Nightclub Photography - A Basic Guide

I shot in a nightclub twice so far trying to figure out settings. (before I read this article)
I was able to shoot ISO 100 F4 .5sec (rear synch)
They turned out pretty darn good. My question is, if I bump up the ISO to say 800, does that mean my flash won't have to work as hard? Would I need to adjust anything else? (flash was set to TTL)
Thanks,
Jon
 
jwill8888 said:
I shot in a nightclub twice so far trying to figure out settings. (before I read this article)
I was able to shoot ISO 100 F4 .5sec (rear synch)
They turned out pretty darn good. My question is, if I bump up the ISO to say 800, does that mean my flash won't have to work as hard? Would I need to adjust anything else? (flash was set to TTL)
Thanks,
Jon
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did you get any ambient light at those sort of settings?? Most weekends i shoot around ISO 800-1250 at f/2.8
 
I did! That's why I'm confused. I'll post a link or something later. Then I did a couple seconds here and there and moved the camera around and held still when rear synch kicked in and got some cool light trails
 
jonneymendoza said:
1/20 should be slow enough
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You say it "should" be slow enough but it would not seem the case for Scout n About.....

Depends on how much is going on, how much ambient light there is and how much of the "effect" you want ;)

I notice 1/20 is on the upper end of Dave's recommended settings too......
 
I shoot 4 clubs a week and i can go as slow as 1 second with rear sync... I stick with f5.6 and only change my iso and shutter speed. Iv never gone as fast as 1/20th usually the fastest i go is 1/13th.

Again its all down to your style or the style you want to achieve.
 
jwill8888 said:
I shot in a nightclub twice so far trying to figure out settings. (before I read this article)
I was able to shoot ISO 100 F4 .5sec (rear synch)
They turned out pretty darn good. My question is, if I bump up the ISO to say 800, does that mean my flash won't have to work as hard? Would I need to adjust anything else? (flash was set to TTL)
Thanks,
Jon
Click to expand...

I've thought and experimented with this too......

Obviously if you're shooting full manual the flash will try and compensate to get the correct exposure.

I was at a skating rink trying to get shots of people moving which was a lot trickier than I thought and my brief was "can you get as much ambience as possible as we've spent a fortune on the lighting rig" :LOL:

The biggest problem I found is that I can only get so close to the action and they use a smoke machine lots!!!! Using ISO100 and the subsequent power of the flash is like using your headlights in fog! I found but upping the ISO to 800 gets a better results. There may be a little motion blur but at least it shows that people are actually moving ;)

I sometimes go for REALLY trippy/abstract shots and leave the shutter open for up to 1sec and/or zoom/twist the camera.

I'll try and post some examples up when I get home :)
 
well i'm onto night 2 of 6 shooting freshers week @ a local uni and just wanted to say thanks to Bass_junkie 83 for the tips...they've served me very well.....

1.
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4.
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Couple of tips from me:

- like mentioned, ear plugs are a must!
- i just take one camera, one lens (15-85), 2 cards, spare batteries in pocket
- paint parties are a killer...great shots bad news for equipment!
- people are happy to have pcis taken...they will come to you!
- getting creative with light and slow syncs is hard!!
- take a small towel in your pocket
- dont leave your wallet in your back pocket just incase!
 
Some good tips! I'm thinking of taking up nightlife photography. How did you get into it?
 
Slow Syncs are amateur hour. Shoot at over 1/100th, dont even 2nd curtain, run a low aperture and get wide as possible. Dont put up unflattering regular photos, it just makes you unpopular.
 
RMaynardPhoto said:
Slow Syncs are amateur hour. Shoot at over 1/100th, dont even 2nd curtain, run a low aperture and get wide as possible. Dont put up unflattering regular photos, it just makes you unpopular.
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Posting posts like this make you unpopular! Wouldn't mind seeing how a "pro" does it as all my shots must be "AMATEUR!"
 
duttytd said:
Posting posts like this make you unpopular! Wouldn't mind seeing how a "pro" does it as all my shots must be "AMATEUR!"
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Indeed, though my photos must have been very unpopular this week as ended up in the back of an ambulance :lol
 
A differing opinion!!! get him!!! :bat:

but wait, he does have a point or two. The slow shutter blurry thing is (to borrow a DJ term) "rinsed" so why not try something different? RMaynard has laid down a challenge, rise to it and then go further!

and posting pics of drunk people with eyes and tongues pointing in different directions probably will make you unpopular :D
 
I think it was the way he expressed his opinion, rather than the opinion itself, that people have issue with.
 
I thought the two replies after RMaynards were worse tbh, but it shouldn't matter.

Photographers as a bunch tend to get hung up on pro and amateur so perhaps his use of the phrase was poor but here you have a low post count member who is offering constructive advice and an on topic tip… who hasn't been back since :(

If I did nightclub stuff I'd do it quite differently to the methods in OP, doesn't mean the OP is wrong, doesn't necessarily mean I'd be right either, but it shouldn't be seen as even a minor slight to anyone who does follow the OPs guide
 
nano said:
I thought the two replies after RMaynards were worse tbh, but it shouldn't matter.

