marlee_k Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 The good news is: The wedding ceremony is being held outside on the beach.The bad news is: The reception is being held at an aquarium. The wedding party's table will be set up in front of a wall that is an aquarium from floor to ceiling. How am I going to get the shot in low lighting without the glare from a flash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Tripod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlee_k Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 I assumed the tripod was obvious. But that doesn't settle the issue of low lighting, a huge glass encased tank of water, and a big flash bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. Shoot with the flash at the angle that doesn't reflect back. Or shoot with the flash's reflection hidden in the subjects' bodies. Or shoot cropped close to the subjects so the flash reflections are out of the frame. Or place off camera lights WAY back, so the resulting reflections are very small in the tank surface--just like the other light fixtures in the place. Or shoot high ISO, no flash. I've shot at an aquarium before. Check to make sure you CAN use flash. If there are sharks in the tank, flash bursts bother them. And you don't need a tripod if you are dragging the shutter enough that the flash freezes motion. I can't imagine shooting a reception and all night long, you are on a tripod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Laur Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 I think his point was that with a tripod, you've got the ability (with a fast lens and decently high ISO) to shoot in that spot <i>without</i> the flash. <br><br> Otherwise... talk to the people who run the facility. Can you use radio-triggered strobes place up at the ceiling level? If you have to work off the floor, a strobe high on a stand, off to the side of their table. And just keep in mind that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection... and so, if you shoot that table with the acquarium wall not being directly square to the camera, you can do a lot to control reflections. Obviously you need access to the spot in advance to do a couple of tests - perhaps to see how a circular polarizing filter might help with some of the glare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richsimmons Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 How high is the ceiling and how bright are your lenses? The possibility for some fabulous shots is definitely there. Can you set up lighting beforehand? Call the establishment, maybe they have some answers. check their brochures and ads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon DAmato Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 If you shoot with a flash, be sure to meter the tank and drag the shutter accordingly. I'm thinking the tank may be a few stops under the flash, and all you'll see is dark glass back there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullmetalphotograper Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 First I would see if I could shoot at a high ISO of 6400-8000 and get an exposure of f/2.8 at 1/100. If I could not do that I might set up some lights like <a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/norman.html" target="_blank">Norman ML600R</a> monolights with a PocketWizard and bounce the light off the ceiling. If I could not do that I would try <a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/bounceflash.html" target="_blank">Bounce Flash</a> and <a href="http://www.geocities.com/stalker+of+the+web/dragging.html" target="_blank">Dragging the Shutter (aka Balanced Lighting)</a>.<br> I would explain to the client up front about the difficulties of the location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Matt got it right. A long enough exposure to capture the scene without camera shake. Rent a full frame camera that does high enough ISO you can hand hold. My Nikon D700 does a remarkable iso 3200. Canon does similar in the newest and best. Fast lenses do not have enough debth of field. If you want to work really hard, make a shot of the tank from the tripod. Then use flash when people are in the shot. Combine the two dropping out the background with the flash reflection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrossi Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Why not try to add some constant fill lights on the sides shooting up at the ceiling, just to brighten the room. Flash will blow out the wonderful aquariums. Also, consider shutter speed, it would be cool if you could capture the fish unblurred, you'll need at suitable shutter speed to do that. Worst case ask the head table to stay still for a moment when you're shooting, that would help a lot too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlee_k Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 I appreciate all of the great suggestions. I am going to use fill lights for a few of the shots, but then I think I will be pressing my luck to keep them on for long. The bride also mentioned that she wants to be sure that the photos show the beautiful blue color of the tanks and not an ugly green color. I would run in the other direction if the money wasnt so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damon DAmato Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 If you shoot with a flash, and the tank is lit with tungsten, you're going to get a shift of some kind. You might need some 'color temperature orange' (CTO) gel for the flash. It really would be best if you can experiment ahead of time for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 And what color temperature are the lights in the tank? To keep the tank blue, you've got to consider that. If you go high ISO and balance to tungsten, the tank water color may change, depending on how the tank itself is lit. I personally would go with some off camera flashes set way back. If you look at the tank, you will see that there are reflections in it already from other light fixtures and even walls reflected in the surface, if the walls are lit up. This is why bouncing may not work well--you bounce light off a wall, and the whole wall reflects in the tank. Any off camera, unmodified flashes placed well back from the tank will just appear to be another small fixture reflection. How high is the ceiling/top of the tank? If you put lights near the ceiling, and the ceiling isn't all that high, you will still get reflections, particularly if you bounce off the ceiling. Also, in wide shots, getting the ceiling may be unavoidable. At the aquarium I photographed in, there was a mezzanine, where I placed my off camera flashes, pointing downward, and the tank itself was huge--the height of it was equal to about two or three stories. I also photographed some from the mezzanine. In addition to the above, I would be watching my angle to the tank and/or hiding my on camera flash in subjects' bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_osullivan Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 This is one of those shoots that justifies a test shoot in advance. The tanks may be flat or curved, further affecting the family of angles reflected. The softer the light the better. If you are lucky and the ceilings are low and white, gray or tan, you can bounce. But I bet they are black and high. Do the test shoot, bring a fried to model for you in different spots. Make not of the angles. The flashes/strobes will have to be far away off camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnwood Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Marlee, All the above sounds very good advice. You might also like to consider using a GoBo (jargon for Go Beween) - i use pieces of felt on the flash to stop the light falling onto the background. This will only work if you can get the right angles. I also like the idea of taking two shots from each position, one with and one without flash if you can switch easily. Then you can always photoshop out any bad reflections/glares. An other idea and I have no experience here - have you looked at lighting the tank yourself? with one or two flashes/daylight bulbs close up to the glass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irusan Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Good point about keeping the tank water blue, else you'll end up with something that looks like it was created by Andres Serrano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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