Hi everyone,

I have a shoot comming up at the end of the week where I will be
photographing 30 to 40 employees in their offices. The photos will
be used for the companys online staff/contact list where they will
replace some snapshot quality photos. The offices are not very large
and there are windows behind each desk.

I would like to get some ideas on how to best shoot such a job.

Because there are so many people to photograph my plan was to
go around with a portable kit that allows me to use ambient light
while putting some fill on the person. (5D II w/Grip, 70-200mm f4 lens,
Flash with LightDome, and Monopod to allow slow shutter speeds).

Any suggestions?

Do they absolutely want them in situ in each individual office, or can you set up a "station" somewhere, and have them come to you? That would be a lot easier, I suspect, and give you more control over lighting, background etc etc etc. It will probably be a lot faster that way, too.....

I agree, unfortunately that is not possible. They want a more casual
look in their images showing every employee in his/her own office.

OK, I have a question.......................is this a paid shoot or a volunteer shoot?

If it's a paid shoot it's hard for me to think the cost difference between a single setup where the employees travel to you versus you going to each office wasn't discussed.

With a single set up, (photo station) you will be able to set up strobes and control the background, producing a much better result.

If however it's a volonteer situation then it makes more sense. Because there is no cost to them they will not worry about you spending 30 or 40 times the effort.

Sam

It is paid and the terms were discussed beforehand. They specificaly asked
for portraits showing the employees at their desk in order to give the images
a more personal touch. White this means more work for me, on the plus side
I get to bring less equipment and backup but also make more money.

This seems like a mistake. Many of these photos may wind up with the "snapshot quality" you are trying to replace.

Your choice of lens also seems to be a bit long for what you describe as small offices. You won't get much of the office in the photos even at 70mm in a small space. Watch for the reflection of your flash in the window behind the people you have described. This would certainly ruin the shots.

Do yourself a favor and rethink this plan. You may likely waste your time and produce inconsistent photos. Diva and Sam have better suggestions. A central station lit with strobes will produce a consistent, quality photo suitable for a corporate web site. Have them all come to you at assigned times.

Originally Posted by Mitchell This seems like a mistake. Many of these photos may wind up with the "snapshot quality" you are trying to replace. Your choice of lens also seems to be a bit long for what you describe as small offices. You won't get much of the office in the photos even at 70mm in a small space. Watch for the reflection of your flash in the window behind the people you have described. This would certainly ruin the shots. Do yourself a favor and rethink this plan. You may likely waste your time and produce inconsistent photos. Diva and Sam have better suggestions. A central station lit with strobes will produce a consistent, quality photo suitable for a corporate web site. Have them all come to you at assigned times.

Mitchell raises a good point. Do you have a shorter, wide-aperture lens that you could use or rent (eg 85 1.8, or even a 50 1.4)? That would give you greater light in what will likely be poor-light situations and will also enable you to blur out any seriously unattractive backgrounds you may encounter (while still providing the context of the employee in their surroundings).

Since it appears you do have to go office to office, I'd have thought the most important thing you'll need is a white card/grey card to ensure a decent white balance in what will likely be mixed lighting!

I'm NO PRO but thought of something that I think may help. Are there ANY kind of blinds on those windows that can be closed to cut down on reflections?

Jane B.

What color are the ceiling and walls? Consider flash bounce, however take into account the ambient light. If the ambient is significant and modified by window tinting etc...you might get a less than desirable effect with 2 light sources at different K.

Could you do something like this? Use one conference room with a one light set-up, and stage the table to look like a desk. Ask each employee to bring a couple of their personal desk items (e.g., family photos) for their session. Might be a decent compromise for consistent photos and lighting for you and personalized feel for your client.

If that's truly out of the question, here's a great Strobist behind-the-scenes that seems very applicable to your situation.

Originally Posted by bakerphotography What color are the ceiling and walls? Consider flash bounce, however take into account the ambient light. If the ambient is significant and modified by window tinting etc...you might get a less than desirable effect with 2 light sources at different K.

If you have a white ceiling and walls a flash bounce will really help out. Possibly even turn off the lights in the office to avoid and control bad lighting.
I wouldn't want to try to use a 70-200 in an office. You should try to borrow a much wider zoom so you can see their office. That was the intention of the gig right? If it is just zoomed in on only their head why shoot in their office at all.

My advice, don't put them in a row. Anything but a row.

Originally Posted by Andy My advice, don't put them in a row. Anything but a row.

That's the kind of thinking that makes people a COO...

