To those WhosGoing.com.sg, Nightlife.sg and other club/party photographers here

[jmmtn4aj]

What gear do you use? I intend to do party photography and make money off it in the future, although not as a sole profession, so I'm wondering what your gear and techniques are What lenses do you use? Flashes? Diffusers? Do you bother bouncing light indoors? Is it too time consuming? What level do you normally take pictures at, eye level, squatting?

Fire away

 

[ihub88]

should be your own techniques.

why you want your pics to turn out.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

should be your own techniques.

why you want your pics to turn out.

I've never done it before so consequently, I have no techniques I should be doing it in about a week or so at a friend's party though, so I'd like a few pointers by then. I'd like the pictures to turn out nightlife-ish

 

[Cactus jACK]

like what ihub88 suggested, think about what kind of shots you want... then you can think of what is the best setup to help you achieve that.

ppl will tell you direct flash, flash with dome or colour gel, no flash with fast lense, wideangles, medium tele, manual focus, squat down, shoot from overhead, long exposure, freeze action, use compact can already... all possible, depending on what you're trying to get.

 

[pg12]

i used the d70 kit lens 18-70mm nikon. sb800 n bounce card. unless u gonna shoot a grp size of more than 15, otherwise a kit lens is more than enuff in my own humble view.. i guess. ultimately its up to how u wan the pic to turn out to choose ur equipments.

 

[Stratix]

if you want good ambient lighting, a fast f/2.8 lens would be good. bounced flash + slow sync would be the way. =)

 

[Witness]

do a search for this nick: castlesinthesky ....

 

[Luval]

go on a low shutter and have your flash bounced,
fast lens may not be a need now as you are starting out. But keep that in mind for future upgrade, Bear in mind that high iso isnt always a need to keep ur ambient lights in,

 

[Robin]

Did a couple of shoots in a pub environment before covering some events...... normally use 17mm to 35mm range...... f3.2 to f4 depending on group size to get good balance of depth of field and ambient lighting....... manual exposure of 1/40 sec at iso 640 to iso800 to capture ambient light......flash with bounce card or lightsphere for softer more even light distribution......

No fix settings......depending on how bright your ambient conditions are......plus here or minus there a bit......

 

[willdon]

What gear do you use? I intend to do party photography and make money off it in the future, although not as a sole profession, so I'm wondering what your gear and techniques are What lenses do you use? Flashes? Diffusers? Do you bother bouncing light indoors? Is it too time consuming? What level do you normally take pictures at, eye level, squatting?

Fire away

you know how much they are paid?:think:

 

[Venom81]

do a search for this nick: castlesinthesky ....

Yah, he's the Zouk photographer.

 

[xziredmp]

if not sure or in doubt. play it safe.

shoot raw.

theres no real techniques involved anyway. but you gotta know if you equipment performs well or as good in low light condition like ability to af accurately etc...

 

[ihub88]

go on a low shutter and have your flash bounced,
fast lens may not be a need now as you are starting out. But keep that in mind for future upgrade, Bear in mind that high iso isnt always a need to keep ur ambient lights in,

bounce card will be best, cause most places will have dark/high ceiling.

that amount of flash will be just nice, but smoke is the worst enemy if one is not careful.

 

[ihub88]

if not sure or in doubt. play it safe.

shoot raw.

theres no real techniques involved anyway. but you gotta know if you equipment performs well or as good in low light condition like ability to af accurately etc...

i agree with the AF statement. OOF is very easy to occur.

 

[Youhong]

Use your cheapest lens... :bsmilie:

 

[ihub88]

Use your cheapest lens... :bsmilie:

PnS:lovegrin: less likely to make mistake also.

 

[cullenjeremy]

hahaha i used 50mm 1.8 last time. cause no money for flash. But its good anyway.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Hi guys, thanks for all the responses! I'm not really expecting to get paid, at least not a lot. I think I'll use the 50mm f/1.8 or my 18-70. Hopefully they'll be fast enough that camera shake doesn't ruin slow sync.

How do you guys use your bounce cards or dome diffusers? Do you aim it straight up, 45 deg, straight forward? How about twisting the head?

 

[cherps]

Like willdon said, photographers who work for those clubbing/nightlife websites are salaried workers, and unfortunately for them, the pay is scrapping the bottom. but good luck nevertheless.

check out this site. http://www.digitalfrog.nl/?p=30 I find this particular photographer quite creative when it comes to nightlife shots.

if you're looking for a whosgoing or nightlife 'look', a few pointers:

1. shutterspeed as low as possible! i personally find 1/40 still too fast. with slow sync, you can go as low as 1/15, or even 1/8.

2. f/4 is good, for group shots. f/1.8 will be for more creative shots.

3. make sure your flash AF assist lamp is good and working! basically it's so dark that's the only thing that'll kickstart your AF system. bring spare flashes.

4. bounce flash is recommended. use whatever you're comfortable with. anything but direct flash.

Remember that all these technical details are only the beginning. There's more to entertainment photography that just these settings. Interact with the crowd, position them to capture the best light, go with the flow, enjoy the party!

 

[Amekaze]

I would like to share with you a few sites.

http://www.ambrel.net <--- NSFW
http://partyflock.nl/user/7908/text.html#text

They are good reference.