Corporate Boardroom shots

Wobbler

Wobbler

Suspended / Banned
Messages
585
Name
Dan
Edit My Images
Yes
I've potentially got a job coming up, 24 corporate head and shoulders - no probs, will bring lights and a backdrop. Group shot - no probs, will go outside and use available light...but they are talking about a few 'scene' shots too - reception area, boardroom with 6 people sat around a table, a room where they build computers etc - what would you do? Use available light and up the iso, or try to light the scenes with flash?

The build room wont be a problem as it will be an isolated subject, so I'd probably use flash - but the boardroom shot? How would I go about lighting it if not using available light? There is a window in the boardroom, fwiw.

Any suggestions?
 
manually expose for outside the window, then hammer aflash into the ceiling to give an evenish light that looks like it came from the light fitting

this give a bleugh light that looks ok, I would then do something else to make the room more interesting maybe a softbox to give fairly directional light, maybe bouncing light off the wall behind me maybe some gels dunno without seeing the room

watch for reflections in glasses and the window and chimp a lot :D might be worth setting it up empty and testing it on your assistant ;)
 
A bit of both to be honest.
The H&S shots are a no-brainer as is the group.

The other shots you've mentioned is where your creative use of flash balanced with available light comes in and why people like Joe McNally are so much in demand.
Without seeing the locations or the number of persons, I cannot advise what's right or wrong as each situation will call for different techniques, which you will have to figure out on the day.

For what you've decribed, I'd take everything with me: Bowens monoblocs for the staff portraits and smaller off-camera strobes for the other stuff.
 
What arkady said. Joe mcnally's even used a bedsheet spread across a big window on the side of a meeting room before as a giant modifier for a monobloc.... popping it off the (in offices, almost always white) ceiling is usually a good starting point...


pay attention to your light colours and gel appropriately too :)
 
Last edited:
If there's incandescent lighting in the boardroom, a cheap trick is to change the bulbs to higher wattage ones, pump up the ambient that way. I've seen real estate agents do it.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
What arkady said. Joe mcnally's used a bedsheet spread across a big window on the side of a meeting room before as a giant modifier for a monobloc.... popping it off the (in offices, almost always white) ceiling is usually a good starting point...
Click to expand...

Agreed - since I read about that trick I now have three old white bedsheets in the car at all times.
 
Just a thought here, but from my experience when you start getting 'creative' some people start frowning, asking questions about the why and possibly ask you to just get on with it, so just have strength of character (which I'm sure you have) to just get on with what you need to do to nail the shot. They'll thank you for it after I'm sure.
 
Marcus Geezer said:
Just a thought here, but from my experience when you start getting 'creative' some people start frowning, asking questions about the why and possibly ask you to just get on with it, so just have strength of character (which I'm sure you have) to just get on with what you need to do to nail the shot. They'll thank you for it after I'm sure.
Click to expand...

Seconded: I've lost count of the times I've been told to get on with it and stop faffing around...

Usually by those who are hyper-critical when the resulting rushed shot makes them look like an arse...

Which of course I would never do deliberately...:D
 
Arkady said:
Seconded: I've lost count of the times I've been told to get on with it and stop faffing around...

Usually by those who are hyper-critical when the resulting rushed shot makes them look like an arse...

Which of course I would never do deliberately...:D
Click to expand...

yup :D

and protip: if you shoot with monoblocs, put a spare fuse or two in your camera bag. I once borrowed a 50m extension lead that some imbecile had put a 3A fuse in. Caused a good few minutes of head scratching as to why nothing was working, and then I had to find something else that I could cannibalise a fuse from...

also, these are pretty neat for flying a speedlight off suspended ceilings... creative video do them in the UK I think, mine got smuggled over from B&H...
 
Last edited:
neeeed some of those Dave

+1 on fuses and I carry my own extension leads though only to printing gigs
 
If possible, start with the harder boardroom shots - so that you can set up before people arrive - then move on to the simpler groups and H&S shots. You really need to be there to give more detailed advice.
 
Light everything with flash if you can, only real way to get 100% consistency between all the interior shots, just don't depend on the day been bright enough to use natural light. Nice if you live in Western USA, but this is England, in the late summer...!
Reception areas these days are usually lit with tungsten with a bit of daylight, and sometimes a bit of fluorescent for good measure, so if you can flood the area with light that looks natural then fine.

If not then it's tripod time and shoot RAW, so you correct the cast later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top