Shooting inside a convention center

[QuietOne]

I'll be going back to the Bay area in May. We've had a friend die of cancer last week and another has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that's metastasized to the bones. One of Mike's ex-girlfriends spent a few days in the hospital a couple of months ago, for a root canal that had finally gone bad, and the oral surgeon wasn't willing to treat her in office. Another just had surgery for a broken ankle. We've got a number of friends who are just in poor health. So it's time to go and see them.

What's that got to do with a convention center? Well, almost all of them attend Baycon, so it's a convenient place to meet up with everyone without running all over central and northern California. Naturally, we want pictures of friends, and of the convention events. I've been to the Hyatt Regency, but it's been years. The convention center, which is attached to the hotel, wasn't built then, and I've never been in it.

I know some of you have done convention shooting. I'm considering renting a lens, probably only 1, because the furnace and this trip will basically trash my budget. I'm considering renting it in the near future to try it out, then again closer to Baycon. Any suggestions?

[Iguanasan]

I've never shot conventions but I'll offer my ideas and see how well they stack up to the people who know what they are doing.

You're a Nikon shooter so I'm not sure what lenses you have but as a Canon shooter I would get the Canon 17-40mm. I would expect that a good wide angle lens would be a good idea as the convention is likely to be very crowded and a nice wide angle will let you get in close to shoot. You'll have to be careful where you place people in the frame if you are going to shoot wide though as proportions can go a little crazy on the edges.

You may also want to consider a flash with one of those big flash boxes as there is often not a lot of light and with 20 foot high (or higher) ceilings it can be problematic bouncing light off the ceiling though there may be plenty of walls. Better to be prepared in case you can't bounce.

[Marko]

First off - Sorry to be reading of your friends' misfortunes. :(

I'm with Iggy here - the light will likely be your issue. I would scout the location beforehand if i had the chance to see just how dark it is and choose brighter areas for shooting if available.

I'm not clear though on if this is just to shoot friends or to also cover an event - if you are also covering an event, what event is it and do you have a press pass or anything like that?

In terms of lenses...it would depend on how crowded it is. How crowded do you expect it to be? Is it a enormous space with lots of shooting spots?

[JAS_Photo]

Not sure exactly what at the convention, if anything, you will be allowed to shoot. Most likely if there is a variety of booths such as at a comic con type thing you will be allowed to shoot that, depending on the individuals of course. But really since it is at a private venue such as a mall, they can restrict you. Probably you will not be able to photograph speakers, etc. You will want a fast lens if possible and a camera with great high ISO resolution. The one thing about my D300 I hate is that at the least thought of going over ISO 400 it gets all gritty and noisy. If your camera has great ISO though, a 18-200 lens probably will get you everything you need and is lighter than the 2.8 lenses.

And, so sorry to hear that so many friends are suffering such devastating illnesses. ):

[Realist]

Well hopefully everyone gets healed up soon.

I personally have been wanting a faster lens for indoor. Even with the big flash I have it would still be nice to have a faster lens, because a flash doesn't light everything. Also I think I would want a standard or wide angle lens for such an event.

[asnow]

You may want to check out the following photography podcasts

http://twohosers.com/

Show numbers 105 and 106. Allan Attridge goes over a corporate shoot he did in a convention centre. Once you can get past all the drivel, he does have a useful description on his approach and what he did.