How would you light this warehouse event?

[samplestars]

Hi guys,


Just wondering if anyone has any lighting suggestions for an upcoming shoot.
I've been tasked with covering a safety demonstration in a vehicle fleet warehouse.


It's a well paid job, with a chance of repeat business, so I don't want to mess it up!

There will be a mixture of side light from the windows/doors and overhead lights which I don't yet know their temperature. I suspect fluorescent. I've seen the warehouse and the light quality is not great. The ceiling is about 3 stories high.


My background is in more posed photography and since covering some events recently, I have a new found respect for event shooters. I have 1 TTL flash, and 2 manual flashes. My triggers are non-TTL.


Here are some lighting set-ups I've been considering:


1]
Just go natural. Bump the ISO up to 3000, or 6000 (6D) and use some noise reduction later.


2]
Bounce a flash off the ceiling on a high stand for a boost of light.


3]
TTL on camera, and bounce off the nearest wall
(This idea is in the lead for now)


4]
TTL on camera, plus ceiling bounce flash on high stand, optical slave mode.


5]
Set up a large, high brolly, pointed at the scene, far enough back that it gives a similar exposure across the scene.


As you can see, I'd like to avoid option 6]
.. direct on-camera flash!




Thanks for any thoughts on this...

 

[Monday]

Too many factors here to answer without seeing or being in the space. If you are that worried about the setup it may be beneficial to ask if you can go a few days before the shoot. Take a person with you to test the different setups to see which comes out best.

 

[keyseddie]

Monday makes sense. However it seems you have it pretty much surrounded.

 

[Derrel]

I would use a studio flash system, a pack-and-head system, and light the area fairly broadly with probably three lights, so I had a good, soft, broad, and easy to work with lighting pattern over the general area. In a large place like that, one 1600 Watt-second power pack would be enough if you elevated the ISO a bit, to say 250. I have this kind of equipment. 20 years ago I lit a big event at a winery, which was like basically, a glorified 2-story, huge "barn". 1 1600 watt-second pack and three M-11 flash heads worked great. The whole place was f/7.1 at ASA 200.

 

[KmH]

Like Derrel, I doubt 3 hot shoe type flash units will be sufficient and that studio type strobes (flash units) will be needed.
Without a lot more and more specific information no one here can tell you how best to set up.

Do you have and know how to use a hand held light meter. A light meter will tell you how much light you have, which is how Derrel was able to state "The whole place was f/7.1 at ASA 200". ASA was the American Standards Association that was superseded by the international ISO - International Organization for Standardization

It's also likely you will need some other lighting and grip gear (light rigging accessories).

I would not rely on TTL since it is often to inconsistent for a commercial shoot.

 

[runnah]

I guess I don't understand what you are shooting. Are they giving you the opportunity to setup the subject and lights or are you just hired to go around and take candid pictures at the event?

 

[keyseddie]

I guess I don't understand what you are shooting. Are they giving you the opportunity to setup the subject and lights or are you just hired to go around and take candid pictures at the event?

Looking at OP paragraph 4, It seems to apply an event, which would not budget elaborate lighting setups. That's how I interpreted, but it's vague.

 

[Derrel]

The best thing about photographing events today is instead of shooting this kind of event on ASA 200 Kodak color negative film, you have the option to go to ISO 250, or ISO 320, or ISO 400 with "most" digital SLR's, and with flash exposures that are not under-exposed there will be no objectionable noise or issues with your finished photos. I specifically mention the ISO to use because you'll be able to effectively double to quadruple the effective power of your flash units, compared to doing something foolish, like shooting a zillion flash photos at ISO 100, if you just realize, "Hey, I NEED to shoot this at ISO 250 or 320, minimum".

I just mention this because I have a feeling you'll end up shooting this with speedlights, and frankly, in a big room like that, areas that are NOT close to the speedlight are going to "drop off" in lighting very rapidly if the ISO is at 100. Also, the flash units will have to work very hard, in terms of battery use and flash output, and recycling time, if every,single shot requires a MAX FLASH POWER dump because the ISO is 100. If you go to 400 ISO, the amount of flash needed will be cut wayyyyyy down, so your speedlight setup will at least have a chance.

I guess what I am saying is...in a BIG, open environment where there are no nearby ceilings and walls, flash "drops off" very fast. The normal amount of ambient spill of the flash that comes off the walls and ceilings is...lost...it's like trying to light a coal mine with a Bic lighter. Most speedlight flashes have a Watt-second equivalency that I think of as 50 Watt-seconds, give or take, maybe 60 Watt-seconds TOPS for a regular hotshoe, $500-class flash from Nikon or Canon.

