Shooting in a Club. Experience Club shooters please advise.


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marcwang

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Jan 9, 2003
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East Singapore
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Hie Guys,

I managed to secure a shoot for an event at a local club. Would you please give some advice in such an environment ? I was thinking of high ISOs with a fast lens... still I'm skeptical if there is enough light. How about flash photography ? Slow sync or normal flash would be better ? I'm worried about the difference in light temperatures.

Eagerly awaiting your advice.
 

apply all the common logic:

- ISO400 for minimum. upper limit depends on your taste

- f2.8 and/or faster lens

- direct flash

- slow sync for funky effects, normal 1/60s sync if u want to darken the background
 

I did:

- Aperture Priority
- Flash + bounce card
- ISO 400-640
 

if you are worried about differing color temperatures, use filters on your flash to balance the color temp... then do a custom WB on the ambient light... fire with slow sync, or normal sync.. they both will work...
cheers
 

shutter priority 1/60, slow sync, iso 400-800 (on S2pro)
 

Just my humble opinion...

Club shooting isn't all about technicalities.

It IS about capturing the mood, event, and emotions...considering the conditions you'll be working under.

Then decide what technical choices you must make to capture what is required.

It also depends on what your employer prefers - crystal clear, no bulr, good skin tones? Or wants blur, funky colours and sometimes wierd framing to convey the passion and spirit of the event even at the expense of tainted skin tones?

Check what your employer wants/needs. Then go to the club (with permission) to do a trial shoot with all the usual lights that would be used on the night of the actual event. Most lighting techies normally report for work 1-3 hours before the club opens.

That's the best time to go cos it's empty, the techs can accomodate you and you can test without the pressure of facing the public.

Hope that helps.

Cheers! ;)
 

IXUS 400!

Iso 400... direct flash when u wanna keep the pics.. of friends lah so and so...

i underexpose to get faster shutterspeeds and often find enough to get the lights.

i wait for the in house lighting.... its really about mood.

PS u dont want to keep flashing people in teh club.. the mood gets killed and sometimes the person doing it. haha

The DJs are stars so often there's enough light on them.. if u want samples of wad i did... msg me lor... =) hope i helped.

PS i've see people with metz hammer head flashes and wad not and the pics still dont show up nice...
 

Are you shooting on film or digital?
 

Feinwerkbau said:
Just my humble opinion...

Club shooting isn't all about technicalities.

It IS about capturing the mood, event, and emotions...considering the conditions you'll be working under.

Then decide what technical choices you must make to capture what is required.

It also depends on what your employer prefers - crystal clear, no bulr, good skin tones? Or wants blur, funky colours and sometimes wierd framing to convey the passion and spirit of the event even at the expense of tainted skin tones?

Check what your employer wants/needs. Then go to the club (with permission) to do a trial shoot with all the usual lights that would be used on the night of the actual event. Most lighting techies normally report for work 1-3 hours before the club opens.

That's the best time to go cos it's empty, the techs can accomodate you and you can test without the pressure of facing the public.

Hope that helps.

Cheers! ;)

yes, pre-planning. arrive much earlier.
 

I've shot once before in a club in Australia using Film. I was using Fujifilm Press800 then, perfect choice. Grainless, good exposures.

Now I'll be using my D100, and this gives me more confidence in terms of creativity. I wont be direct flashing, I'll be using a big bounce card with -1 flash compensation set. Camera will be set to ISO800, M mode, 1/15-1/30s f3.5-f5.6 depends. I'll be bringing my off shoe cord as well for some special shots for the DJs.

I'm thinking of a multi coloured bounce card done with celophene (not sure how u spell it) plastic paper. That should get the colours of the club pretty well, dont u think ?
 

IMHO, any use of flash will destroy the mood and atmosphere. If you would consider shooting film again, Fuji NPZ800 rated at 1240 and pushed 1 stop is unbeatable for this type of situation, with much better results than Press800.
 

Not entirely true.

Can mix flash with ambient lighting and still capture mood and feeling while capturing a decent level of details on patrons faces!

IMHO...no flamming war hor!
 

I may not be a truly best good photographer but I did took alot of photos at the club using small cam the last time.(Im a newbie still) I share my experience with you.

As some of the guys had point out. Mood is most imptnt. If you are taking photos in the club, whats ur objectives? Clubbers? DJs? Atmosphere or Crowds or everything?

What I suggest to you, since everyone had given you the idea. What you have to do is go to the club,m do a lot of testing. No worries, shoot at the empty dancefloor. Of cos, U need fast shutter speed. Slow sync will be good. Ur hand must be very stable also.

Its all about having fun shooting in the club. No worries for some bad pic, you will learn more after a few shot. Everything is unpredictable as the the light in the club is not constant at all.

Good luck, pal! Have fun too! ;)
 

Feinwerkbau said:
Just my humble opinion...

Club shooting isn't all about technicalities.

It IS about capturing the mood, event, and emotions...considering the conditions you'll be working under.

Then decide what technical choices you must make to capture what is required.

It also depends on what your employer prefers - crystal clear, no bulr, good skin tones? Or wants blur, funky colours and sometimes wierd framing to convey the passion and spirit of the event even at the expense of tainted skin tones?

Check what your employer wants/needs. Then go to the club (with permission) to do a trial shoot with all the usual lights that would be used on the night of the actual event. Most lighting techies normally report for work 1-3 hours before the club opens.

That's the best time to go cos it's empty, the techs can accomodate you and you can test without the pressure of facing the public.

Hope that helps.

Cheers! ;)


best advise :thumbsup:
 

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