Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hey,

I am shooting Romeo Dallaire giving a talk next week at a venue at my university I've had to shoot speeches at before.
Here's the scene:
- a hall with two story high ceilings - so bouncing a flash just isn't an option
- It's at night, and the only light sources are large papery modern chandeliery things hanging from the ceiling far overhead that produce a rather muddled orangey light.
The last time I shot an event it was during the daytime so there was a bit of light coming through the windows yet it was still quite dark for photos and the photos required quite a bit of photoshop work to make print worthy. This speech is at night so I won't even have light through the windows.
- The walls are far away and have wood paneling, so bouncing off them is not an option
- As it's a speech in a big hall I can get closeish, but not that close.



Any tips as to how to shoot this?

I'd prefer to not use a flash as I find it rather disruptive, and direct flash (which is all I have) isn't exactly the most flattering of light. Any suggestions as to how to improve direct flash? At what maximum distance can I still use direct flash if I'm shooting a close up?
I'm self/internet taught and my artificial lighting skills are sorely lacking.

One publication the photos are running in is newsprint, likely black and white, and the other is higher quality colour print.

I have:
Canon Rebel XT
24-70mm 2.8 L
70-200mm 2.8
16-35 2.8
50mm 1.4
135 1.2 L
430 EX flash

and no, I don't have one of those Gary Fong things, nor the money/desire to buy one. But I'm totally into DIY flash add ons if you have any suggestions.

Any tips would be super useful. I hate hate hate shooting in this venue and I know it certainly won't be the last time either, so any suggestions as to how I can improve would be awesome.
Thanks!

Not sure if this is an option but I'd rent a 5D or 5D MkII or a D700 and a fast long lens - shoot RAW @ iso1600 and set exposure compensation to -1.

Not sure if Canon have the capability of trigger the flash off camera. If possible, add a bounce card that look like a funnel (made by paper) and maybe cut a piece of tuppleware to diffuse the flash so it doesn't look so "dead.

Practice a bit with a test subject a couple nights before the event, and see how you do. Rent whatever you need after knowing what you're lacking.

With the lenses you have, all you need is a body with better ISO performance. If not, a monopod or tripod will be your other option.

Did you confirm that flash was allowed during the speech? I know most presenters don't like flashes going off in the middle of their speech because it sometimes throws their focus. That 135mm f1.2 and 50mm f1.4 might be you best friends if the lighting is as dim as you say. 70-200mm f2.8 might work as well but you'll have to bump up your ISO so you can shoot handheld at a high enough shutter speed so you reduce the amount of shake.

You might want to follow Ken's advice and rent a 5DMKII (seeing that you already have a lot of nice Canon glass) from Headshots (cheaper than Vistek) for the event for better noise control at high ISO.

If you can get access to the room in advance ie. an hour or so prior or better yet, days in advance at roughly the same time the venue is being run, you will be able to do a test shoot to see what you can get away with.

I'd love an autographed copy of Shake Hands With The Devil.

Oh i shoot for campus publications so renting definitely isn't an option and I don't get paid enough to cover renting costs, nor is there anywhere in Peterborough to do so. The shoot isn't all that big of a deal, I shoot one or two events a week. I just kind of want nice shots of Romeo Dallaire for my portfolio, and obviously want to do well for the publications. And figuring out once and for all how to get good shots in this venue would be useful. But yeah, I am definitely limited to what I have.



Ahh paper and tupperware. More my kinda budget.

If I do these things, would I aim the flash upwards? Is the paper wrapped the whole way around the end of the flash or just the back half? And are we talking translucent or transparent tupperware.. and am I to use it with the paper?

And will Romeo laugh at the tupperware attached to my flash? That could be a problem. hehe

Ahhh I know. For the record, work supplies me with lovely L glass... and a Canon Rebel XT. And I personally own a Canon Rebel XT and can barely afford rent, so upgrading definitely isn't an option right now, though I've been keeping my eyes open on the tpmg selling forum as I would really like to upgrade.

DIY diffuser .. simple and makes the light source larger and higher up so softer shadows. You can get the supplies from Michaels or Walmart or any craft store. The flash shoots straight up into the diffuser.

http://super.nova.org/DPR//DIY01/

If you have to work with what you have and if flash is not allowed/discouraged than I would suggest using a fast lens and shooting at up to 1600 iso. If you had a 5D or 5DII I would go up to ISO3200 or even ISO6400 on the newer 5D.

Do you mean the 135 F2 - I've never heard of a F1.2 version? Depending on how close you can get I would use that lens and/or the 50 F1.4

The ideal solution, which doesn't sound like an option for you, would be to have two flashes on light stands off to either side of the podium triggered wirelessly.

Good luck with the event.

Nice! Looks good, thanks



Haha I probably do. I just got my hands on that one from work a couple weeks ago and haven't used it yet and the numbers on the lens are a little worn so I wasn't sure.

Get permission to use a Tripod and only use your 50mm f1.4 and 135 f2.0. The 135 is sharp wide open while the 50 benefit's from stopping down to f1.8 unless you are very close. Shoot at ISO 1600 or 800 in raw and pass through a noise reduction program plus try converting to B&W and suppressing all chroma noise.

I use the XT and even compared to new entry level cameras it is quite usable at ISO1600. If you don't have a noise reduction program send me a couple of your best shots in raw and I can fix them up for you.

Even better would be to borrow a remote flash trigger and make or borrow a slight diffuser for your flash, place the flash near to the podium slightly off centre or get a friend to hold it. The flash should be set at a level that is one to 2 stops above ambient no more as you are still trying to get some of the ambient light. Shoot at the same wide aperture and shutter time settings but at ISO 800 or 400.

At iso800 or iso1600 and a f2.8 lens, bouncing flash off a white ceiling 2 stories up is _not_ a problem, I've done it. You'd want a flashcard to bounce a little bit of light forward as well. Pick up some white foamies from Michael's or Walmart.

If there's someone also covering the event with video, you might also be able make use of their video light for some off-axis lighting.

the XT with those lenses is quite capable of good shots

if you have to use your flash, just bounce it off whatever you can (wall, ceiling, DIY bounce card) and you'll be fine

It's true, it's not a bad camera with good glass on it. I remember the first time I got my hands on L glass (24-70) and used it instead of the 18-55 (kit) to shoot some headshots I was shocked by the difference in quality. I kept zooming in to 100% on my photos to admire the detail.



Is there a good mac-compatible noise reduction program I can get for free?



With this reflector/diffuser - http://super.nova.org/DPR//DIY01/ - if I have the flash on camera will I not be able to shoot vertical shots?

Thanks for the advice, guys![/quote]

I don't use Mac so I can't help you. An interesting possibility is to download the beta copy of Adobe Lightroom 3, it is meant to have killer colour noise reduction that works directly on the RAW files.

The guy at http://www.abetterbouncecard.com used to have (long winded) videos on how to make a simple bounce card out of the aforementioned white foamies.

I can't dig thru the videos from work, but you might poke around. He's really monetized his idea.

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Yes, you can shoot in portrait orientation - not a problem at all. It's just like using the flash normally except it will be a larger light source and a little further away from the camera body (which is a good thing).

Canon's DPP does a very good job as well. Standard free app from Canon that comes with your cameras that does a better job that Lightroom 2. I've heard good things about the noise control on Lightroom 3 but haven't seen it myself. Can't go wrong for free.

Yes lightroom noise reduction is pretty old technology but beta 3 is based on those new super noise reduction technique developed to make the high ISO of the new generation cameras much better then they really are at the sensor level. When I get a chance I will compare it to noise ninja and neat image.