I'm wondering if anyone can offer any lighting advice.
I am wanting to photograph a group of around fifty people. This will be in a theatre foyer.
So let's say they're in four rows of around twelve people (maybe three rows of fifteen). There are steps in the foyer I can use to vary heights and benches can be provided, so that's sorted.
I want to have the foyer visible in the picture, but it to be clear that the people are the subject.
The equipment I have available is four 100Ws studio strobes on stands, a few smallish shoot-through brollies and a variety of flashguns of varying vintages.
So, what I was thinking was that I would meter for the ambient. Let's say that for a given shutter speed that came in at f/4.0. I would then set two lights, one to each side of the camera, and adjust them so that I could meter a fairly even f/5.6 or f/8.0 across the space where the people would be standing. I would do this by holding the flash meter, and walking along the area where the people would be standing, flashing the lights from the flash meter.
I would then shoot at that f/5.6 or f/8.0, thus illuminating the subjects correctly, but still having the background visible, at a lower light level.
Is that about right?
regards,
/alan
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