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Shooting in da Clubs...
ok, so I got a low paying gig. But the work was easy. However, it wasn't until the end of the night that I think I finally figured out some settings I should use. In all the various talks on MM and DPReview about shutter speeds, flash duration, blah blah...I started my evening off at 1/30 to 1/40 and f/2.8 to f/4 (max for my 17-55). I also turned down my TTL flash compensation to -2/3. Oh yeah, ISO 400. I didn't want to any higher than that and I'm really happy with the noise levels (or lack of). It wasn't until the end of the night that I really kind of figured things out and too advantage of the flash duration. I have no idea what it is on the SB-800, but I hwas hand holding at 1/10 and getting better shots. This slower shutter speed was allowing me to capture more of the club lighting. examples: 1/30  1/10  Other than learning how to take better pictures, any suggestions for camera settings that I should consider? Jan 02 07 02:17 pm Link I've been shooting portraits in clubs for 30 years and I have two books to prove it. I've only been here five minutes, otherwise I'd post a link to one of them, but I'm not sure of the etiquette of doing so, so I'd better not. My advice is go for a smaller aperture so that you can pre-focus if necessary and, when there is not so much movement, go for a longer exposure. I often shoot in clubs where I literally can't see a thing and sometimes I'll go for anything down to half a second. That's if I'm not being jostled. Which I often am. Incidentally, I often find the photos I take when I can't see a thing are better than the ones I take when I can see something. Maybe that's just part of capturing the spirit of these places. Can't think of anything else, except I wish I'd known about the requirement for model releases when I started. Jan 02 07 02:36 pm Link Nice dragging of the shutter! I used to shoot in P mode (shots looked like your first shot) at 1/60 and either 2.8 or 4.0 depending on which canon lens i used. I then tried dragging the shutter and got much more background light etc.! Im using a canon 20d, 17-40 f4.0L & 580ex flash usually at +1/3 ~ +1 and set my shutter at 1/25 or 1/30 mixed with ISO 800 and f5.6 for better DOF ... hope that helps a bit. Those new IS (image stabilization) lenses are really good too at allowing you to shoot slow and still get good shots ... provided your targets arent moving too much  ... another thing would be to try to experiment w/ different white balance settings to get good/correct color in camera instead of adjusting in PS later.  E Jan 02 07 02:43 pm Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Considering I was turning down the flash, I could definately probably close down the aperature more. I was thinking, but keeping it more wide open, that would help with capturing more of the ambient light. Or does it not help that all and only longer shutters will help? Jan 02 07 02:45 pm Link never fear the lights, but shoot em both ways. some print processes really bug on drag flash photos. rich Jan 02 07 02:48 pm Link You've hit on my favorite way to shoot not only in clubs, but stage concerts when the band is okay with my using strobe. Longer exposure and then a quick strobe, rear curtain to freeze the action. And I agree with the smaller aperture - shooting f/2.8 (or even wider) is nice in terms of the light you can get, and looks FANTASTIC when you get the focus right because of the great depth dropoff, but when three out of four shots aren't in focus, especially when your AF fails because of the low light, what's the point? :-) Jan 02 07 02:48 pm Link That gogo shot above was a complex set up w/ me stopping down to f11-ish and trying to compensate w/ a mix of boosted flash, ISO, as slow shutter w/o getting too much motion blur and a touch of in-camera overexposing ... i dont remember if i was on first or second curtain sync as the poster above mentioned ... i gotta remember to try that too next time! I was going for a deep depth of field and for the nice blades on the pink light as well ... mustve taken 50+ various shots before getting lucky on this one. *sigh* Jan 02 07 02:52 pm Link You might want to experiment with slow-sync flash. If you time it right, you can get people's faces in sharp focus, but the rest in a nice blur. Here's a slow-sync shot of a buddy of mine bowling:  Jan 02 07 02:55 pm Link i'll keep it at f range of 3-5, prefocus my lens out to 4-5 feet and shoot in manual so i can capture everything. I just can't depend on my lens to focus all the time I found. I was also using an old promaster flash with the rubbing alcohol bottle diffuser and able to pop 2-3 in quick succession. Club shooting is fun though!! Jan 02 07 02:56 pm Link Obviously the larger the aperture the better for ambient light, but it's no good if your main subject's out of focus. There are some fantastic sites with club photos on them now - www.thecobrasnake.com and www.ambrel.net - are two I've seen. When I started there was only a handful of us (in the UK) doing this stuff. Jan 02 07 02:56 pm Link Christopher Ambler wrote: I have no idea what their intention for these photos are. And since I was only paid $100 for 3 hours, I'm not too worried about perfect focus. Jan 02 07 04:03 pm Link I think f/4 should hold up fine. I used mostly closest subject.  