Well, Marilyn
Think of yourself as a wedding photographer. It's you job to get the
shots, not to be unobtrusive. You come in there with the best
equipment, knowing its limitations - especially of light dropoff, and
you do your work - which is to get down in the middle of the center
aisle or over on the side in front of the front row and get a few
shots of the speaker. As the official photographer you have the right
to temporarily block the view of the audience in order to get the
shot. You may also have the right to expect a reserved seat on the
front row for a few shots, and to do a portrait of the guest of honor
before or after the presentation. No crouching down necessary,
you're the official photogapher.
As for group shots, the standard commercial photographer is going to
set them up - get everyone doing all the tacky stuff with their arms
around each other, smiling obnoxiously at the camera, or waving their
drink glasses up in a toast, or strategially placed around a banquet
table. That's your job - to get the shots for the promoters.
While it's true that shots with have not been set up are more
satisfying to us, you will soon find that the most important thing to
the people in them is me, me, me. Is my hair OK, do I have a good
smile like everyone else, am I the only one not looking at the
camera, look at how badly my dress hangs, oh dear I look so fat in
that picture, me, me, me. Your job is to get everyone looking great
and posed is easier.
Finally, for the cavernous building. look into some clamps that you
can mount remote flashes on and clip to things like girders holding
up the ceiling, or molding on which the picture hanging hooks are
mounted, an open window will allow you an edge to clip to light to
and a swivel socket on the clamp will allow you to aim the flash more
easily. Let the producers know that you'll need a few minutes to set
up your wireless lights in order to get them the photographs they
want - interesting, well lit, etc.
Then bring a bounce card and shoot RAW!
--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races
http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf/
http://e-and-s.instaproofs.com/
