Mattman944

<p>Paid or unpaid? Inside or Outside? For a paid, inside event, shooting without any wide angle lenses would be irresponsible, IMO. For an unpaid, outside event, I would do it. Especially if there was a risk of them not finding another photographer.</p>

<p>Very sad. I bought my last camera there. I usually buy online, but if I need to hold it in my hands first, I buy locally.</p> <p>I little further drive, but there is a fine store in Bradenton. It is about an hour from where I live in central Pinellas county.</p> <p><a href="http://jpiphoto.com/">Johnson Photo Imaging</a></p>

<p>I agree with E.J., <em>One</em>, if its a good one. </p> <p>Like the old joke, how many balls of string does it take to reach the moon... <em>One</em>, if its a big one.</p>

<p>@TomM: Yes, <em>highlight</em> means a lot of things. <em>Specular highlight</em> is what I meant, although I have often seen reflections from highly reflective objects referred to as just <em>highlights</em>.</p> <p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specular_highlight</p>

<p>OK, if it is the slender woman with a gray dress and white background ...</p> <p>I don't find the lighting particularly interesting. But, if you want to duplicate it, look at the highlights and shadows. Unfortunately the eyes are too small to see the highlights. But, there are plenty of other clues...</p> <p>There is one faint, indistinct shadow behind the model = big soft light. The highlights in the boots are in the middle (left-right) = lighting inline vertically with the lens. Large highlight = big light. There is a shadow below her chin = light above the lens. <br> <br> Combining all the clues: A large soft box above the lens.<br> <br> If your white background is orange, you have white balance issues. Don't use auto white balance. Use raw and set the color temperature, or set the light type on the camera.<br> </p>

<p>Thanks for the tips. ID software is a great idea. Our security dept does the badges, I'll see if they will share the images.</p> <p>Cost cutting has cut our support departments to the bone. Many, many, years ago we had a photography/graphics arts group and a $100k studio/lab, all gone now. HR would be a good group to lead this, but they are shorthanded also.</p> <p>@BillC: yes they have seriously underestimated the amount of time involved. After the initial shoot, there will be a make-up shoot, and another, and another. Then there will be new-hires. Certainly if one person manages the images, that alone is a big job. Maybe there is some flow that would automatically put the images on a server and the users would be responsible for finding the images.</p> <p> </p>

<p>I work for a large company as an Engineer. Once a year, I shoot simple portraits of award winners for an internal website. About 25 portraits, I use my own equipment, I do this as a favor for my managers.</p> <p>Now, I have been asked to shoot head-and-shoulders portraits for all the employees at my site (many hundreds), for organizational charts and Skype. I have a demanding job, I cannot afford this distraction, and I have declined. I could offer advice, but right now, that would be: find another experienced person, or outsource.</p> <p>If I was to do this, I would do it as most of you would, a DSLR and flash. Studio flash if my company would fund it, or my speedlights off-camera. But, this is overkill, these are for internal use only, the maximum print size will be 8 x 10, and most of them will only be thumbnails on computer.</p> <p>Now for my question: Assuming that dedicated space is provided for a permanent setup, is there a simpler way? Like a photo-booth? Something that is so foolproof that an experienced person doesn’t need to be there. Maybe continuous light? How to keep people from accidentally moving the lights? What is the simplest camera that could do this job (I personally find that most Point-N-Shoots to be more difficult to use than my DSLR)? Something with simple tethering software?</p>

<p>Go, make the best of the light you get. These events are often in the middle of the day, so golden hour shots aren't likely. Direct sun with no clouds at all is too harsh for my taste. Heavy overcast produces very flat light, this can be OK. But, for car events, my favorite is when the sky is mostly clear and the sun goes behind a big cloud, this produces a nice soft, diffused light that is still directional. </p> <p>The cars are usually too close together to shoot whole cars. I go for closeups of hoods, ornaments, fenders, wheels, etc. I also look for reflections of cars within other cars. </p>

<p>You didn't say what brand of flash, but sleep mode can be disabled on most popular flashes. On Canon, it is a custom function so you will need the user's guide or google it. "canon 580 flash disable sleep" found it for my flash.</p>

<p>If you are visiting during bird nesting season, approx Feb-May, Gatorland is excellent, and very close to Disney, etc. Goggle "Gatorland Orlando". You will probably want to get the "photo pass" so you can get in early.</p>

<p>Adjustment info</p><div></div>

<p>With full Photoshop I would use an adjustment layer, I don't know if Elements has this feature. I used a gradient to make the transition. Except for de-saturating, I didn't touch the left side. There isn't enough detail left in the blacks to do much with it. A better scan would help. </p><div></div>

<p>A normal light meter will only measure continuous light. </p> <p>To measure the light from a flash, the meter must take a measurement at the instant the flash fires. Coordinating the measurement can be done at least two ways: a cord from the meter to the flash can pop the flash manually; the meter can sense the flash and take a measurement.</p> <p>If you have a Nikon or compatible flash, you can use the camera to balance the ambient and flash (flash exposure compensation). </p> <p>Have you looked at used flash meters?</p>