Jan 02 07 04:08 pm Link 1/10 @ f/4  Jan 02 07 04:11 pm Link Go-go shots are always fun eh? wow looks like we shot in the same club! Mines is at Pipeline Cafe - Honolulu, HIJan 02 07 04:20 pm Link Christopher Ambler wrote: Either way works for me: Jan 02 07 04:23 pm Link Elliot wrote: I wish I was in hawaii. No, I was in Hollyweird. However, that model is reasonable well known in the import/asian scene. That is Thuy Li and I would not be surprised at all if she's danced at a club in HI. Jan 02 07 04:32 pm Link i've mastered nightclub photography.  i have two cameras. the d70s and the d80 i'll tell u my settings for each... D70s: ISO 640 sufficient lighting (hallways, bathrooms, etc etc) = 1/30 ambient lighting = 1/10 really really REALLY dark = night portrait setting f4.5 flash = +1/3 D80: ISO 400 sufficient lighting = 1/30 ambient lighting = 1/20 really really REALLY dark = 1/10 f5.6 flash = norm i use a clear gary fong lightsphere. best focal range is anywhere from 18-28mm. we have a website dedicated to nightclub photography. you can check it out here... afterdarc.net Jan 02 07 05:52 pm Link which lightsphere do you use? Don't you find that some sort of flash diffuser is a GOOD thing b/c people are like "what is that?" Jan 02 07 06:53 pm Link Christopher Hartman wrote: this is my only suggestion and it is not meant to be rude at all... Jan 03 07 01:02 am Link Just thought I'd share some of my night club shots...   I did one for new years eve.. but damn it was dark in there.. Jan 03 07 02:39 am Link PT PHOTO wrote: Well I don't know about falling into the nightlife, but the hours suck and so does the pay... Jan 03 07 03:04 am Link I'm always up to 4AM anyways, I should get into this. Jan 03 07 04:07 am Link  Well, as you know Chris, I also have the D200. This is the way I shoot. Exposure mode in Manual set shutter to 1/10~1/15th at ISO 200 and aperture between 4 and 5.6, depending on focal length and subject. If subject is further away and/or I am shooting wider angle, I open it up because DOF will take care of itself. If shooting slight tele I close down to better my chances of counting eyelashes like these. I set the flash on TTL BL with the supplied dome over it (sometimes I slightly angle the flash to better control fall-off) Jan 03 07 05:26 am Link  Jan 03 07 05:45 am Link Now, if you REALLY want to have fun, set the built in flash as the commander (turned off) and the SB800 as the Remote and take it off the camera and hold it far away and just point it at the bit...I mean patrons. Again, camera in M mode and flash all iTTL...here's what you get:    Jan 03 07 06:27 am Link lolz hey that's glam. Jan 03 07 09:00 am Link PT PHOTO wrote: i used to shoot a model a week back a few years ago. now i shoot a model a month, but shoot at the clubs every damn weekend. Jan 03 07 09:05 am Link Hamza wrote: the photography part itself doesn't pay very well, but there are other aspects in the nightlife industry that pays very well. u just have to know how to make it. Jan 03 07 09:08 am Link PT PHOTO wrote: I won't be doing this much. Certainly not at $100 a night. But it is easy money and they buy me drinks. Jan 03 07 11:05 am Link afterdarc studios wrote: Yep, that's GLAM!!! My new favorite thing to shoot on Thursday nights in Anaheim at the AWESOME JC Fandango Nightclub located on the corner of State College and La Palma. 18+ and doors open @ 9:30pm. Get on the LIST!!! Jan 03 07 11:48 am Link ill go to.. 1600 iso. and 1/10 sec i dont really care about grain as much.   Jan 03 07 01:36 pm Link Jim Ewing wrote: Were you the photographer that was talking to Tang while we were setting up our lights for the Santa Christmas photoshoot? Jan 04 07 05:31 am Link Jim Ewing wrote: Nice Shot Jim!! That girl can turn it on for the camera!! Jan 04 07 05:55 am Link PT PHOTO wrote: This is a little harsh IMHO. Jan 04 07 06:36 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: This Topic has gotten me wanting to expierment in club photography. Sounds like lots of fun!!! I'll make a deal with the Va beach night clubs and see what happens. Jan 04 07 03:28 pm Link afterdarc studios wrote: Probably...sounds like me. I made a comment to one of you guys about how after one of you shot some gorgeous models, a different photographer switched off to take the photos of those plus sized ugly ones. I commented on how the new guy gets stuck with the ugly ones. I was also talking to one of you guys about me getting my new Photogenics. Jan 04 07 05:34 pm Link Rocky Media wrote: I first got my club photos into Zoom because I rang up the editor and went to see him. A lot of magazines were looking for photos of punk rockers, because it was the big new thing at the time. A lot of photographers were somewhat aprehensive of the subject, due to the anti-social habits of the punks, so initially I had the subject almost to myself. Jan 04 07 06:24 pm Link so that's where you've been ;-) lolol. snarky smirk Jan 04 07 08:58 pm Link Jim Ewing wrote: haha yeah when the fat girls came up, i told my partner to shoot them. i was so wasted lolz. Jan 04 07 09:24 pm Link  Jan 04 07 09:26 pm Link |
However, it would also help me when I have larger group shots where everyone is not lined up perfectly. It is kind of annoying to see one or more people completely OOF because they are out of the DOF range.
Sorry. 
