New experience for me- Photographing a national convention

[RandyMN]

I have been asked to do this at work and although they are not requesting anything elaborate, they do want a photographer to attend the events and take some shots that can be used for their website and publications. They also want some head shots of their regional representatives.

Speakers will be familiar names from 911, Katrina Disaster and local politicians. I have been given a schedule of the event and portions they want covered are the opening reception, opening ceremony, general session, luncheon and the closing luncheon.

I have the necessary equipment, in fact my problem is trying to figure out what to leave at home, and I also have experience with photographing events, just not a national convention such as this.

I'm looking for any advise from someone who has done this type of work, or just good advise that anyone has to give me. I won't have a specified area for head shots but I would like to work with one 500 ws flash on a stand with a five foot softbox attached as oppposed to just taking the shot with my camera mounted flash.

I'm also wondering about the officials who are speaking and how to best photograph them without being able to take them aside, but allowing them to just speak and possibly get an interesting picture of them up front.

Attendee's do not general make for interesting shots but I would like to show the daily happenings that are going on.

Also, if you were to be the one having your convention photographed, what would your desires be? I have not yet received a contact name of anyone in charge, just our manager who requested this from me.

Any useful feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

[RandyMN]

Upon further investigation I find that I will be able to pull the key speakers to the side and take shots away from the microphone. This simplifies matters.

[DaveG]

I do a lot of commercial assignments like annual meetings and such. One of the truly useful Canon features is to use the wireless TTL system to get podium shots.

I set up a 420EX flash on a stand and have Velcro on both sides of the flash so I can flag it with a card. The near side prevents flare and the far side can be used to control flash spill.

I have my 20D or 5D on a Stoboframe Pro-T bracket with a 550 attached with the off camera cord. I routinely use a 70-200 f2.8 and use its tripod collar to mount on a monopod . When I first put this part of the system together I thought that while it might work in theory that it'd be way too much of a pain in the ass to use it again. You know, sounds good but oy! In fact it has been very easy to use.

The long lens means that I'm farther from the subject and the slope that I can shoot at isn't "up the nose" and the indirect light from the slaved flash is wonderful. These are shots that are mediocre - at best - when shot with camera mounted flash; and they've gone from that to being portfolio quality images. I can change the ratios from the camera position so I can vary the fill to change the entire look of the shot while the speaker is talking. The key there is that I don't have to touch the slaved flash which would be very distracting in the middle of a speach.

The bracket keeps the 550 right over the camera for both horizontal and vertical shots which means that the slave can be placed on the left or the right as I choose. I'd be concerned about placing the slaved flash on the right if the I was shooting vertically with the 550 in the hot shoe. I also use a very tall light stand for the 550. I was using a shorter stand but sometimes - if the microphone was high and the subject short - it would throw a shadow across their face.

[RandyMN]

Thanks for that great advise as I never thought about using the TTL slave feature for this event. I may need to practice with it a little as most use I have tried they are within five or six feet of each other and I wasn't aware they would work from greater distance.

[DaveG]

Thanks for that great advise as I never thought about using the TTL slave feature for this event. I may need to practice with it a little as most use I have tried they are within five or six feet of each other and I wasn't aware they would work from greater distance.


I've used them 15 metres from each other. But you MUST turn the face of the slaved flash to face the Master. Not only will it not work if you don't do that, the 420/430 puts out a very bright red pulse from their face and it would drive the subject nuts if it was pulsing in their face. The audience could also see that pulse hit the subject so they wouldn't be happy either.

[LuisE]

I did a similar shot some weeks ago and got nice photos playing with the 580EX on camera and one monolight (AllienBee) with no reflector or diffuser , only barelight. Check at this gallery:

http://www.broward.edu/honors/album/Honors%20Award%20Celebrations/2006/slides/IMG_2268.htm

[DaveG]

I did a similar shot some weeks ago and got nice photos playing with the 580EX on camera and one monolight (AllienBee) with no reflector or diffuser , only barelight. Check at this gallery:

http://www.broward.edu/honors/album/Honors%20Award%20Celebrations/
2006/slides/IMG_2268.htm

I like those shots.

