Indoor fluorescent shots with an A300
Posted on: Thu, 10/02/2008 - 11:33pm
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Indoor fluorescent shots with an A300
Hi all. My brother-in-law has asked me to take some photographs for a new brochure. The photos are of panels and vanity tops, etc. Not my favorite subject matter but I can't say no. I have an A300 with an HVLF42AM flash & the following: Minolta 50mm 1.7/Tamron 90mm/kit lens. Can anyone give me some pointers? I've been thinking about purchasing a new lens so maybe now's the time? Thanks, Kris
set your white balance to custom for that particular location and lighting situation.
Bill
A350, SAL18-250,
Minolta 28-75, 50 1.7, 28 2.8, HVL-H42M
I think your 50mm would be a better choice because it offers you a wider angle. As Bill said you can custom set your white balance and that can produce great photos. If you want to use your flash, Bounce Reflectors and Mini Soft Pockets produce a little more pleasing lighting effect. Harsh direct flash on subject as panels and vanity tops will surely reflect light back at the lens. Anytime you can soften light on any subject you will get a much more pleasing photograph. Two manufactures I use are Lumiquest (soft boxes and pocket bouncers), and Gary Fong (LightSphere).
http://www.lumiquest.com/
http://www.garyfong.com/
Hope this helps, and thanks for letting me share,
AJ
Hey this looks dangerous……..You go first!
If at first you don't succeed, Skydiving is not for you!
Hi Kris,
I would say that out of the lenses you have the Minolta 50mm is going to be your best choice. It is optically very good and will provide you with a wider angle of view than the Tamron 90mm. You will need to control the white balance and as Bill and AJ have said setting a manual white balance would be the best and most accurate way. If you shoot in RAW then you will have more control after the shoot.
With regards to using the flash then I would definitely recommend that you bounce the flash as you will get a much more flattering and softer light source. One thing to remember is that you can always use it wirelessly off camera for more control.
The links AJ has provided are great and using one of those light modifiers will help you get nice diffused light, one other option would be the STO-FEN omni-bounce. These are very reasonably priced and work well.
Finally check out Carl's review of the A300 where he has a video showing how to easily set manual white balance using the A300's live view.
http://www.alphamountworld.com/reviews/sony-a300-review?page=0%2C2
Hope that helps and good luck.
Andrew
Head Waiter: AlphaMountWorld.com