First time office environment event. What mistakes am I going to make

[luis_modesti]

First time covering an event in office environment with fluorescent lights overhead. Typical ceiling tiles. CEO speech and employees

socializing. What mistakes am I going to make ? The purpose of this question is to hear what you have learned in these conditions and

this type of events so I could attempt to avoid.

 

Thanks in advance.

[User_6502147]

<p>Most cinematographers would refer to it as "green poison". Why not go to the place and pretest and set WB appropriately ? You can <em>fight fire with fire</em> by adding fluorescent units of your own....it would give you nice fill and less dark-eyes. If you insist on using your flash....hopefully it overpowers the other light. You could snag an employee (a model) and test the light at several spots....and hopefully you can tweak it in post. Fluorescent in general is not very reliable, as far as K temp goes, and each bulb could be emitting different degrees. This very issue became quite evident when I walked into Spectra in LA (maker of light meters). The only way to get truely consistent lighting in this situation is by gelling all the ceiling lights, which would likely be an enormous (if not insane) task. Anyway, you likely have to deal with 'close enough'. Good luck.</p>

<p>Les</p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>Make sure you dress appropriately. If all the mem are wearing suits you wear one as well.</p>

[william-porter]

<p>If you can use flash, those low, white office ceilings are great for bouncing.</p>

<p>I'd be sure to bring a color card with me and take a couple test shots for reference later on.</p>

<p>And for heaven's sake, don't forget to shoot raw!</p>

<p>Will</p>

[parv]

Re: flash, etc.: http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00c1Vd

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p>First time covering an event in office environment . . . CEO speech and employees socializing. <strong><em>What mistakes am I going to make ?</em></strong></p>

</blockquote>

<p>The 'mistake' which I have noted as the most frequent by a novice: is selecting too long a FL Lens - and (worse) being stuck with that choice throughout.<br>

I'd suggest using the Standard Zoom Lens for you Camera's Format and ensure that you can always work at a distance, suitable for that rig.</p>

<p>The link which parv. has given you, has good advice re Flash usage.<br>

As I mentioned in that thread I would use a Bounce Flash Modifier for the Subjects Main Light and I wouldn't / I don't worry too much about the colour cast <strong><em>on the background</em></strong> from the Fluorescent Lights.</p>

<p>WW<br>

<br>

</p>

 

[luis_modesti]

<p>Definetely went out to test today. Here is what I decided to do. I am using two speedlights, one on camera and one off camera , both bouncing off the ceiling tiles. One master the other one slave. Both will be gel-'ed' with a light green gel to match the flourescent and setting my white balance to custom balance after shooting a gray card on same environment. I will be working on E-TTL and Shutter Priority set to 1/125 , let the camera choose Aperture which is fluctuating around f/4 to f/6.3 depending on where I am. I am letting enough ambient light while I am shooting at ISO 1600 . I am using a Canon 5D III . <br>

Do you see any potential issues here ? </p>

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p>"I will be working on E-TTL and Shutter Priority set to 1/125, <strong><em>let the camera choose Aperture which is fluctuating around f/4 to f/6.3</em></strong> depending on where I am. . . . I am using a Canon 5D III . . . Do you see any potential issues here ?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>At Aperture = F/6.3 or larger, you'll need to very carefully consider your Framing, for all your shots.</p>

<p>For example: AT F/6.3, once you get tighter than an Half Shot (Landscape Framing) you will have a DoF about the equivalent of the thickness of one person’s head: obviously less than that as you Frame Tighter or if the Camera/Flash E-TTL chooses a larger Aperture.</p>

<p>The main issue therefore will be: the difficulty, working under the pressure of time in a situation that you are not used to, for you to ensure all your photographs which include more than one person to have all the Subject faces in acceptable Focus.</p>

<p>I would not choose Tv Priority for this job.</p>

<p>I usually use Manual Mode: but Av Priority, if you choose or require to use an automatic mode, will be a far safer CHOICE for you, in respect of what I have outlined.</p>

<p>Av Mode with Flash also has its considerations – and the main one is the Tv falling too slow, such that Subject Movement is captured by the AMBIENT EXPOSURE– but this usually is only is of real consideration when moving between scenes that have a large EV differential – for example from outside sun to indoors. In your shooting environment once to establish the Tv range which will typically be chosen by the camera, (obviously only a range of 1⅓ Stops) you should be quite safe.</p>

<p>In any case, on an EOS 5DMkIII, you have the option of setting or limiting the Tv by using either the Tv range limiting or the Tv setting feature <em>“Flash sync speed in Av Mode”</em> and either will give you added image insurance and a bit of comfort and piece of mind, I expect.</p>

<p>***</p>

<p>My views on the WB and use of Flash etc. for first timer at this work are articulated on the other thread, but just a general comment considering the lighting set up that you mention: for Events Work, it is usually more important to get the shot adequately lit, than to have it perfectly Colour Balanced and miss the timing of the shot.</p>

<p>WW</p>

[Bill C]

<blockquote>

<p>Both will be gel-'ed' with a light green gel to match the flourescent...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Out of curiosity, how will you decide what gel(s) to use? (I'm skeptical that green is what you need.) I can outline a test method if you don't have one.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>When shooting indoors under Fluorescent Lighting - <strong><em>one</em></strong> typical procedure, especially for News and Events Photographers, is to <strong><em>Filter the Flash</em></strong> with a pale green (gel).</p>

<p>For a <strong><em>one size fits all</em></strong> approach, considering that there are many different Fluorescent Light TYPES and also that each tube will never be the same AGE as all the others - a commonly used filter is the <a href="http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/colour-details.html#244&filter=tf">'Lee' </a><em><a href="http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/colour-details.html#244&filter=tf">Plus Green</a> Gel. (see the fully description and application notes in link)</em></p>

<p>This procedure is <em>not</em> technically addressing a <em>Colour Temperature</em> issue like balancing the Colour Temperatures when shooting under different light sources which have a smoother curve.</p>

<p>The idea of using a pale green gel on the Flash, is to ‘spike’ the Flash’s output to mimic to the <em>Colour Cast</em> of the Fluorescent lights.</p>

<p>Typically when using this procedure and when shooting with a DSLR, the camera’s White Balance is set to “Fluorescent” - This is what I would choose to do, if I were using this gelling procedure and using an EOS 5DMkIII.</p>

<p>Of course using a Camera's Manual White Balance does not preclude capturing the file as <em>raw</em> or <em>raw +JPEG –</em> it is just that the JPEG is sometimes (often?) used and anyway setting a manual WB give the raw files a consistent opening point in Post Production and often saves a lot of time.</p>

<p>WW</p>

[luis_modesti]

Thank you for your good advice. I did end up going with shutter priority as I didn't want to risk movement blur which I think

is worse in this case. For large groups for the most part 50mm or less focal length had plenty of Depth of Field. However I

did run into a few shots where I in fact as you stated, DoF was an issue. I see it's all a balancing act.

 

I did run into something though that I was not fully aware of , when taking the snapshots of people talking , particularly

during the CEO speech , faces frozen while speaking look too awkward. I think I lost more shots to this detail than any

other technical detail.....