Working with people in poor light

[BennehBoy]

OK, so I live in the UK, the light here is generally 'crap' - this isn't normally a problem for me since I shoot a lot of 6x7 but usually on 800ASA film.

I'm setting out to shoot a large number of on location environmental portraits, both indoors and out and wondered what stratagems people here had developed for minimising film wastage? Fortunately my subjects will largely be adult so they may be able to stay still for a second or so (fingers crossed!). Should I be looking to pop my subjects in place with flash and expose for the environment?

I'll be shooting 8x10 on 160S and ektachrome 64T (depending on lighting), ideally I'd be avoiding the use of obvious artificial light but I'm not totally averse to using some where necessary. I'm shooting with a 300/5.6 Schneider MC.

Good light is a crutch - so I'm told!

[Clueless Winddancing]

Very ambitious project you'e set for youself. Consider very large reflectors that will catch what's available when mounted on stands that a close to the subject. An assistant's help while you view the GG helps immensely. Consider painting the corners black so that a "round" reflection is caught by eyes that refelct the light source it is a "traditional" expectation.
What is the thematic connection among the sitters? How can that be utilized in the lighting?

[Walter Calahan]

Depending where in England during the winter months, is there any light to bounce off a reflector?

I'd get a battery powered strobe (200 or 400 watt seconds), aim into a reflection that is placed very near the subject.

http://www.sunbounce-usa.com/sunbounce_micro.html

[Frank Petronio]

Use Kodak Portra 400NC color neg to start. 64T chrome film is nuts.

Shoot wide open.

It's a trade off between stopping down versus the time at which the subject's breathing and subtle motion will blur the results. It can be as short as 1/125th second for a fidgeter to 1/2 second for someone really mellow. But most serious, aware posers can handle 1/15th second consistently.

1/15 at 5.6 for ISO 400 is pretty good, you can do medium lighting intensity interior rooms at that, typical offices and hotel rooms.

Strobe can be a bit harsh unless you know what you're doing. It is far easier to bounce a 500 watt Tungsten hot-light off a light-colored wall -- it will give you two stops plus a more gradual fall off to the ambient background. Filter/Gel the hot light to match the rest of your natural light, or correct in Photoshop.

[Daniel_Buck]

what aperture will you be shooting at? If you'll be shooting wide open, maybe you could find a lens that opens up larger? I've been enjoying my 12" (305mm?) f4.5 Gundlach Radar on 8x10. It's not super sharp wide open, but for 8x10 it's plenty sharp for portraits wide open. Every little bit of aperture might help, eh? I'm not sure if you could find anything in the 300mm range larger than f4.5, but it might be worth looking for!

[Koge]

Hhhmmm, portraits in England, large format, slow exposures. I can only respond one way...

[lenser]

Everyone else has given you good advice on the lighting, so I'm going to approach this from both film speed and lens history plus the all important psychology of how to prepare the subject.

Neither one is any big deal, but together they may ease your concerns.

First of all, our films and lenses today are wildly more light sensitive than the emulsions and optics of a century and a half ago when brilliant portraits were being done in your Brittish light by Fox Talbot, the team of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Lewis Carrol, Julia Margaret Cameron (some of the most creative work of all and many, many seconds long for her portrait exposures), and I'm sure many others.

So you have the huge advantage in technology and gear.

Secondly, other than very young and energetic children, almost anyone can hold quite still for ten seconds and longer if (1) you let them know when you are ready to trip the shutter, and (2) tell them ahead of time to stay still and relaxed until you either tell them it's okay to move or give them a signal such as lowering you bulb or cable release hand when the exposure is done. Counting for them up to the predetermined and discussed number of seconds for the exposure will also help greatly.

Posing a subject either seated and leaning on a desk or table, resting their hand and their balance on a solid piece of furniture, leaning against a wall, seated in a window sill, or the use of any other types of solid posing support opportunities, greatly increases one's ability to hold still.

Often, I have simply held one hand in the air during long wedding portrait exposures that combine flash and available light in dark churches and let that hand drop as the cue to move again when the exposure is over. I've been blessed with sharp six and eight second exposures of standing couples in exactly those circumstances.

With children, the use of solid things to lean or lay on is of even greater importance as is the counting and visual signals so they know exactly what to expect from you and vice versa.

If you are using auxiliary lighting, be sure to warn the subject to remain still after the flash fires. Explain how the system works by doing a test fire and countdown with them before actually exposing the film. If they see that, they will understand how you must work and how they need to help. It all helps to communicate and create a team between you and the subject and then they usually will participate much more successfully.

Good luck. Sounds like a terrific project.

Tim

[BennehBoy]

Wow, thanks for the responses!

Here are responses in no particular order:

Film, I honestly don't have the resource to pony up for 400NC, much as I would love to. I have approx 30 sheets of 160S and 150 of 64T that I picked up very reasonably from another forum member - I guess I'll probably try to save the 64T to be used in good light with an 85B.

Long exposures, some great advice there, simple and common sense.

I guess I should have said that the portraiture will be pretty much full length of the subjects in their environment rather than head/head+shoulders, here are some examples of the type of scene I might be shooting:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/2760764554_f5e27130b8_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennehboy/2760764554/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2754027887_aa527ee636_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennehboy/2754027887/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/2364677372_fb68028660_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennehboy/2364677372/)

I'm guessing this may make lighting even more difficult - I have a number of strobes and radio triggers available to me, but it's all extra gear to carry and this is a purely personal project with no assistant (other than friends). I like the idea of using reflectors and have a couple of 5 foot 5 in 1's that I can attach to stands/wave about - I'm just not sure there will be enough light concentrated from these.

The project itself is documenting the lives of people in and around the M62 motorway in the north of England, approx 50% of the project will document the meeting of nature and urbanity, see my flickr link below for an idea of the types of shot I'm after.