Advice Needed...

I have been asked to photograph a corporate event by my employer. It's a ribbon cutting/grand opening of a new facility.Typical industrial environment. High ceilings with fluorescent lighting, and stainless steel mixers, drums etc. I'm using a Canon T3i and have the following lenses:
Canon 18-55 kit, Canon 50mm 1.8, Tamron 17-55 2.8, Canon 85mm 1.8, Canon 75-300 5.6.
Canon 320x speed light.

basically I'm looking for lens suggestions and setting recommendations. For the most part I will be within 10-15 ft of the guests/speakers.


Thanks in advance...

I suspect you will do most of your work with the Tamron 17-55 with the flash mounted. You might try dialing the flash back to be more of a fill flash, but, especially if you are un sure, when in doubt ETTL usually does a good job. My common mistake is to try to shoot everything at the widest aperture (f/2 or f/2.8). I end up losing many shots to the thin DOF. Most people do not recognize a thin DOF....but they know an OOF picture. I talked to a Pro I know a few years ago and he lived at f/5.6 with a flash for indoor events. In other words, focus less on style points and more on capturing the moment.

You may want to invest in a bracket to get your flash off the same axis as your lens (granted, I've maybe seen 1 wedding pro with this) and maybe a cheap Sto-fen Omni bounce. I have one, but I honestly prefer the white card you can pull up. But, I am always reminded when I go to weddings (2 weeks ago). Wedding Pros seem to live with Sto-fen's on their flash.

For the times when you can't use your flash, I'd have both the 50 f/1.8 and 85 f/1.8 handy. Also, I would try to mix things up. Some shots with flash and some, when ambient light allows, without.

Anyway, just a few random thoughts.

Thanks. I actually do have the flash bracket, forgot to mention that. I appreciate the feedback. I also make the 2.8 mistake and I will be making a conscious effort to nip that in the bud...The Tamron was going to be my 1st choice. The 85mm I picked up last week and really haven't tested it properly.

Thanks again.

The DOF does need to be shallow however. By the sounds of it, there will be a lot of background clutter that you want to blurr out and create seperation for your subject. F/4 should work but maybe not if you get to close to the wide end.