Shooting in a salt mine. Lighting trouble...HELP PLEASE!!!!!

[drneilabs]

I have a job opportunity to shoot in a salt mine for a major company! I'm have some issues with lighting cause it so dark. I have a Canon 40D and i have a Speedlite EFX 530II external, which is a great flash, but still not getting enough light. Any suggestions as to what i could buy or do to help????

[TPF Sponsor]

[Kerbouchard]

Do you know how much lighting and experience is required to properly light something like that?

I guess for a realistic answer that isn't going to cost you 10's of thousands of dollars and a ton of assistants would be for you to buy a tripod, use a long shutter speed, and use the flash to supplement the lighting that is already down there.

[Big Mike]

I have a job opportunity to shoot in a salt mine for a major company! I'm have some issues with lighting cause it so dark. I have a Canon 40D and i have a Speedlite EFX 530II external, which is a great flash, but still not getting enough light. Any suggestions as to what i could buy or do to help????

Welcome to the forum.

You are going to have to give us more info, if you want any useful help. What are you shooting in the mine? How large is (whatever it is you're shooting)? How far away will you be from it? What are you envisioning as your final image?

[Trever1t]

I'm sure they have lights in the mine

You will want a sturdy tripod and a long exposure with available lighting.

[Schwettylens]

sample pics?

[gsgary]

Hire some of these ELINCHROM - Ranger Quadra RX

[bentcountershaft]

In my experience salt has a way of getting on and into everything and once it's there it doesn't just wipe off. I wouldn't do it unless you're getting paid enough to consider your gear disposable or you enjoy cleaning your stuff with vinegar and qtips.

[imagemaker46]

In my experience salt has a way of getting on and into everything and once it's there it doesn't just wipe off. I wouldn't do it unless you're getting paid enough to consider your gear disposable or you enjoy cleaning your stuff with vinegar and qtips.

Salt and sand two of the big gear killers, I would have considered some kind of camera housing similar to underwater use. Although without having many details as others have mentioned it's difficult to offer up real advice. I expect there will be light and if you can see it you can shoot it, tripod definately. Without really knowing how much experience you have as a photographer or working under difficlut conditions, I'm assuming that you don't have a lot of either, or you wouldn't have been asking a forum for help. Just watch the gear and the salt dust.

[joealcantar]

I'd like to know what kind of images they are wanting , that way we can guide you somewhat.
-
shoot well, Joe

[skieur]

The easiest approach is a couple of halogen searchlights/camplights that sit on a 9 volt battery for each one. You can even set the camera on a tripod and paint the scene with light by moving the direction of the lights by hand.

skieur

[gryphonslair99]

Well you could go here and figure out the amount of light necessary to light the area if you are into physics, or you could see about renting some studio lights. The more W/S the better. You can always turn them down, but you can't turn em up past 100% output. These would work, but I would suggest you rent them as the run about about $1,200.00 each. If it is a working salt mine the there is some risk to your gear. It it is however like the salt mine we have 30 miles from us, and is used for storage, then the atmosphere should be quite clean. The salt mine storage area at Hutchinson houses a vast amount of important artifacts such as most of the old Hollywood film collections etc because of the clean, climate controlled atmosphere.

[drneilabs]

Ill try to upload some images so you can see what i mean

[spacefuzz]

You might have more luck asking at the NSS cavechat forums, there are lots of photographers there used to shooting in the dark.

Generally you will want a tripod and several flash units. If you just have one flash unit you can always set a long exposure and walk around setting it off multiple times (knowing you will then be in the shot multiple times). The larger the space that harder it will be due to light fall off. And I wouldnt think of bringing my camera into a salt mine, make sure they are paying you accordingly.