The main challenge encountered during the conference was low light conditions (no natural lighting at all and a mixture of fluorescent and Halogen lights). In addition there was a leaning towards no flash photography as this would disrupt the flow of the speaker and my job was to be unobtrusive. Technically this is a challenging environment. On the plus side I have good lenses, a Canon 24-70mm F2.8, 16-35mm F2.8 and a prime 50mm F1.4.
I played around a bit with settings and found it is best use time or aperture settings to limit the number of variables (automatic was just too slow and led to blurring). The easiest way I found to avoid blurring was to underexpose slightly and spot meter on people’s faces which gave reasonable results, especially for keynote speakers. I also needed to pump the ISO up to at least 1600 which on my camera means noise.
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| Don Bell - one of WestJet's founders |
A group photo of 50+ people at night proved to be the most challenging shot of the conference (mainly because all the CHRP recipients would want a photograph), I did scout for a suitable location during the day but the choices were limited and I ended up doing a lot of photoshop, in the future I think lights and backdrop are must for more control of the environment.
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| CHRP Recipients |
The conference organizers wanted to show the vitality of the conference, people listening and enjoying themselves, not my normal style to interact with my subject but by the end of the conference I found I was enjoying the people interactions, all in all a great experience, one I hope todo again.
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| Trade show delegate |
