will allow you to make some easy corrections in that area.

 

For the purpose you describe, if the scenes are well lit, I would go for flash on camera

used as a fill light (not diffused). Ambient light would provide your main light source. Set

the flash to automatic TTL and the camera flash exposure compensation setting to -2/3

fstop. Shoot between f2.8 and f5.6 using a 24 - 70mm f2.8 lens. Depending on how

steady your hands are, shoot from 1/30 - 1/100. A monopod and/or a tripod are also

very useful. Use the lowest ISO setting that will give you these figures. This setup will

allow you to capture the real lighting of the offices, as well as computer screens etc. The

wide angle lens allows you to get a head and shoulders shot that includes considerable

background information about location - eg factory floor, board room, office, desk etc.

 

Get in close to your subjects. Think of different angles. Don't always shoot from your

height - squat or stand on a desk : ). Talk with people when shooting them. Pay attention

to the lighting in the background of the shot.

 

Good luck!

[jeff_swayze]

Brenkku: Thanks so much for your detailed reply. The office areas are all well-lit, and all with fluorescent tubes. I will take some test shots with a gray card to get a good read on the white balance. Heck, I could actually use one of my camera's features and pre-set the white balance! I'll also experiment with ambient light levels to get a good flash exposure compensation value.

 

I've got a 28-70L and a 70-210L IS, but I figured the 28-70 would be used the most. I could certainly get in tight with the 70-210 though.

 

Great advice on mechanics - angles, talking, etc... man, I hope these aren't too good or I'll fall into the trap Craig mentioned!!

 

Thanks again for your time in responding. It's very much appreciated.

[picturesque]

A correction to my post above. "Don't UNDERexpose to keep noise down."

 

As for racoon eyes, you do get that with ceiling bounce if you don't fill the eyes--with a little bit of white card on the flash. A well placed wall bounce will not give you racoon eyes, and will actually look like you used large studio lighting/softboxes. Shutter drag is not only for lower ISO shots.

 

Brenkku has a very good point re white balance with fluorescents. With his method, I would gel the flash to match the fluorescents, even though the flash is used only for fill. I would experiment with the amount of minus flash comp and not stick to just one setting. Keep in mind that if there is other light mixed in, such as daylight from windows, you will have a much harder time gelling green without funky magenta light intruding. Sometimes it is easier to have the flash overcome the fluorescents, or, much simpler is to turn off the fluorescents. In non-office areas, you might have other problems, such as halogen lighting.

[mrstubbs]

Ouch! For quick and candid? I'd turn that ex down as low as it could go...maybe even stick some magic tape over the front...or add an ND of a stop or so over the flash. Meter for the ambient light...flash for subtle fill...wb for flouros will be hard as you need to shoot slow to avoid the colour shifting. Shooting the flouros and a strobe could be messy. BW would make the job a lot easier. This would be one of those jobs where you could become a star...or end up in the bathroom in tears of frustration.

 

Have a look at the Rosco site...look through the catalogues...you will get a good idea of how much can be done with filters...and how wrong things can go if you are not at least "aware" of the problems you will encounter.

 

But...everybody has a different view of "right". Getting a sense of what the customer wants could give a different view on how far you need to go...how "correct" things need to be.

 

Happy Shooting! :~)

[mcmanamey]

one more, to toss in an opinion. I absolutely agree w/ bouncing off the wall/ceiling w/ a

white card behind the flash. Even when I'm bouncing, I still use my Stroboframe. It's a big

habit now - i just don't feel right shooting w/o it.

[bob_osullivan]

I wouldn't worry about racoon eyes from bouncin off the ceiling. The idea is the light bounces of the ceiling from many angles, the walls and floor exct. With all that light bouncing from so many angles you get smooth even light. Try it.

[jeff_swayze]

Anthony: Are you suggesting that the 550EX is overpowered for what I'm doing? I've got a 420EX that I could use as well.

 

I took some test shots tonight of my kids, and they turned out pretty well (though a bit underexposed). I need to put the white card (3x5 card?) behind the flash head and see how that works. Regardless, I'm sure the "client" will be happy with the output. Heck, they were thinking I would be using a P&S, so it can only get better! (assuming I do my part!)<div></div>

[Ian Taylor]

If you see even lighting kill the flash and correct the color temp in your RAW conversion.

[mrstubbs]

Yes Jeff. I'm suggesting flash would just need to be bright enough to fill the shadows from the camera view..if using the ambient for exposure. Have a another look at the shadow colour on his neck...the colour of the whites of the eyes.

 

You may be able correct these issues post but you would obtain more consistent results if you attack the problem at the source...the light. It is not a small task by any standards. Horses for courses as they say ...in the end...it's about what "you" are happy with...and what your customer wants.

[brenkku_delany]

The 550 should be adequate without adjustments such as ND filters - just find the

exposure compensation that you like. As Nadine pointed out you can also try filtering the

flash - depending on the colour temperature of the fluorescents you could try, for

starters, a Lee Half plus green ( equivalent to CC 15 green ) or a Quarter plus green (CC

075) over the flash, and set your white balance using your grey card. If you have a lot of

daylight, another solution is to stick sheets of minus green in the fluorescent light frames.

Rosco also provide good filters.

 

Another reason for using the 24-70mm is to avoid camera shake when shooting hand

held. If you use the 70-200mm try to use a tripod/monopod. ( even if your lens has a

stabiliser ). A good rule of thumb for handheld shooting, is that the minimum shutter

speed should equal the focal length of the lens ( a rule not written in stone! ). When

shooting in low lighting situations this can become critical.

[jeff_swayze]

Anthony: Yes, I see that now in the shadows particularly. Luckily (?) this four-light-source situation won't present itself next week. Except for a couple shots, all my light should be fluorescent. If I gel the strobe I should be in decent shape. The quantity and direction of light from my strobe will be key obviously, as in the above image. I didn't use a white card of any sort, so I didn't fill in the shadows.

 

Brenkku: My gel collection is minimal - I just ordered a few more that hopefully will be here by shooting time next week. I'll experiment with them as soon as they come in. Regarding the lens selection, that's a good point. Based on the test shots from yesterday, the 24-70 should be fine - I don't think I'll need anything longer than 70.

 

 

Again, this is great info. Thanks again to all!

[picturesque]

Careful about conducting tests at home unless your rooms are similar in size and lighting to your actual locations (the offices). Bouncing is different in every different situation. If you have a lot of reflectivity, such as light colored walls, you may not need to fill eye sockets separately. However, if the walls are a different, intense color, or dark colored, you may have to fill eye sockets. My point is--you can't assume your bouncing tests at home are going to tell you how the actual environment will work.