Big Kev wrote:One issue with posed shots is that the information on the posters is likely to be currently unpublished so I need to set angles so that stuff is either not in shot or well out of focus. I think it's going to be quite a small room for the posters so 200mm is likely to be a bit too long and I'd probably have people in the way. I think my only real option is to stick with the 24-105mm for the day. I'll drop my 16-35 in a bag on the off chance it might be handy and I did wonder about my 100mm macro for some better DOF but I'll probably just stick to the other two.
Good luck
I've been in a similar situation twice, photographing a major infosec conference. I had similar "challenges" where some slides needed to be not in shot (and then again, some needed to have their slides in shot..), the venue was very dark, no flash, and the conference logo needed to be on as many shots as possible.
You are definitely going to have white balance issues, but also auto exposure issues - I had 1dmkIIn and 5dmkII and both were useless when trying to shoot with anything other than Manual exposure; dark venue, presenters wearing black and slides with white background is a recipe for disaster.
So, a few select tips:
- use manual mode, how low you can go with time depends on the presenter, some stay so put that you can go incredibly low
- take lots of pictures, success rate can be quite low (i.e.. you don't want pictures where the presenter looks retarded or has his eyes closed etc, you might have to use a too narrow DOF so several pictures will be trash because the focus is off)
- use raw (white balance sorted, more margin of error with the exposure)
- don't be shy; if you are supposed to be the photographer, go where you need to be to get the shots you want - and take lots of pictures
- chat with the presenters before their presentation, that way they are going to be more at ease when you start shooting away
- make sure the batteries are full and you have spare cards
- if you can, scout the venue beforehand; think of the angles and lenses and settings
My pics can be found here if you want to have a look,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/t2_fi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Much cycling such kilometers.