Shooting in a Hall

[Shelley]

I work at a school (not as a photographer :D ), but people soon find out that your a photographer freak and so therefore i get photo opportunities. I have learn't much by doing them.

I have been asked to photograph an easter event in our Hall, which I know i will not enjoy doing, mainly cause I am not confident. But, you know friends etc.

It has a high black ceiling with half the side black then light brickwork. The lighting is dismal when taking pics. No one likes doing it, actually.

I have my 580exII - is this worth using? I will use my 17-40 lens - which probably is not the best as it only goes to F4 - but it is wide angle and there is a large group of little people that i will be photographing. I have a tripod - but I think I would like to move around bit as well.

Any advice, hints, tips, apart from "DONT DO IT".

[feral1]

Hi Shelley, I am not a group photog at all. but if you do not have other lighting setups, use you flash. Now depending on how big the group is, will depend on if the flash can spread as far as you need.
If it is a large group, work it like a pano, move to make sure you have enough light per section you take and stitch. Not sure if this will work or not.
Moving around is not a problem with the flash unit, it works great in smaller groups of people.
anyway I am sure someone with more experience will come along to point you in the right direction.
good luck

Peter

[JM Tran]

hmmm use a tripod, and shoot in Manual mode at a really low shutter speed to draw in as much ambient lighting as possible - applies only for static group scenes though

hard to give u more advice until one can see the hall, but the flash will be invaluable, and so is a slow shutter speed to drag the shutter with the flash - as in trying to balance out the subject and the background ambient light

[Shelley]

Thanks guys - appreciate your thoughts. Have been looking into the flash and ambient light thing - this is something that i have not done much of. I am getting asked more and more to do people and group stuff. I am not confident in this as I still have a lot to learn. The shoot is of a large group of primary school students singing.

Though, I know I can do better, people have been happy with what I do.

[JM Tran]

Do u have to do it inside the hall Shelley? as u should move it outdoors on a few tiers of benches, would be perfect on an overcast day:)

even if u can get your hands on a few sets of continuous lighting rigs - like those heavy duty flood lights ppl use at home in the garage or on work sites - I forgot what they are called

you would need a few of them positioned around the group to balance out the shadows on the faces as the lights are very strong and harsh

[smorter]

You can bounce the flash, and add some forward fill with a piece of foam or paper behind the flash head. The black surface will reflect very little light, but you will get some diffusion from the ceiling/walls even though they are black. Your flash will take ages to recycle and be blasting at full power. Don't let it get too hot though (the flash head)