I'm going to be shooting photos in an underground mining

>>2980970
it's going to suck
if you could bring along a couple remote speedlights or something it might be okay but the conditions you decribe are garbage. the only places that would be even half-acceptably lit are narrow passages
bring a tripod too if you can manage it, but it doesn't sound like people will wait for you
if you are shooting handheld your camera better have good high ISO performance

>>2980977
Yeah, I know. But my editor has me down for photos with the story since the only actual photographer working today is busy shooting sports. My tentative plan is to underexpose by a couple of stops to emphasize the darkness. Thankfully I can get a way with a bit more high-ISO noise on newsprint. But this is still going to be a nightmare.

>>2980983
wait, this is for a story? they'd be idiots not to let you take the time to set something up, it's free advertising. I guess licensing for their own publicity photos is out of the question?

High ISO, process to black & white. Remember: low light is shit light. If anything, set your meter to overexpose by 2 stops or it'll just expose for the point-light sources, leaving lit things in the ink.

>>2980985
It's not strictly a story about the museum. We've done plenty of those with better photos than I would know how to get even with time to plan and set up. I'm covering an event tonight, Boy Scouts having a camp out (camp under?) in the mine and working on the geology merit badge.

>>2980988
do you have any experience with lighting equipment or taking group portraits? what do you know how to do?

>>2980991
I have (minimal) experience with lighting equipment, but currently don't have any. My shit got stolen, and I only had the camera and lenses insured. It's basically going to be me, my Nikon D3100, my 50mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.8, and my headlamp.

If I even had a manual hotshoe flash I'd be in a better situation. Could bounce that off the ceiling (it's a salt mine).

If I get anything even remotely OK, I'll share it here.

>>2980993
wow the newspaper industry really is in the shitter, no equipment to loan? you could try attaching a bounce card (thick white paper, you could even just curl it around handheld) in front of your on-camera flash
just remember your autofocus is going to suck. also crouch down for portraits of the kids. it's actually a good thing it's an event, relatively candid shots should be more acceptable. good luck!

>>2980995
The newspaper industry isn't great at the moment, but as far as photography goes our paper is really good. Four full-time photographers in a town of 40,000 people. But two are always off on Saturdays and one is on vacation today, while the remaining photographer is shooting juco basketball.

No equipment to borrow that would be useful today, though.

Candids are what I was planning for. Hopefully I can get some silhouettes from the dark area shooting back to the lit portions of the museum. That's probably my best bet for a memorable photo.

I don't know. I'll see how things work out. There shouldn't be much actual reporting to do down in the mine, so I can focus on photos.

>>2980998
glad to hear your place is still alright
you can also just use a business card to bounce on-camera flash, that's the classic trick although sometimes it's a little more fiddly because it's so small

Buy or rent a whole pile of speedlights, and a trigger. Yongnuos if you have to buy, Nikons if you're renting. Also, tripod.

>>2980993
Cheap trick, get a handful of those disk-like battery operated LED wardrobe lights or whatever they are called, get some like 10 and pack extra batteries. Prepare a few with blue/pink/purple/whatever color gels.
Place down at random places, hide them with rocks or behind corners, light up the place the way you want it and shoot away. Get a cheap tripod too for the longer exposures.

>>2980993
Wow, they just want to fuck with you, don't they. This gear is utter shit for the task at hand.

I guess you'll need to have the boy scouts throw extra light for you or something...