Croon Loc: Naples, FL

Looking for some advice and/or tips. I’m a photo hobbyist who simply enjoys taking pictures; far from being anything close to a pro. I guess to my credit, I’ve been asked to take photos at an upcoming indoor conference, with ~250 delegates and speakers/panelists. I’m assuming the lighting will be poor- the typical spots on the podium and panelists, and low lighting on the audience. I plan to shoot with a Canon 5D, using a 70-200mm 2.8 or 24-70mm 2.8 lens. Speed lite if necessary. Manual mode…use a high ISO, aperture wide open and shutter speed of 400+. Does this seem right? Any suggestions or comments welcome as I’m a bit nervous that I’ll screw it all up. Thx in advance.
DC.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Go to the venue and take some shots to see what the lighting is like and what you can do to mitigate problems.

Croon Loc: Naples, FL

Will do. Thx

Bill_de Loc: US

Getting comfortable with the venue is soooo important.

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jim quist Loc: Missouri

I go to a conference for work every year. There is a large stage for the speakers and about 800 of us sit in rows of chairs. The photographer is a full time publications person. Produces a monthly magazine and is responsible for all of the photography.
He uses flash for the stage pictures but available light for all other photos.
From a safety point of view you don’t know who might have epilepsy and can’t deal with a flash going off.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

Why would you want to shoot with the lens wide open and at a high ISO? That will minimize the depth of field and induce more noise in your images.

IHH61 Loc: Homestead Fl

I shoot a fair amount of this kind of stuff either as a photojournalist or for the event. With the R versions of your lens and a R5 and R6. My settings would be Aperture Priority F2.8 with ISO adjusted to get a shutter speed of 1/100 or 1/125 for stage shots. For crowd shots and candids play with f-stop to get what you need. No flash for stage shots. Bounce card on flash for everything else.
That said your style your settings.

Hugh

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I usually arrive a half hour before an event. I take sample shots of potential places I will be. I place a small piece of masking tape on the floor here and there. I also point the camera at various lighting arrangements (podium and windows) and check the viewfinder. Then I look at where the light is shining and look at that area and check the viewfinder. While this doesn’t give me the accuracy of a light meter, I does give me a hands on approach. I also have a light meter which helps in tough spots.

Your setting seem okay even though I have yet to see the venue. A large zoom may be cumbersome and cause some fading. I am also considering a pancake 50mm lens for room shots as well a the occasional photo from the audience. Enjoy and have fun.

BebuLamar

I don't see the need for shutter speed of 1/400+. I may use 1/400 with the 70-200mm @ 200mm but for other cases I would use slower speed. ISO perhaps 1600 go 3200 is sufficient.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I did events for several years for organizations I belonged to. They were used for newsletters and online notices and publicity.

Newsletters and online photos are not demanding. Newsletters are produced with halftones so noise does not show up unless it's REALLY bad so you can tolerate some noise. Online photos are rarely screen-filling so size reduction goes a long way toward reducing noise. Don't be afraid of raising the ISO.

If the photos are to be presented to the participants as prints, then low noise is a little more important.

Most event scenes can be captured at 1/30-1/60 second unless they're really dynamic. Aperture should be set to give good DOF. I usually used f/5.6-8. Backgrounds can be blurred in post if necessary (or darkened). Photos of people speaking at a podium are pretty dull, but that's what some events are all about so you will be encountering that kind of thing. It even happens at weddings. In my travels I have come across a few people that present problems when they're speaking at a podium. They can contort their face into the most amazing shapes while speaking, and the expressions are not something you can anticipate. There were 3 such people in my organizations so when I was taking photos of them speaking I would set the camera on high speed burst mode and take bursts of 3-5 shots, then chimp to see what they looked like. Sometimes it took 50-100 shots to get something useful. You want their mouth open so you know they're speaking and not just standing there looking at the audience, but it can be a challenge. When you come across someone you don't know, do a short burst and chimp just to check that they look reasonable. Publicity photos don't mix with funny faces.

Group shots will be necessary occasionally. If you are using flash with the group shot, again use the burst mode and take bursts of 3 shots. Occasionally someone will blink at the preflash but will recover from the blink at the second or third shot. If there is a late blinker, using a burst will minimize variability of the background, making it easy to swap heads in post to get everyone smiling. Use as high an ISO as is consistent with reasonable noise levels. That will allow the flash to loaf so you can get several shots from one charge. Leave 10-15 seconds between bursts to minimize heating of the flash.

If the venue is reasonable, use bounce flash as much as possible. It minimizes shadows behind the participants and looks better.

I usually used a 24-70, a 70-200 and even a 200-500. You can't always get right up close to the action. I used two bodies with different lenses so I could change focal length range without having to change lenses and having a shot evaporate while I was changing.

Timing is important so you want to set up your camera for generic settings and let it do the work. I might change ISO between shots but my normal mode was auto aperture. If I found the shutter speed too low I would open it up or raise the ISO. Try not to be diddling with camera settings while the shots are in front of you.

Have a couple spare battery changes and a battery charger with you (you don't have to carry it all but have them nearby). Lots of spare cards. I would come home with 1500 shots at some events.

If you use Lightroom, try to place names of people in the keywords. That way you can find all the photos of a specific person when needed. This is the hardest part of my workflow. It sometimes takes several emails/phone calls to find a name that I missed. A notepad and pen is useful. You can write the name and just take a quick shot of it. As long as you can read it, you don't have to be too focused on details.

Good luck.

Croon Loc: Naples, FL

These are all very helpful suggestions. Many thanks!!

Croon Loc: Naples, FL

Very helpful. Thx!

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I use my D7200, 18-200 zoom, SB700 TTL speedlight with a scoop reflector by Lite-Genius. Manual mode, flash in TTL mode, ISO 400, F4.5, shutter at 1/200. Remember that the flash controls exposure on the subject and the shutter controls the ambient light. ISO can be increased to reach out further when needed. Shutter can be increased to make backgrounds darker. Aperture can be adjusted to affect depth of field. I’ve had excellent results with group shots of a dozen or so.

Croon Loc: Naples, FL

Many thanks for the tips!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Do a site survey, whether in person (preferred) or over the phone.

What lights do they use? Are they flicker-free, meaning they won't change intensity or color during fast shutter speeds? Many cheap LEDs and fluorescents on 277-volt commercial lighting circuits will exhibit flicker or color cycling. Don't show up without a solution for that.

Is flash allowed? Ask the organizer of the event.

How high is the ceiling, and is it white or colored? If it's under 14' and white, bounce flash may be a highly desirable technique, so long as you also throw enough flash forward for catchlights in folks' eyes.

Can you make raw files and post-process later? This greatly improves consistency of event photography output. Raw files have a couple of stops of over-under exposure latitude. JPEGs only give you about +1/3 stop, -2/3 stop.

You can probably use a shutter speed down to 1/100 with your shorter zoom, and 1/250 with the longer zoom, especially if either lens has Image Stabilization.

If you have to expose JPEGs with available light, take a white balance target and do a custom white balance in each new lighting scenario. Canon AWB from the era of your 5D is pretty iffy, the farther away from real daylight you get. I never trusted it when I used Canons back in the mid-2000s. But then, I like accurate color, not mood color. Your intention may differ.