Even using ONE, 400 Watt-second monolight with an umbrella, and placed on a 13-foot stand would probably be preferable to using a speedlight setup. I just do not have a lot of faith in shoe-mount-power-level speedlights in large venues. Maybe I am imagining this scenario wrong, but I think I have an idea of what this will be like, so, my suggestion is studio type flash gear, rented or borrowed, or maybe bought. But like runnah and keyseddie both mentioned--maybe we're not clear on what the heck you plan on doing.

 

[gsgary]

Your flashes will be useless, Camera Products and Accessories | Irish Photographic Industry | Professional | Amateur | DML | Dublin | Ireland - DML

 

[samplestars]

Sorry, I should have stated more explicitly, I'm shooting coverage of the safety demonstration as it is in progress. I'm capturing candid moments, and have no control over their movements. On the contrary, it looks like I'm expected to keep reasonably out of the way.

I'm going to arrive early and test a couple of setups. They could very well be near the wall, or near the shutters where there is a lot of daylight, or they could be in the very centre, or have all that daylight right behind them. I don't want to pester my contact any more as he is not directly involved with the demo.

I did some tests this evening and my manual flashes on "S2" mode, sync up perfectly with my TTL on camera flash, potentially very useful.

 

[manaheim]

The best thing about photographing events today is instead of shooting this kind of event on ASA 200 Kodak color negative film, you have the option to go to ISO 250, or ISO 320, or ISO 400 with "most" digital SLR's, and with flash exposures that are not under-exposed there will be no objectionable noise or issues with your finished photos. I specifically mention the ISO to use because you'll be able to effectively double to quadruple the effective power of your flash units, compared to doing something foolish, like shooting a zillion flash photos at ISO 100, if you just realize, "Hey, I NEED to shoot this at ISO 250 or 320, minimum".

I just mention this because I have a feeling you'll end up shooting this with speedlights, and frankly, in a big room like that, areas that are NOT close to the speedlight are going to "drop off" in lighting very rapidly if the ISO is at 100. Also, the flash units will have to work very hard, in terms of battery use and flash output, and recycling time, if every,single shot requires a MAX FLASH POWER dump because the ISO is 100. If you go to 400 ISO, the amount of flash needed will be cut wayyyyyy down, so your speedlight setup will at least have a chance.

I guess what I am saying is...in a BIG, open environment where there are no nearby ceilings and walls, flash "drops off" very fast. The normal amount of ambient spill of the flash that comes off the walls and ceilings is...lost...it's like trying to light a coal mine with a Bic lighter. Most speedlight flashes have a Watt-second equivalency that I think of as 50 Watt-seconds, give or take, maybe 60 Watt-seconds TOPS for a regular hotshoe, $500-class flash from Nikon or Canon.

Even using ONE, 400 Watt-second monolight with an umbrella, and placed on a 13-foot stand would probably be preferable to using a speedlight setup. I just do not have a lot of faith in shoe-mount-power-level speedlights in large venues. Maybe I am imagining this scenario wrong, but I think I have an idea of what this will be like, so, my suggestion is studio type flash gear, rented or borrowed, or maybe bought. But like runnah and keyseddie both mentioned--maybe we're not clear on what the heck you plan on doing.

+1 (ish)

I don't have tons of fancy flash gear, but I have shot a number of weddings in big spaces with high ceilings and random ambient light from various windows. Higher ISO and a flash off walls or ceilings has worked very well for me in the past.

I only said +1 (ish) because I feel I'm not as experienced in this so you should take what I say with a grain of salt, but what Derrel says definitely rings true with my experiences.

 

[samplestars]

I've shot in these sort of environments before using brollys and softboxes, and bouncing off all sorts of things from walls to vans, BUT only for posed shots, manual flash, where I have all the time in the world to do test shots and make adjustments. I've no doubt 3 flashes is more than enough to give reasonable light with a bit of ISO juice. I'm not overpowering the sun. Regarding ISO, for event coverage, I'll shoot up to ISO 3000 on the 6D without a second thought.

The big problem is getting the same exposure (with manual OCF) means backing the strobes up so the distance to the subjects is relatively comparable if they move around. If I end up doing more work for these guys, sooner or later, I'll have to invest in a robust off-camera TTL system.

 

[tirediron]

Mehhh... in a situation as I understand this to be, properly placed strobes will trump TTL every time. All you're trying to do is duplicate the room lighting, but to the nth power.

 

[Mike_E]

I would approach this like a wedding shooter. Camera and flash bracket.

If they want you out of the way then they're going to Not want to have to deal with light stands and modifiers.

So, get a bracket, make sure that you can drag the shutter and have a good time.

 

[runnah]

Yeah sounds like everything is going to have to be on camera. The bracket is a decent idea although I don't use one. Bounce when you can, crank up your ISO and make sure to use the white card in your flash to get nice catch lights on people.

Frankly having been in a ton of these type of events the opportunity to get really "cool" looking shots is pretty slim. The best tactic is to go for the well exposed and composed shot.