The windows have blinds and there are some trees outside providing some
shadow and possibly nice background highlights. The walls are all white so
no problem bouncing. I'll be shooting desk to head portraits horizontal and
vertical. Since I shoot fullframe there is no problem getting full torso shots
at 70mm at a distance of 2-3 meters. Their offices are alot larger than that.

But of course I will pack some shorter and faster lenses (50, 85) just in case. I've seen the lighting videos from David. They are great but I won't have the time to setup an entire lighting scenario like this in each office.

Originally Posted by Andy My advice, don't put them in a row. Anything but a row.

Hi Andy, good to see you're having fun too.

But is there a spare office room or conference room that could be set up as an office? One set up that everyone comes to, but use different props (like their personal items from their own desks), and angles to make it appear to be different offices.

Ambient office light is yucky, you are better off being able to set up your own lighting.

Caroline

I did that before. Offices are usually great in terms of bouncing the light. Just point the flash up or up-and-to-the-(window)-site and you should be ok.
The obstacles are:
1) hard to kill reflections from the whiteboards and windows
2) mixing flash light with ambient can be tricky.
3) setting this on the run is extremely difficult. Be prepared that you'll end up with the glorified snapshots taken with a very expensive camera.

PS
As many said, forget about 70-200/4. It's to long and too slow.
17-55/2.8 (or 24-70/2.8, or 50/18 or better, something like that) shall be your weapon.

Since the shoot in specified to be in situ, it would probably be safe to assume the client would like to see some of idividuals' office in each shot. I fear the 70-200 will be a bit long, even on a FF camera to do an adequate job. I would seriously consider the 50mm as a better alternative. And, the 50 will give you an opportunity for a narrower DOF, should the be desired.

Technique wise, if the office window is to be a part of the shot and if the scene outside the window is decent and contributes to the image, I'm thinking this should be a two or three shot effort for each portrait to dial in the exposure/flash settings. Shooting manual, dial in settings to get the scene outside the window 1 stop under-exposed (that's the first shot). If you miss it on the first shot, the second will allow you to fine tune. Now, set your flash to properly expose your subject - I would bounce it off the wall behind me to soften it a bit and that's the second/third shot. Now you can concentrate on the posing. Two or three different poses (and/or camera perspectives) and you're onto the next subject.

You may have trouble balancing the various ambient light sources ... depending on the amount of light coming in through the window and also depending on what other light sources you have in the office (note: I think I would kill the overhead flourescents).

If the view out the window is not attractive or is a distraction, you have just two options (1) don't include the window in the image or (2), close the blinds as others have already suggested.

Any way you cut it, I don't see this as being a big deal and I think the differences in setup from one office to the next should not be huge. Done right, this could be a huge success.

Originally Posted by Scott_Quier Since the shoot in specified to be in situ, it would probably be safe to assume the client would like to see some of idividuals' office in each shot. I fear the 70-200 will be a bit long, even on a FF camera to do an adequate job. I would seriously consider the 50mm as a better alternative. And, the 50 will give you an opportunity for a narrower DOF, should the be desired. Technique wise, if the office window is to be a part of the shot and if the scene outside the window is decent and contributes to the image, I'm thinking this should be a two or three shot effort for each portrait to dial in the exposure/flash settings. Shooting manual, dial in settings to get the scene outside the window 1 stop under-exposed (that's the first shot). If you miss it on the first shot, the second will allow you to fine tune. Now, set your flash to properly expose your subject - I would bounce it off the wall behind me to soften it a bit and that's the second/third shot. Now you can concentrate on the posing. Two or three different poses (and/or camera perspectives) and you're onto the next subject. You may have trouble balancing the various ambient light sources ... depending on the amount of light coming in through the window and also depending on what other light sources you have in the office (note: I think I would kill the overhead flourescents). If the view out the window is not attractive or is a distraction, you have just two options (1) don't include the window in the image or (2), close the blinds as others have already suggested. Any way you cut it, I don't see this as being a big deal and I think the differences in setup from one office to the next should not be huge. Done right, this could be a huge success.

You would have to pay me a lot of money to do that for 40 people!

Originally Posted by Mitchell You would have to pay me a lot of money to do that for 40 people!

Maybe the client just wants embellished snapshots of the local wildlife in their natural habitat.



Rags

Originally Posted by Mitchell You would have to pay me a lot of money to do that for 40 people!

Yep, I forgot to include the word "financial" in my last sentence. This is probably a good 2 days worth of work.