Low light indoor candid advice

dankellys

dankellys

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Dan
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Basically, work are having an "Official Opening" day on friday. During the course of the afternoon there are going to be performances by the children of the school choir (I work in a school) plus speeches from the Head Teacher, Chair of Governors and School Council members, as well as the unveiling of the plaque to commemorate the day. I have been asked to get some shots of the day.

So, a little info about the setup in school:
It will be taking place in the school hall, which has very limited natural light coming in from one corner through a glass fire door, and 4 small sky lights which open slightly and are coated in a translucent white film.

The main lights are energy efficient ceiling lights (i think flurecent), behind translucent plexi-glass on a low ceiling (about 8-9 feet).

The stage (where the choir will be) has coloured stage lighting controlled by a lighting desk.


Camera Kit: D3200, 18-55mm and 55-200mm, Pop-up On-Camera Flash (if needed)

Any advice on settings?

I was thinking the following:
As I am going to be shooting from quite close the the 'action' - 18-55mm Lens (at the longer end)
Aperture Priority mode: f/4
ISO: 800?
 
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If the fluorescent ceiling lights dominate you are going to want to be shooting at around 1/50s exposure to limit the weird colour problems you can get if you shoot "out of phase" with the lights.

http://photo.stackexchange.com/ques...hutter-speed-create-a-problem-with-color-cast

shoot RAW so you can colour balance later if required.
The on camera flash is unlikely to be powerful enough to do much in any size of room... and you will lose the 'candid' aspect too.

Is it too late in the day to grab a 'nifty fifty' 50mm f1.8? about £60 second hand if you are lucky.
 
Nobody will be able to tell you the aperture and ISO to use without being there and seeing the exact light (or metering the light anyway).

Your 18-55 also doesn't do f4 at the 55 end either does it.
 
Cheers Fragglerock, will 1/50s be ok shooting hand-held? Think I will need to be hand held as I will be moving about a lot to get the angles right. To late (and too skint) to add a 50mm prime, but that is the next thing I plan on adding to my kit bag :)

Chris, I know it is difficult for people to say exactly, just after some rough guidance really, wedding togs will most likely have had similar lighting for their indoor shots. Think you are right about the 18-55mm actually, might be better with the 55-200mm at the shortest end, could come in handy for head and shoulder shots too.

Thankfully, it is just for a record of the day, so if some shots dont work out well, its not the end of the world, but I would like to do the best I can even if its just for my own learning.
 
dankellys said:
Chris, I know it is difficult for people to say exactly, just after some rough guidance really, wedding togs will most likely have had similar lighting for their indoor shots.
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Okay, but can't really see how it helps as you just have to deal with it on the day. Use max aperture and ISO as high as you dare or need to give good enough shutter speed. If shutter speed is too low even with max aperture and ISO then hope you have been practicing your yoga. :)
 
ernesto said:
Okay, but can't really see how it helps as you just have to deal with it on the day. Use max aperture and ISO as high as you dare or need to give good enough shutter speed. If shutter speed is too low even with max aperture and ISO then hope you have been practicing your yoga. :)
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Cheers Chris, as you say its just going to be a case of suck it and see really. Going to try and have a trial run tomorrow afternoon, see how it goes.
 
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