Best way to shoot seminars

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Submitted By: aguzman13

Joined: Oct 24 2007

Posts:

Best way to shoot seminars

Posted: October 24, 2007 - 6:53am

I will be taking pictures of seminars (about 5 to 6 semianrs) and just wanted to know everyones' thoughts on the best way to take these pictures of students and speakers. I have a Canon Rebel XT 8MP Camera with a 2GB memory card, two lenses (18-55 mm Lens and 70-300 mm), a Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash with an Omni-Bounce Diffuser.

What I was thinking is setting the camera to shutter Priority of 100-200, with Flash (maybe), and set the ISO to about 400 or 800 (with dim lighting). Will that setting give me the most detail without blur from people moving? I want to be careful of usinig high ISO settings for fear of having too much noise in the pictures.

How do you set your camera when you take photos of seminars where the lighting can be dim and you want to have everyones faces look clear and sharp? will it be best to set the camera to AV mode and set it to a low fstop number, set the ISO back to 100 because a lower fstop number will allow more light into the camera, right?

Submitted By: Larry Berman

Location: Pittsburgh

Joined: Mar 7 2005

Posts:

Re: Best way to shoot seminars

Posted: October 24, 2007 - 3:39pm

The best way is to use a tripod, and a fast wide angle for group shots switching to a fast medium telephoto for facial expressions close ups. Basically the same type of lenses required for indoor sports where you're close to the action. F-2.8 zooms will work best but with variable aperture zooms you'll need to boost the ISO to maintain sharpness, especially if you zoom out.

If the room has windows that let in light, shoot with the windows to your back to be able to use a faster shutter speed or narrower aperture. Flash can get annoying so make sure the presenter knows ahead of time if you intend on using it. If the ceiling is white and under 10 feet high, you can bounce the flash instead of using the light modifier you mentioned.