Could use some help

[CBass]

I posted this in the business section as well but wanted to post this part here incase no one covers it there.

I have been asked to shoot some photos for a law office as well as head shots. I'm ok with the head shots done enough that im fine there but the interior shots of the law office is where i am in need of help. I have never shot interior shots before so im lost as to what i should use. First im down to shooting with my A700 (A900 is down) and i have a 28 2.8 which i figured would be fine with my full framer but might be an issue with the cropped sensor. I thought about renting a 10-20mm f/4-5.6 to give me more room when shooting the interior. I don't think a fisheye would be the look they want but never used one so should i look at those? Also what kind of lighting do you suggest? I have off camera flashes as well as strobes but i mostly use strobes for head shots unless im outside. So would using a strobe to shoot the interior shots be to blunky and in the way? If so how many off camera flashes do you suggest i use? I know you would be a lot better off with more info of interior size and all that but i have no clue and they need the shots asap and i don't have the time to run over there to inspect first. Do you think 2 flashes would do the trick or one alien 800? Also is there a better time of day to shoot the interior photos?

Thank for any help anyone can give me. I hate taking on jobs where im not well equiped mentaly and gear wise but money is money and i need it lol.

[MicWayWal]

CJ,
Are there going to be people in the interior shots or will it just be the offices?

[CBass]

Hey Michael, as of right now there will be people in the shots. I am waiting to hear back if i can shoot the interior shots when no one is around (like a lunch hour or before or after they close). I would prefer no one in the shots because IMO they would look cleaner and more professional, but the client might want everyone in the shots.

[L Stegall]

If there are people in them, is what they have in mind some sort of environmental portraits set in the office, so you can see people working in their actual environment or do they want images that just show off the office space? Because I think that makes a difference as to what approach you take.

[CBass]

Hey Lisa, from my understanding they want head shots of their staff so they can llist them on the bio page. Then interior shots to fill space on the website and to show off how the building looks. The website designer(my friend who refered me to the job) doesn't know if they want people in them like you said.

[MicWayWal]

Well with people in the shots you don't want to get too wide. Full frame I would not use less than 35mm. With a wide angle never place people close to the edge of the frame or they could have distortion, not a pretty picture. You could put them in the very center with little problems but not near the edge.

You are going to have to deal with a mixture of light sources, daylight, office florescent, tungsten, flash and those crappy compact florescent. One way to overcome all of that is to use strobes. Then you are down to two sources daylight and strobe. Not too hard but difficult if you have never done that before. Might behoove you to get an assistant who is versed in dealing with mixed light. They are worth their weight in gold.

I would never photograph an office without people in them, unless you want it to look like they are out of business. Now some areas like a conference room or an entry way can be done without people if it is interesting to look at on its own. A unique piece of art can be shown as the center piece, with the room as background.

Don't settle for the normal image. In fact I wouldn't even shoot a "normal" office shot. Rack your brain to come up with unique ideas and don't give them the option of normal. They will choose normal almost every time, in the course of being safe.

Good luck. Post some of your work.

[CBass]

Thanks Michael for the help and the advice. I will take what you said here and see what i can come up with. If they accept the bid i will post some of the final photos. Have a great weekend and thank you once again for your help.

[oldfotopro]

Plan on spending more time on this project than you expect. Unless you are very practiced at shooting this sort of interior you will have to learn all the problems that are encountered.
Mixed light is HELL.
People not cooperating is HELL. Get your equipment, lighting, exposures etc all dialed in before you even think about asking people to "be natural".
My best advice would be to try to KISS.

hard to help with lenses.
"full frame" would work best, but you can also go with the 10-22 as long as you keep the edges simple and use perfect camera placement relative to the horizon.
Perhaps tethered is something you could do which would give you a good idea of the final product.

Good luck. It can be fun if the problem elements are overcome.

[texxter]

CJ, if I were in you shoes I would call or visit the client and/or the web designer and discuss their requirements in great detail, down to the number of images required, and what's on each of them, what the images are going to be used for, whether you can rearrange furniture, etc, etc. You may be surprised by what the tell you, and how different it may be from what you thought. It would be best to understand what message or "brand" the law firm wants to project with the website and the images. You said they are in a hurry but if the images are not what they expect you'll be in a world of hurt - take your time to really understand what needs to be done.

This is a typical picture that projects strength and confidence - group of lawyers in an fancy conference room:

Texas Probate, Will Contests Lawyers TX, Estate Trust Litigation - home page

Here the designer used architectural elements on the banner to convey stability and "contemporary outlook"

Dallas Business Law Attorney | Fort Worth Debt Collection & Litigation Lawyer | Texas | TX - banner but note that the portraits of the lawyers under Attorney and Staff are awful.

The color palette the designer has chosen for the website should also be considered when doing your images. The better you understand all these elements, the more likely it is that the images complement and "fit" into the overall idea.

Concerning light, I'd say that strobes is the way to go, and two should allow you to do the headshots and the office portraits, as long as it's not a large group. Umbrellas are your friends! Dont mix lights, use only strobes, unless there are huge windows and you want to use that light. It's pretty hard to deal with multiple colors at the same time unless you have plenty of time to gel flashes or tungsten light bulbs...

Good luck!

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Also be prepaired to use more light sources than you may think about at first, many of them will be cut back since they will be used to create mood and emphasise particular items in the shot. Some shooters who do offices will have over a dozen lights set up! One way to get past the florescent light source problem (overhead lights) is to gel all your strobes for florescent and set your wb for florescent.

Be sure to be able to get access to the office the day before when it is empty- tell them that you need this access for at least an hour so that you can specifically do light setup and test (they should understand) and then note where you finally place all your lights and at what power levels so that when you set up the next day it won't take much time at all.