nightclub photography

kevinpw · October 22, 2009

Hi,

I have been given the chance to do a shoot at a nightclub. I'm wondering if you guys have any tips and tricks?

my gear:
Nikon D5000
Nikon 18-200 f/3.5
SB900 Flash
Gary Fong Diffuser

I've been doing mostly outdoor shoots, so I'm not too experienced with indoor photography, especially somewhere as dark and crowded as a nightclub.

Appreciate all of your comments. Thanks!

RBrogen · October 23, 2009

Hi Kevin,

I've done several shoots in some challenging lighting conditions like our local New England Aquarium. Here's a few things that might be useful:

1) Scout the location: go to the venue at the same time and under as close of the conditions as there will be on the day of your shoot. Look around for areas that present the best lighting and angle opportunities.

2) Take some test shots to see what settings are going to be required with your particular gear to achieve an acceptable result

3) Shoot in RAW to allow for the most flexibility for PP letting you adjust some times up to 2 stops.

4) If you can use flash, look for opportunities to bounce off of the ceiling. If that doesn't exist, switch to manual mode on your SB900 and tinker with the power while test shooting to see what the best setting is to get light where you need it without getting that "flash" look.

5) Use fast glass... f/2.8 works great but be aware that you have to know the DOF limitations in order to ensure you get what you want in focus.

6) Know your equipment and how to make adjustments to the 3 axis of lighting control (shutterspeed, f/stop and ISO) without looking. This will be a huge help in getting the shot or multple version of a shot to increase the likelyhood of one being acceptable.

7) HAVE FUN!

Hope this helps.

Art Scott · October 23, 2009

Shoot raw..............
use fastest lens..............
NO FLASH...................
shoot in manual mode................
chimp quite a bit..................

if it is performers you're shooting then make sure they are front lit or side lit when shooting....light from the back only will create nice silhouettes ...............

kevinpw · October 23, 2009

Thanks for the comments guys.

Art, no flash?

Art Scott · October 23, 2009

kevinpw wrote:

Thanks for the comments guys.

Art, no flash?

nO FLASH.....unless you are as good as Joe McNally with that SB900:D......no really it is very distracting and especially for entertainers it could cause them to get tangled in their mic lines or stumble over something......for people in the club it is just annoying and you get better candid photos with out the flash......you should be able to shoot upto ISO 800 or 1000 without too much noise .......I don't know how much difference there is in the sensors between the D300 (what I shoot with) and the D5000 but the D5K being a newer cam & sensor, I would think it should be almost as good as my old D300......................as I said do some chimping and the reason for manual shooting is the creativity that you lose with any of the Auto or Program modes..........

Good Luck..............

kevinpw · October 24, 2009

well i came home alive, but not happy at all with the results

perhaps i should have expected that for my first time.

I did use the flash, as did the other 3-4 photographers there. it was way way too dark to not use flash, and very little ambient lighting.

i really sucked at using the flash though. most everything is washed out by the flash. i dont really understand. i took all of the advice i read here as well as other sites, and i tried a bunch of different settings. i bounced up, i bounced left and right, i bounced behind me. i lowered power settings, lowered flash exposure compensation, dragged the shutter, etc etc. I used TTL, TTL, Manual 1/4, Even distribution, center-weighted, etc, just couldn't get it right..

i will post pics later, but a few question on what I was trying to do. This picture is an example of what I really wanted: http://www.spundae.com/gallery/full/127_kngdm_20090702_MG_5993.jpg the flash here falls ever so slightly on the person, and the rest is ambient lighting. when I attempted this shot, wherever i bounce the flash it would wash out the scene and the only thing i can see is the person. there would be little to no ambient lighting.

here's another one: http://www.spundae.com/gallery/full/127_kngdm_20090702_MG_5998.jpg somehow the light here only falls down the middle. how did this happen?

thanks

Art Scott · October 24, 2009

kevinpw wrote:

This picture is an example of what I really wanted: http://www.spundae.com/gallery/full/127_kngdm_20090702_MG_5993.jpg the flash here falls ever so slightly on the person, and the rest is ambient lighting. when I attempted this shot, wherever i bounce the flash it would wash out the scene and the only thing i can see is the person. there would be little to no ambient lighting.

here's another one: http://www.spundae.com/gallery/full/127_kngdm_20090702_MG_5998.jpg somehow the light here only falls down the middle. how did this happen?

thanks

Neither one of these are flash lit.....this is all done with stage lighting......it may be intelligent stage lights (moving computer operated and programmed to be at a specific spot at a set time....)
Looks like a lot of par lights with colored gels.......
So for the last shot...there was lightboard operator (or intelligent programmned lighting) that was turing on and off "SCENES" .....scenes are groups of lights for a particular effect......I have designed some for some Indian Kathak Dancers and other entertainers where the whole stage was black but there was a simple "Z" shape of light on floor from one corner of the stage to the other and then aback across to represent a road that was walked and each area was a different color and a big brigh red spot at the end of the "Z" that reperesented HELL you might say...........

So the lights that lit the middle only were also shuttered with barn doors or gobos in the lights in your linked photo....................and in both pics there was enuff light to shoot with out flash.................

kevinpw · October 25, 2009

wow ok, so suffice to say that i could not have achieved that kind of shot without that special lighting, am i correct? at the event that I shot, there was hardly any ambient lighting. there were some flood lights, but none that lit the artist enough to be shot without a flash.

i have a question on focus. do you guys use auto focus or manual focus? im always torn between the two

1. If I use auto focus and the place is 95% dark like where i was, the AF hunts for a bit before it finally focuses. this makes me miss some action shots.

2. If i use manual focus and eye-ball the distance, 75% of the time i'm out of focus.

i'm not sure what to do. what do you guys suggest?

Art Scott · October 25, 2009

I always use aF.......I also shoot with both eyes wide open.......

ladykassie · October 26, 2009

kevinpw wrote:

wow ok, so suffice to say that i could not have achieved that kind of shot without that special lighting, am i correct? at the event that I shot, there was hardly any ambient lighting. there were some flood lights, but none that lit the artist enough to be shot without a flash.

i have a question on focus. do you guys use auto focus or manual focus? im always torn between the two

1. If I use auto focus and the place is 95% dark like where i was, the AF hunts for a bit before it finally focuses. this makes me miss some action shots.

2. If i use manual focus and eye-ball the distance, 75% of the time i'm out of focus.

i'm not sure what to do. what do you guys suggest?

I am no pro at this, but I love doing live band shots..
I was shooting with a 70mm 200mm f4.8 lens.. but I changed my Picture style.. black and white is awesome and even with changing the color mode to sephia...
I never used a flash..
you can check out the gallery here;
http://vision-vault.smugmug.com/Viewing-Gallery/Bourbon-Street-Venue-Sept-2009

I think my shutter speed was 1/30.. something like that..
If you want to practice.. contact the local bands that will be playing in your near by bar.. they love to have free pics for the myspace page.. plus you get your practice and they get free pics.. ;0)

I hope this helps ya..
~alice

nightclub photography

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