As I wrote above the biggest advantage of the Canon Wireless is that I can control the output of the slaved flash from the camera position. I have thought about using a radio slave and a monolight but once the slave is set to f8, it's f8 until I walk up and change it. With Canon Wireless I can change it by changing the aperture of the lens.

I have some questions about your set-up. How do you trigger the Alien Bee? I wouldn't use a light slave because it would be set off by anyone in the room with a point-and-shoot camera's flash. It would also convert your 580 to manual unless you are using a Wein second pulse slave - which from my experience doesn't work all that well. A radio slave would work but I still think that the 580 would have to be on manual, assuming that you hooked up the flash AND a radio slave to the camera. If I was using this I'd probably go to an Automatic flash, rather then E-TTL, since then I could ignore the second pulse problems without having to go to manual settings.

I can see advantages of using a studio strobe - more power and since it's plugged into the wall it should go all day. But I like the flexibility of the Canon wireless and the variable ratios both from the fill and the main light. In any case if it works for you, and it obviously does, then it's fine.

[LuisE]

I like those shots.


I have some questions about your set-up. How do you trigger the Alien Bee? .


I use PW to trigger the AB . Use the sekonic for metering take some readings everywhere that I use to shot depending of the subjects position. In this case since I wanted to get the background (the Powerpoint slideshow) that was my reference. You must make sure to change the aperture depending of your premetering. I think they came out good but I am still learning how to improve it. Hope this helps.

LuisE

[DaveG]

I use PW to trigger the AB . Use the sekonic for metering take some readings everywhere that I use to shot depending of the subjects position. In this case since I wanted to get the background (the Powerpoint slideshow) that was my reference. You must make sure to change the aperture depending of your premetering. I think they came out good but I am still learning how to improve it. Hope this helps.

LuisE
But how do you use your 580 at the same time?

[breal101]

Dave, that is a great shot, lighting like you do makes a much more dynamic pic. Anyone with a grannycam can get the alternative up the nose flat lit pic. Many pros don't go as far as you do to produce quality shots. Kudos

[RandyMN]

Thanks for the examples and idea's. I am going to play with my 580 flashes and make sure I have the effect down using the remote feature before attending the event next week. I also plan to get some formal shots on the side with the one monolight and a diffuser.

It should be a good experience for me and it's nice to get some input from those of you that have already done this sort of photography.

Thanks

[RandyMN]

Dave, I did read about that pulsating focus beam and realize how this could become a distraction so thanks for the warning. I was trying to figure out how to avoid it and I think high up is the only way as anything at eye level will most likely distract for someone in a ballroom that can hold over 1000 people. I was hoping not to need a large tripod for the flash as I have to walk some distance with my equipment, but perhaps I can leave it at the front desk and walk back.

I am also wondering if you do anything about the master flash setting itself to 24mm while using your 70-200 lens?

[LuisE]

But how do you use your 580 at the same time?

The 580 is on my camera or on a flash bracket. The PocketWizard transmitter is connected to the pc sync. I have tried both manual and e-ttl flash. Also in this case I used the flash pointed to the ceiling for bouncing..

Hope this helps. and for RandyMN, you can try at home to see what works better for you. The main idea for me is that the monolight is more for fill the background but some times and depend of the position of the subject it may works as a main light, or hair light. Just play with that and do not set too much power. I never use a f-stop bigger than 5.6, but its just me.

LuisE

[RandyMN]

Thanks LuisE

[RandyMN]

Well, I been shooting three days of this convention and gave the recommended lighting procedures a try-out and although I won't bore you with pictures of all the speakers, I must tell you that it works great and I love the way the Canon flashes work in wireless mode. I even had people coming coming up asking about the setup because it sparked their curiosoty of how I can fire a flash with no connections.

This is Tom Ridge, former govenor of PA and former Homeland Security Advisor. The effect is not as dramatic as the one above, but I just took the shot today and this is untouched. It was shot with the Canon 70-200 at f5.6 with a shutter speed of like 1/20th but the available light really had very little impact on the photograph as it was too dim. There was one light on the podium that did have some effect as you can see it on the tie. ISO was at 200 and the flashes used were two 580 ex set to opertae remotely. I played around with the ratios of lighting changing them from 1:2 to 1:6 so I don't recall the exact ratio used here.

