Help! How to shoot during a presentation?

[mauphie]

I hope that I'm posting to the correct discussion.

We're holding a presentation and we want to shoot the speakers as they're giving their lecture. Obviously, they'll be in front of, or to the side of the giant screen with their projected images. The room will be semi-dark as well.

I will have a Nikon dSLR. I will also have a tripod. I will have 3 lens to choose from: 2 kit lens: 55-200, 18-55 and a fixed-focal length 35mm. Obviously I can't use a flash. And whatever lighting the room has is either really dim or projected from the screen.

I want to make sure that I'm getting good shots of the speaker. I'm just not sure how to approach this and if anyone as any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

Again thanks in advance.

[zona5101]

Hi and Welcome to DPS
I think you will want to you your fastest lens...which I will guess is the 35mm fixed focal length lens. You will need to get closer than if you were using one of the other lenses but you need all the light gathering you can get. You'll probably need to up you ISO to 800-1250 range...and if you meter with a good portion of the screen in the shot you will probaby need to add + exposure compensation or add a 2/3 to a stop of light if you're shooting in manual. You'll probably not want to have your shutter speed go much below 1/50 of a sec to prevent camera shake and motion blur. Bracketing a few would be a safe idea.

[sk66]

If you are able to get close enough then Zona's response is good.....I would add that you won't need exposure compensation or "plussing up" if you are using spot metering....

If you can't get close enough and you can't use flash for your longer lenses, and the lighting sucks/backlit.....I'd say it's futile....Rent a fast longer lens.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by sk66

If you are able to get close enough then Zona's response is good.....I would add that you won't need exposure compensation or "plussing up" if you are using spot metering....

If you can't get close enough and you can't use flash for your longer lenses, and the lighting sucks/backlit.....I'd say it's futile....Rent a fast longer lens.

this is excellent advice.

maybe the company will expense the rental costs.

[mauphie]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be printing out all your suggestions and taking them with me as crib notes. I'll definitely go w/ the fixed focal length lens, as there isn't time (or budget) to rent a faster lens. But I will try to get as close as possible to the stage.

Again thanks for all your sharing your knowledge! This is a wonderful forum and I wish I had visited it sooner.

[Digidave]

I don't believe your problem is going to whether your lens is fast enough or not. It will be the difference in lighting between the screen & the speaker. You shouldn't have a problem getting a good shot of either but you'll have big problems getting a good shot of both. Was that you goal? To get the screen presentation in the shot or just the presenter? If your shooting for both, the only way to do well is to equalize the lighting between the two. That can only be accomplished with flash.