Need advice for indoor office shots, bad lighting.

[Melanie2010]

I tried to post this before, but think I made a mistake, it is not showing up.

This is my first attempt at making a post here. I have seen some great things on this website!!!

I have been drafted to take photographs of workers in my office....the reason....I have a good camera! I have a Canon Xti. I use it mainly for landscapes and outdoor portraits. I have rarely used it to take indoor photographs.

My problem, is I need to occasionally photograph people in my workplace in the board room and in their offices. We have fluorescent and halogen lighting through out the building. There are no windows where I could get some nice, natural light and no one wants to go outdoors to get a photo taken.

The lighting is horrible. I took photos of an woman the other day, and the lighting made the slight bags under her eyes very prominent. I was lucky enough to be able to straighten this out with photoshop, but want to avoid this in the future.

I have a Gary Fong diffuser which I will use the next time I do a portrait...hoping that will help somewhat.

Is there any advice anyone can give me for this situation? No one wants me to take a lot of photos to get a good one, they all seem to want to hurry, hurry, hurry.

I can't afford a bounce flash (not sure of the name) and will have to use my diffuser. I do not even think I would know how to use a bounce flash anyway.

I just need some advice on how to make these shots look good under these conditions.....
I thank you all in advance!!
Mel

[faeriegodess612]

Im no pro by any means,... but the only things I can think of are to adjust the white balance on your camera to try and fight the various colors that indoor lighting can give a photo. um,...if anyone has desk lamps try using them to your advantage. put a daylight bulb in the lamp if possible,...you can get them at your local hardware store. point the lamp at a white wall or get a white poster board and bounce the light off it it. thats the only things i can think of,...good luck!

[SandeeWig]

Here's what I'd try (based on my limited personal experience), and I think it creates better lighting than the diffuser:

Make a biz card bouncer
Turn your flash up to +1 or +2
Find a white wall and position your subject at a 45 degree angle to it, preferably with a white or light colored background w/ no distracting elements
Hold your camera in portrait position and bounce the flash off the white wall.
Have someone hold a reflector camera right to help with fill.

You'll get decent catch lights and facial shadowing, while minimizing hot spots. And no heavy shadows cast behind your subject.

here's an example:


Good luck!

[lputman]

Hi Melanie2010, welcome to dPS. I've moved this thread to a more appropriate area of the forum; additionally, I've deleted the first thread which was area also.

[Melanie2010]

I LOVE the business card idea!! I cant' wait to try it out.

[SandeeWig]

If you can, post your results back in this thread. I'd love to see them!

[Benji]

The Fong diffuser will give you soft flat lighting. Easy and quick to do, but no artistry or thought is included.

Benji

[Melanie2010]

I will post some photos when I get the hang of it.

I appreciate all of the advice. This is the kind of situation where I really want to do a good job, but just don't have the equipment to experiment.

My workplace does not help much....they just want the shots done fast and expect good results.

Maybe one of these days I will be able to play with light a little more.

Thanks again everyone!