Sometimes as photographers we get put into situations in which we have to deal with tricky lighting situations. Unfortunately for me, tricky lighting situations occur in every building on my campus. It’s a good thing though because it pushes me to play with my white balance and other camera settings to try to get the photo to look right. It’s important to get to an event early enough to be able to take some test shots and refer to your histogram. Knowing how to read a histogram can save you a lot of time in post processing.
Histogram
photo courtesy http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/NikonD200_intro.shtml
For these shots I use a combination (exact data can be found on my flickr page for all the photos) of an 18-50 f2.8 with a flash usually set at f5.6 and ISO 400 and a 70-200 f2.8 without a flash set at f2.8 and ISO 1600. I think f5.6 to f11 is a good range for shooting events like this with a flash. f2.8 is a must especially when it was as dark in that room as it was. I wish my D70s had less high ISO noise, but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. Here are some photos, let me know what you think.
I like best the candids that don’t have any flash (I guess that means I like the 70-200 shots). I would not mix them (this is really getting fussy) in a set — either go all flash or all natural. The group shot is really solid as far as the lighting. Bounced off the ceiling ? Nice work.
Thanks OT for your comments. Sorry I didn’t get to them sooner. I typically don’t like shooting with a flash, but sometimes it is necessary like it was in that room. I am curious though why you say not to mix them. I understand that there are two different looking shots in the set, but the flash photos are limited only to the closeups to capture details. I’m just curious to hear your thoughts. And the group shot was a bounce from a single on camera flash. It works better than using just one medium umbrella I’ve found.
Just passing by.Btw, you website have great content!
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