photo shoot in surgery-questions-

System

my boss, a vascular surgeon, is going to allow me to take photographs while performing surgery (next tuesday)-

my first thought is, since I have some fairly fast lenses, is to shoot available light, especially considering the lighting should be excellent in a surgery suite-

I do have a canon 420ex flash that I can use and have a stofen diffuser-

I also can probably get close enough to take pics of the actual surgery-


any advice, suggestions, thoughts, links to threads or articles are most welcome-

thanks in advance-

DoctorIt

I can't give any lighting or specific input, but really looking forward to the results!

If it were me, I'd try as many different things as possible, bring my wide-standard zoom. Step back for some whole scenes, go real wide, catch some motion of the whole procedure. Then close in for some more intimate action. I'd be careful not to get too carried away trying to catch the real "surgery" part - most of your audience won't get it, and just see tissues/blood. I think the real fun for the general dgrin audience would be the wider shots showing the people who are involved in the surgery. Maybe try to capture the concentration in the surgeon...

This could be good.

System

erik-

I had thought along those lines excepting for bringing the equipment to switch around-

not sure what my limitations will be mulling around in surgery taking pictures-

of course, I could carry my two cameras with two different lenses!-

thanks for bringing it up-- I mean, how long would it take and how many photos can you take of the surgeon standing over the patient-

if he's doing a carotid endarterectomy though, I might get carried away with that!-

thanks erik!-

pathfinder

George,

There will be plenty of light with OR lights, but you may find difficulty with getting the proper white balance, and may not like the shadows they create. Bring a white sheet of paper or better, a WHi- Balance card, to try to set up a custom white balance BEFORE the operation begins - Like a day before even.

If you cannot obtain good results with a custom white balance, you may want to use flash instead - and you may be able to bounce it off the ceilings if they are white.

You will need a 100-200 mm lens for shots of field - Nikon used to make a 200mm Medical Micro Nikko precisely for shooting in surgery. A standard 200mm lens with a front Macro filter screwed into the front filter ring may work just fine, or a standard 200mm lens may be ok.

Try to photgraph playing cards on a cardtable from at least 1 meter away to get a feel for shooting in surgery. I doubt they will allow you to get directly above the wound, but shoot standing behind, and slightly above the operating crew.

Ask one of the nurses nicely for a step stool so that you can see over the shoulders of the crew too.

A wide zoom may be nice for shots of the operating crew as well - Be sure that you do not get shots of the patient's face that would allow someone to identify them, UNLESS you have them( the patient) sign for permission first. There are strong laws regarding patient's right to privacy.

Have fun and just stay out of the surgeon's wayrofl

Bodwick

Make sure you've screwed your skylight filter on tight as you lean over for a top down view of a triple bypass. You won't be very popular if your filter, or lens, falls into a cavity.


Also don't forget to put your camera through a 20 minute boil in the autoclave before entering.


Post results....

System

pathfinder-

great advice-

thanks much-



stepstool?-

how about a chair behind me to catch me-

System

bodwick-

I'm more worried about the junior mints I eat-

and they said a little spit on the cuff would clean the camera good enough-