People at work - group pictures

[sean_buerger]

Dear Camels,

my boss' boss aproached me a while ago, to take pictures of the trainees that come to our company for equipment training. He was looking for material that can be used for promoting training programmes with our customers.

I thought that it would be best to show people, when they are intensely following an adjustment procedure on the equipment. Our trainees somtimes get very absorbed in what they are learning on the equipment.

I avoided using flash and the SLR. Instead I used my digital compact, which is less intimidating, due to the smaller size and lack of shutter sound. So the trainees could continue with whatever they were doing, without being too aware of posing as photo models at the same time.

Many pictures that I took look too messy. Sometimes I find there is a good shot, but then there is one person yawning. Other pictures again show people with eyes half closed.

On this forum there are many participants who partly make their living with photography. For me it is still a hobby, even though I occassionally take pictures at work.

Let me politely ask, how do you make a group of people look natural in what they are doing and yet take control over the situation, to have them in the picture, the way you or your client would expect it to be

It would be fun, if you could perhaps share some experiences or ideas.

I'd love to post some pictures I took, but don't quite dare, as I'm not sure about the legal situation.

Thank you, Sean.

[Blinky]

You will probably have to resort to off camera lighting, at least for fill at some point. Most people can concentrate well with strobes firing around them once they are conditioned... it takes a few minutes but usually they'll adapt and ignore the camera and focus on their task if the instructor is a good leader. They will do what the instructor does so you'll want to brief the instructor before shooting. You want the instructor (and yourself) to model the expression and behavior you want to capture... so keep a peaceful, focused look on your face and be all business when shooting.

Using a long lens and working at a distance is another way to avoid interfering with the shot by disturbing the subject.

You'll need to simplify the environment, plan your shots and know what will be in the visual field. Eliminate anything that doesn't contribute to the finished image... which will be most things aside from your subject. Think about that critically beforehand and arrange the setting to achieve uncluttered images... get the boss to spring for some seamless and a background stand. Remind them that such a shoot by a professional would be in the thousands of dollars.

For lighting, if there are multiple people, think about a single small softbox just above head high (the subject's heads) and right down the middle, that is, between them. The box should be as close as you dare put it without blinding your subjects every time it fires.

If your company really wants publishable images you will probably want to direct the people during at least part of the shoot to get specific shots. You may see action that you want to get and have them repeat it once you have a good camera postion and prepare the scene.

Hope some of that is helpful.

Legally, if you shoot on company time and photography is implied as a part of your job description you are working for hire and the company owns the image copyrights. If photography is not part of your job description it becomes open for legal debate. If it's not in your JD and you are off the clock, the image copyrights are yours. There's no reason why you can't get their permission to use the images for non-commercial purposes like portfolio and peer critique.

Chip

[Rokcet Scientist]

Originally Posted by sean_buerger

my boss' boss aproached me a while ago, to take pictures of the trainees that come to our company for equipment training. He was looking for material that can be used for promoting training programmes with our customers.

So he's trying to get photos on the cheap.
I'd get him to specify exactly what, and how many photos he would want/need. And preferably layout sketches of those (if he deals with a graphical studio or an advertising agency for his commercial printing, that shouldn't be too much of a problem). Then I'd quote him a price, and, if he accepts and formally gives you the assignment (get it in black and white!), I'd take a day off, so that he cannot claim that he already paid you for your time.

I thought that it would be best to show people, when they are intensely following an adjustment procedure on the equipment. Our trainees somtimes get very absorbed in what they are learning on the equipment.

Sounds logical. Interpreting that (?), I would guess that results in relatively many close-up photos.

I avoided using flash and the SLR. Instead I used my digital compact, which is less intimidating, due to the smaller size and lack of shutter sound. So the trainees could continue with whatever they were doing, without being too aware of posing as photo models at the same time.

Makes sense. Suggests that you'll be working with slow shutter speeds and high ISO settings. So consider noise reduction in PP.

Many pictures that I took look too messy. Sometimes I find there is a good shot, but then there is one person yawning. Other pictures again show people with eyes half closed.

1) Make many, many more exposures. Hundreds if you can. Use high-speed multiple exposure settings and make 3 or more per exposure. That greatly increases the chance that there will be useable exposures among them.
2) If there is really no photo of a particular scene without some unwanted detail (yawn, closed eyes, or so), you might consider merging two or more photos of that particular sequence in Photoshop: partly the one with and partly another one without that unwanted detail.

I'd love to post some pictures I took, but don't quite dare, as I'm not sure about the legal situation.

Ideally you could cover that by having the trainees sign a model release. If that isn't possible (or desirable), have your boss' boss – who is your principal/client in this – sign a waiver, whereby he accepts full responsibility and releases you of yours.