[GovtLawyer]

How were you able to shoot so slow at that long focal length? Also, he seems to be gesturing; wouldn't a slow shutter speed of 1/20 caus blur in his hands?

[DaveG]

Dave, I did read about that pulsating focus beam and realize how this could become a distraction so thanks for the warning. I was trying to figure out how to avoid it and I think high up is the only way as anything at eye level will most likely distract for someone in a ballroom that can hold over 1000 people. I was hoping not to need a large tripod for the flash as I have to walk some distance with my equipment, but perhaps I can leave it at the front desk and walk back.

I am also wondering if you do anything about the master flash setting itself to 24mm while using your 70-200 lens?

You need to turn the face of the slaved flash towards the camera - and thus the Master Flash - position. If you don't do this the slaved flash will not work in a large room. It probably won't work in a small one other unless there's a lot of happy white reflecting walls and ceilings. In any case it straight out won't work so get the receptor in the face of the 420/430 pointed at the Master.

The angle of the Master flash does default to its widest setting when used with Wireless but that's so that there's a greater chance that the Slave can see the information/triggering beam. You can manually narrow the beam if you'd like but I don't think that I've ever bothered. I have aimed the head of the Master flash directly at the Slaved flash though. That was in a very large room and I was quite a distance away from the Slave. The Slave was within five meters of the subject so I was pretty sure that 99% of the light was going to come from it and not the Master so I didn't lose anything - lightwise - by having none of the Master light hit the subject.

I did a group shot last spring at a University grad and I had the 420 bounce into an umbrella. It was set up directly to my right. I wanted light form the Master to strike the subjects as fill so I couldn't turn the 550's flash head as in the sample above. I couldn't get behind the 420/umbrella since the umbrella would have blocked the light. I used a Stofen on the Master with the 420/slave parallel to the Master and it worked fine. I guess that enough informational light came out of the 550/Stofen to trigger the 420. Now I doubt if this would work ove any great distance but for the two meters of separation for that shot it was just fine.

[DaveG]

How were you able to shoot so slow at that long focal length? Also, he seems to be gesturing; wouldn't a slow shutter speed of 1/20 caus blur in his hands?

In spite of the 1/20 shutterspeed there apparently wasn't enough ambient light to cause bluring, and the flash acted as the shutterspeed and that froze the motion.

Think of it this way. If you were in a totally dark room and opend the shutter for one second, how much light got to the sensor? None, right? If you went to two seconds in that same room how much light hit the sensor? Still none inspite of opening up the exposure (in theory) by a whole stop. Now if you had fired a flash during that first one second exposure what would have happened? A manual full power flash's exposure time is around 1/700 of a second so if you used that you effectively got a "shutterspeed" of 1/700.

That's the way old Dr. Harold Edgerton froze bullets in mid air. He used extremely brief (1/100,000 or shorter) pulses of light and nothing else. The shutter really only makes action freezing shutterspeeds if there's a constant suppy of light and the ambient light in that room must have been well under the 1/20 @ f5.6 exposure. Personally I would have raised the shutterspeed to 1/60 or 1/125 since I'd either want to use the ambient light, or I'd want to kill it completely. 1/20 may be too fast for effective "inside fill flash" but enough light could get in to blur.

[RandyMN]

Thanks DaveG, I didn't want to have to expalin that...

As far as your other response, I do appreciate it but it's sort of late as I've been shooting this for three days and I think I've worked out the glitches now.

Flashing light really did not bother anyone, but the flash may have as there were screens on each side of the room, and if anyone in front watched their slide, the flash may be blinding at such low light.

I tried to keep the F Stop as low as possible, but you could barely see the speaker in that room and available light was not even a factor. I kept the shutter speed slow just in case the hotel turned up the lighting.

BTW, I did use this at well over 50 feet, and the room was quite large as I believe there was greater than a thousand people in it at the time of the photo's.

Kudas to you for giving me the idea and for Canon for creating the ability to do this!

I love it!