So, im trialling for a nightclub this weekend as their photographer.
I need some advice/setting advice on what i should and can do to get good quality photos that really impress the owners.
I currently own a Canon SLR 1000D with a standard flash, but I also have a high def wide converter as well.
Wide angle would make for some good shots at a club. I'm going to bet they don't want a lot of flash so you'll probably want a pretty high ISO. Hope this helps
I don't see why you can't use flash. I've seen many nightclub photographers using flash... :P
A speedlight is definitely recommended. The pop-up flash is just not going to cut it.
I know a nightclub photographer, and he swears by his flash! He says that the moving coloured lights and people bumping the people he is photographing causes too much disturbance in the photos. And like a flash is going to annoy clubbers, they have em going off in the clubs as normal lights lol!
You just have to practice making your flash photos look like you are not using flash. A speedlight is the way to go, then you can bounce it off different areas to get the desired result. congrats btw! I'm sure you will impress!
I would ask (if you don't already know) what the nightclub is known for or what is special about them. I don't know if the owner(s) would lose confidence in you if you had to ask (they might think you should already know since you are applying for a job) but maybe ask the staff or some patrons. I know this isn't technical help but you might be suprised what you find out! Something I have learned is to trust your instincts and keep a fresh perspective throughout the shoot.
I'd prefer a couple of wide f/1.4 lenses using available light and also a 24-100 type zoom. A flash should be handy but only if you really know how to use it in a club in a creative way.
Thanks for all the replies everyone!
I'm heading to the club an hour or so earlier with some friends and taking shots of them to adjust my settings to get them just right.
Any advice on a good speedlight? And just out of curiosity, how much do they cost usually?
Trust me...it will be next to impossible to shoot without a flash. Nightclubs are dark, dark, DARK.
Consider this: shooting inside a college basketball coliseum requires 1600 ISO, f/2.8 @ 1/200 exposure. That's a fully-lit basketball coliseum!
Now imagine a nightclub. If you're lucky, you might could get away with 6400 ISO, f/1.8 @ 1/125 for good lighting. I don't even own a camera that could do that.
You'll need a strobe, no doubt about it. That way, you can shoot at 400 ISO, f/5.6 @ 1/10 exposure. Why the slow shutter? Because it will capture the ambient light, but it won't blur the people because the strobe only pulses at 1/5000 of a second so it will freeze any human motion.
I've shot many photos inside dance clubs, bars, and dance halls. Those were the settings I used, worked all night long, and nobody minded the flash.
This is super embarassing, but i know how to change by ISO but not the exposure and i dont really understand the f/..... @jasonbarnette could you explain a little for me?
@goobah Absolutely. This may be a bit long, so I guess get comfortable, massage your eyeballs, and have fluid nearby to prevent dehydration ;)
I shoot Nikon, so I may be a little ignorant of how your particular Canon camera works. You probably shoot in one of the auto modes most of the time, which is why you've never had to bother changing the exposure. The first thing you need to learn is how to change your camera into manual mode so you can change ISO, aperture, and exposure manually.
Fortunately, I had a friend about a year ago who wanted to get into photography. So, I wrote a few tutorials to help her along. I'll include the links below so you can read about aperture and exposure. Hopefully...these tuts will help.
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try shooting the bartender when in action ..
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A speedlight is definitely recommended. The pop-up flash is just not going to cut it.
I'm heading to the club an hour or so earlier with some friends and taking shots of them to adjust my settings to get them just right.
Any advice on a good speedlight? And just out of curiosity, how much do they cost usually?
Consider this: shooting inside a college basketball coliseum requires 1600 ISO, f/2.8 @ 1/200 exposure. That's a fully-lit basketball coliseum!
Now imagine a nightclub. If you're lucky, you might could get away with 6400 ISO, f/1.8 @ 1/125 for good lighting. I don't even own a camera that could do that.
You'll need a strobe, no doubt about it. That way, you can shoot at 400 ISO, f/5.6 @ 1/10 exposure. Why the slow shutter? Because it will capture the ambient light, but it won't blur the people because the strobe only pulses at 1/5000 of a second so it will freeze any human motion.
I've shot many photos inside dance clubs, bars, and dance halls. Those were the settings I used, worked all night long, and nobody minded the flash.
@jasonbarnette could you explain a little for me?
I shoot Nikon, so I may be a little ignorant of how your particular Canon camera works. You probably shoot in one of the auto modes most of the time, which is why you've never had to bother changing the exposure. The first thing you need to learn is how to change your camera into manual mode so you can change ISO, aperture, and exposure manually.
Fortunately, I had a friend about a year ago who wanted to get into photography. So, I wrote a few tutorials to help her along. I'll include the links below so you can read about aperture and exposure. Hopefully...these tuts will help.
Once you've read those, what I said earlier will probably make more sense haha
http://blog.jasonbarnettephotography.com/2010/07/camera-basics-aperture/
http://blog.jasonbarnettephotography.com/2010/07/camera-basics-shutter/