Nightclub Photography

Gary.D

Gary.D

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Name
Gary Derbridge
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I have been working in nightclubs doing photography for a while now. The pics I take, technically there is nothing wrong with them, but how can I make them "stand out" and generally look better with much more light from the disco lights.

I see some really good Nightclub photos on numerous websites such as "dont stay in" that include loads of light, and they just look so much better and more professional. Mine in someways just look like pictures taken with a point and shoot camera in a pub.

I have posted a few examples from last night, these are pretty average out of my set on what they are coming out like.

Picture088.jpg


Picture102.jpg


Picture143.jpg


The first thing that springs to mind would be to slower the shutter speed, but most of these were taken at around 1/30th, and I wouldn't want to go much slower than that because of people dancing and stuff.

Here is a link to a gallery for a local club photographer, whos results are coming out so much better, with lots of light and they have so much more omph to them lol

http://www.dontstayin.com/uk/southend-on-sea/mayhem/2009/jan/09/gallery-340029

Any suggestions I would be very greatfull.
Thanks
Gary
 
Don't be so hard on yourself, I think there good. Better results than i got from a party i done!!!

I think there good goodluck!
 
One of the things I first noticed is that all the backgrounds are sharp (or relativly so) use a much smaller fstop to create a shallower depth of field thereby isolating those you are photographing from the rest of the club.
 
What ISO are you set at? You should set it at about 800.

Put the shutterspeed to 1/5 - 1/10 and aperture wide open for your lens. Plus use a flashgun...but it looks like you are already.
 
8utters said:
What ISO are you set at? You should set it at about 800.

Put the shutterspeed to 1/5 - 1/10 and aperture wide open for your lens. Plus use a flashgun...but it looks like you are already.
Click to expand...

Hello Mate,
Yep I was using ISO 800
Do you think I could get away with the shutter speed as low as 1/5 - 1/10?
Lastly, yep I used a flashgun; a speedlite 580ex II set at 1/8 - 1/16
Thanks for your help
Gary
 
Don't bother with a 50mm, waste of time, far to narrow, you want to be wide as possible.

I know you can use 1/5 - 1/10, I used to work for a nightclub photography company in manchester called fotoparty.co.uk - worked in every major club in Manchester, I have thousands of nightlife shots on my computer.

The flash is freezing the action so you can shoot at lower shutterspeeds - you need to, to get the background in. 1/30 is far to fast.
 
I think I was using f.4
Next time I might try my 50mm prime 1.4?
What do you think?
Click to expand...



The 50 at 1.4 will produce really nice results with blurry backgrounds....only thing to watch out for then is that the DoF is not to shallow that all your group is not in focus, try a variety of fstops from 1.4 up to whatever and see which ones you think suit best... for instance with just a single person you can shoot 1.4 (make sure focus is on the eye), with a couple you will prob need f2 or more, a group.....if there is a nice clean wall you can put them against you can use a smaller fstop.



While I know what 8utters is saying I would still rather use a fast prime.....but hey each to their own
 
Best way to get the results you want is to shoot with a slower shutter speed (around 1/8th or 1/4second at F5.6 or F8, iso up to you)

You will be a brave man to shoot on a prime at F1.8, I guess you will get around 95% out of focus as your subjects will most likely be a bit drunk and moving around a lot, Don't make it any harder than it is already.
 
MarkEvan said:
The 50 at 1.4 will produce really nice results with blurry backgrounds....only thing to watch out for then is that the DoF is not to shallow that all your group is not in focus, try a variety of fstops from 1.4 up to whatever and see which ones you think suit best... for instance with just a single person you can shoot 1.4 (make sure focus is on the eye), with a couple you will prob need f2 or more, a group.....if there is a nice clean wall you can put them against you can use a smaller fstop.



While I know what 8utters is saying I would still rather use a fast prime.....but hey each to their own
Click to expand...

Edtog said:
Best way to get the results you want is to shoot with a slower shutter speed (around 1/8th or 1/4second at F5.6 or F8, iso up to you)

You will be a brave man to shoot on a prime at F1.8, I guess you will get around 95% out of focus as your subjects will most likely be a bit drunk and moving around a lot, Don't make it any harder than it is already.
Click to expand...

ok thanks for your help guys
 
Gary, experiment using rear curtain flash. It will go off at the end of the exposure, allowing you to compensate for all the bright, colourful and flashing lights in a club :)
 
I'd recommend a 30mm prime. Or just using your kit lens at the wider end of things.

Then you want to stick your shutter speed to around 1/2 second or even 1 second. In the custom functions menu is an option for rear curtain sync. Basically, this fires the flash once before the shutter opens and then once again just before your exposure ends, leaving you with a sharp subject and a nice, light filled background.

You want to use around f/2.8 if you can, but f/4 isn't too bad. Your flashgun? Whack down the power of it if it's on manual. If it's on e-ttl, put it on manual. I'd say you want it at 1/16th power, but if it's not enough light its far easier to mess with the flashgun's power, rather than messing around with settings.
 
Is this the kind of effect your going for? Maybee not as extreme an added blur as the first though.

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foodpoison said:
In the custom functions menu is an option for rear curtain sync. Basically, this fires the flash once before the shutter opens and then once again just before your exposure ends, leaving you with a sharp subject and a nice, light filled background.
Click to expand...

Could you explain how to select the rear curtain sync on a 400d?
Thanks very much
Gary :)
 
Yes, that is rear curtain sync.
 
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