Photographers as a bunch tend to get hung up on pro and amateur so perhaps his use of the phrase was poor but here you have a low post count member who is offering constructive advice and an on topic tip… who hasn't been back since :(

If I did nightclub stuff I'd do it quite differently to the methods in OP, doesn't mean the OP is wrong, doesn't necessarily mean I'd be right either, but it shouldn't be seen as even a minor slight to anyone who does follow the OPs guide
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If you've got an issue with any of my post you know what, your welcome to report it to a member of staff (y)

Edit: and a members post count means sweet FA to me its the content of their posts that interests me ;)
 
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RTM Received and we are keeping an eye out.
Play nice please.
(Besides, some of the mods also have a short fuse ;))
 
Cobra said:
RTM Received and we are keeping an eye out.
Play nice please.
(Besides, some of the mods also have a short fuse ;))
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:D from the mouth of the person that takes a little bite as gental foreplay :D















okay boss I'll play nice tonight, done want to fuse a mod, if the lights go out all of the Jaffa go missing and all that is left when the lights come on is a few crumbs around Marcel and "what! me?" look on his face :D
 
Cobra said:
Did you mean gentle or genital Matt? :p
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which ever floats your boat my friend, you don't have my address so I'm safe :exit:











makes note I really need to install the spell checker add on for this new computer
 
Use first or second curtain for whatever effect you want. Same goes for shutter speed and field of view.
 
I don't think it's been covered here but do you guys shot 'one shot' AF mode? This gives you the RF beam assist, although I would normally use AI Servo mode for moving subjects.

Will be trying out some nightclub work tomorrow and the club will be pretty dark so imagine I would need to use the RF Assist beam...
 
For gig photography I use one shot too. Servo may be the logical choice, but having the assist beam make AF so much better.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
I always use one shot AF, never needed servo.
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Thanks guys. Do you use spot metering aswell?
 
Sometimes, depends on the lighting conditions of the venue.

I try not to whenever possible, anything to get the shot quicker and get natural reactions, the better.
 
Hmm, i'm not sure what is happening here.
All the images are still there in my media list on wordpress and linked into the blog post still, but are just not showing for some reason.

Fingers crossed it's just wordpress having a wibble moment and all will be back.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Hmm, i'm not sure what is happening here.
All the images are still there in my media list on wordpress and linked into the blog post still, but are just not showing for some reason.

Fingers crossed it's just wordpress having a wibble moment and all will be back.
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Yeah the images weren't working on Wednesday either...

How do you deal with smoke in a club Dave?
 
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Well, attempted some nightclub photography last night. Pretty un-happy with the results and kinda dis-heartened aswell :crying:

First off there was hardly ANY ambient light, now there was a lazer a couple of small down lights-whcih didnt give off much light. DJ booth had UV and a long green stip light and that was it. Very dark in there, and to add to the the smoke machine caused even more issues :bang: :(

The club itself is vsmall celling is probably only 8 foot or so aswell draped in leaf style camo hangings.

So as you can imagine, suffered numerous problems! Could barely see the crowd in my view-finder. Hardly any room to get about, crap lighting.

Need to have a re-think. Will post some, if any photos when I get the chance.
 
jimmy83 said:
So as you can imagine, suffered numerous problems! Could barely see the crowd in my view-finder. Hardly any room to get about, crap lighting.
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1 tip I have seen for this is attach one of those very small maglites next to the flash and just flick it on so you can actually see what you framing. It wont be seen in the final shot.
 
Wide lens and get close.

Just remember that smoke is a physical barrier, the less of it between you and your subject,t he less it will affect you.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Wide lens and get close.

Just remember that smoke is a physical barrier, the less of it between you and your subject,t he less it will affect you.
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Yep I took the advice from here and did a shoot with bad light, bad backgrounds and smoke.
I used a 7d (spare camera), 580mk2 flash (fillted with a stofen) and a 10-22 f3.5-f4.5 lens. Settings were 1/20-1/50, F5.6, iso 600-1200 depending on shot. Flash was either full power or less again depending on shot.
I got a decent set of shots that I liked as did the organiser and the people.
10-22 was defo a great lens to use as distance to subject was kept small and in tight spaces I could get groups in pretty well. The only issue with the lens was its wasnt that good at candid shots.

Made a change to use 1 camera and a small light lens as when I shoot gigs Ive got 2 cameras, a 5dmk3 and 7d with a 24'70 and a 70-210 hung round my neck and it gets a bit heavy after a few hours.

Cheers for the thread
Simon
 
All images are now fixed, sorry it took so long!
Turns out the ones that were missing, I had linked from my facebook page rather than embed properly. They might not all necessarily be the same images that were there before, but they do the job.

Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about the original posts in this thread though, so just on the blog.

LINK TO FIXED GUIDE
 
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Thanks for the post:)
You have uploaded it it with everything that would be needing while nightlife photography!!
! I must say it is nicely written and well executed.
You seem to have so much knowledge in this field..
Thanks and keep sharing
 
Ive been shooting some nightclubs lately, but I think ive been pretty unlucky as the two I normally shoot in has very poor light. They have a lazer and minimal ambient lighting! Add a smoke machine to that...and well it can be hard-work! I experimented with the wireless trigger 603 ones and managed some good results.

Can anyone tell me what the best way is to focus when using triggers? I ended up using manual but then I struggled to know if the subject was in focus or not due to the bad light-so some of that was guess work! Plus I can't zoom in or out with the lens as I have one hand holding the flash and the other the camera!
 
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