advice for settings for shooting this afternoon please

dinneenp

Hi,
I have to photograph a visitor at work today, he's giving a speech in the canteen. The problem is that it's a big room, blinds at the back will be drawn, he's at the front right with floor to ceiling glass behind him. I can't use flash, I have 70-200 f2.8, 17-50 2.8 and 30mm 1.4 lens and a Pentax K-7

What's my best settings to use to get a good shot. The potential problem is that he'll end up too dark/like a silhouette.
This is what I'm thinking:
stop metering
focus area center
a low aperture

Am I on the right track, what else should I do?

cheers,
Pa

Gregor Samsa

dinneenp wrote: »

what else should I do?

Try getting someone to stand in the spot (and conditions) he'll be in so you can give it a dry run.

Is the ceiling too high to bounce the flash? (assuming you have an accessory flash at all)

oshead

Nothing much you can do in that situation except use flash or draw the curtains and turn on the light and up the ISO. If you expose him correctly, the bg will go more than 2 stops brighter. If you're happy with that......

hbr

dinneenp wrote: »

....he's at the front right with floor to ceiling glass behind him. I can't use flash....

Use spot metering. You may find that if you expose for the speakers face, the
background will be blown out. There isn't much you can do to prevent this.

Take a few bracketed shots. If the speaker isn't too animated, you may be
able to use the background from one of the darker shots in PP.

oshead

Btw.... Who said you can't use flash? It's standard practice to use flash, even in fairly good light.

dinneenp

oshead wrote: »

Btw.... Who said you can't use flash? It's standard practice to use flash, even in fairly good light.

Left it at home...at it's an old flash that I never bothered to master...:o

Corkbah

Are you getting paid for this ?

if not, I'd just do my best and give them the results explaining that you dont get professional results unless you hire a professional*. (no offence intended)

if they don't like it that's their fault.


*= Granted these days even when hiring someone claiming to be a "professional" you may not get professional results.

CabanSail

dinneenp wrote: »

I have 70-200 f2.8, 17-50 2.8 and 30mm 1.4 lens and a Pentax K-7

Any of these will be OK, the choice is dependant on how close you will be to the subject and how much of the scene do you want to capture. At a location near enough to the front the 30mm may take the speaker & stage together, the 17-50 may be the speaker and rostrum, the 70-200 for a portrait. Remember that though these are all fast lenses, if the light is low then the longer your focal length the faster the shutter speed you will require. So if the light is low then getting close and using the shorter focal lengths may be best.

dinneenp wrote: »

What's my best settings to use to get a good shot. The potential problem is that he'll end up too dark/like a silhouette.
This is what I'm thinking:
stop metering
focus area center
a low aperture

Where will the images be used and in what format? If it's only going to be in small low res Jpegs then you can get away with a bit of noise. If they are going to printed large then that becomes more of an issue. Set the ISO to a level which is the best compromise.

In tricky lighting like this I would probably spot (stop?) meter on the face and open the aperture one stop from full open. Then select a shutter speed to expose that correctly. If the shutter speed is too slow for the lens being used then increase the ISO until you get it fast enough (or switch to a sorter lens) Setting like this means that you are have one stop up your sleeve and lenses often tend to be softer fully open.

Remember it is probably better to get a Sharp and Noisy image than a soft one. You can address noise in PP but shake is not yet available.

Good luck.

peckerhead

CabanSail wrote: »

Remember it is probably better to get a Sharp and Noisy image than a soft one.

If using a bit of fill flash isn't an option, what about a tripod or monopod — particularly with the longer lens? I presume you won't have to move around too much...

the_tractor

dinneenp wrote: »

Hi,
I have to photograph a visitor at work today.........

Did you get the shot you needed ok?

OldGoat

Is there any reason why the photographs have to be of the speaker during the speech from the front?
Can you, for example, arrange to photograph him from the side while he speaks?
Or just arrange to take some shots before the speech where you can put yourself between the speaker and the glass wall thus capturing him and the audience.
Sometimes re-composing the picture is infinatly easier then dealing with poor lighting conditions.

EDIT: DOH. Just realised the shoot is over. Sorry.

dinneenp

Hi,
It all worked out very well in the end. They set up a stage in a slightly different position so there wasn't the glass wall behind him. I stood at the back of the room and used my 70-200 f2.8 lens. I used 'shadow correction' as well which helped.
Unfortunately I'm guessing that I shouldn't post any photos of him here as it might be against company policy...

I'm starting to understand that doing official photo shoots aren't a breeze; if you're just photographing for fun there's no pressure but if it's your job/you're doing it offically (friends wedding etc) then you have to deliver, adds pressure etc.

Gumbo

CabanSail wrote: »

In tricky lighting like this I would probably spot (stop?) meter on the face and open the aperture one stop from full open. Then select a shutter speed to expose that correctly. If the shutter speed is too slow for the lens being used then increase the ISO until you get it fast enough (or switch to a sorter lens) Setting like this means that you are have one stop up your sleeve and lenses often tend to be softer fully open.

Remember it is probably better to get a Sharp and Noisy image than a soft one. You can address noise in PP but shake is not yet available.

Good luck.

Hi, sorry to derail the thread, but im hoping that because the OP got the pic already, he/she wont mind

But can you explain what your doing in the above statement?
Im only new so i understand slightly, would you be in M mode and set the F number as high as possible, then go back one click?

thanks.