A simple model release form:

Permission To Use Pictures

I hereby give photographer’s name goes here the absolute right and permission to publish, copyright and use pictures of me in which I may be included in whole or in part, composite or retouched in character or form, in conjunction with (initial those applicable):

_______my own name

_______a fictitious name

_______no name to be used

If the person photographed is under 18, I certify that I am his or her parent or legal guardian and I give my consent without reservation to the foregoing on his or her behalf.

Date:_____________________________________

Name:____________________________________

Address:__________________________________

Phone: ____________________________________

Signature:__________________________________

A basic principal's waiver (on the assumption that the principal is the only one to get his hands on your photos, of course):

Permission To Make Pictures

I hereby give photographer’s name and address go here the absolute right and permission to photograph the training facilities, instructing personnel and trainees of organisation name and addres go here on (or between) date(s) go(es) here, in which the aforementioned subjects may be included in whole or in part, composite or retouched in character or form:

_______date

_______signature

_______principal's name, jobtitle, organisation name and address.

[scoundrel1728]

I have a different take on this than Chip does. If you can wangle enough authority to have a studiolike setup, you might want to take his suggestions instead of mine.

First, don't worry too much about the size and mirror noise of your SLR. If necessary, the trainer can explain your presence in a sentence or two. After a few minutes, your subjects will all but forget about you. As long as you can stay at least a meter and a half (about 5 feet) away, you won't invade your subjects' personal space and they will take no special notice of you. Trust me. I have more trouble with people blundering into my shots than with camera shyness.

Being an available light photographer, I don't even have an external flash unit and would use the on-camera flash only when a fill light was necessary. Fortunately, the lighting in your average commercial office environment with suspended ceiling with banks of fluorescent lighting is usually even enough and bright enough to shoot handheld if you have a reasonably bright lens. Even for this environment, I would suggest f/4 as a minimum, f/2.8 or brighter if you have such lenses available. If the training session is being held on the factory floor or in a building with old-fashioned incandescent lighting, your lighting problems will be more difficult but perhaps still manageable. In these cases you may need to bring in additional lighting, but be careful not to overload the circuits in antiquated buildings.

When working with fluorescent ambient lighting, the joker in the pack is color balance. Fluorescents don't mix well with other kinds of lighting. If color fidelity is critical, you may need to replace the existing lights with something more suitable for photographic use. In any case, be sure all of the lights are the same type, which in most office buildings will be cool white, and that all are in working order. If the room has exterior windows and/or local incandescent lighting, you will need to minimize or allow for the dissimilar color balance of the light from these sources. Some preliminary color balance checks will also be in order.

Also, fluorescent lights vary greatly in output and color balance over a power half-cycle. You therefore want to set your exposure time to include as nearly as possible an exact number of half-cycles. In countries with 60 Hz lines, e.g., the U.S. and Canada, this would be 1/120, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, or any longer shutter speed. For 50 Hz countries, which would include most of South America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, these speeds would be 1/100, 1/50, 1/30, 1/25, or longer. You will want to work in Tv or manual mode. Fortunately, the lighting is likely to be even enough to allow for fairly painless manual exposure control once you get your basic level set.

[sean_buerger]

Thanks for your valued comments!

I wasn't that concerned with lighting in the first place, as the cool white fluorescent tubes give me enough light. I found that a custom white balance gave me nice and reproducible colour.

Which was a big problem was the environment - messy working area, haha. I tried to get more people in to fill the frame, so that it would cover the background. This was somehow wanted by my 'client'. His idea was: trainees sticking their heads together and being concentrated in following one or another procedure.

Longer focal length didn't work that well, as the training room is rather small and I really had to be within the group. This gave the pictures a nice feeling though.

One thing that I've learned and which was also mentioned is, that you have to take many many pictures to get a few good ones.

Cheers. Sean.
PS: We all work a bit cheap here. I'm actually OK with my boss' boss trying to safe money :

[scoundrel1728]

Originally Posted by sean_buerger

Which was a big problem was the environment - messy working area, haha. I tried to get more people in to fill the frame, so that it would cover the background. This was somehow wanted by my 'client'. His idea was: trainees sticking their heads together and being concentrated in following one or another procedure.

Longer focal length didn't work that well, as the training room is rather small and I really had to be within the group. This gave the pictures a nice feeling though.

In that case, you definitely need a dSLR and a wide aperture to blur the background. The larger format of the dSLR vs. a compact means inherently less depth of field for the same camera-to-subject distance, field of view, and f-number. You will likely be surprised what a difference the larger format makes.