Birthday Party - disco style with some light trails

Carlh

Carlh

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Hi,

I've got a birthday party coming up and aside from some normal portraits in the hall with a flash bender or bouncing light off the ceiling for poses, I want to get some creative-nightclub style shots with some shutter-drag.

So my question is, is it a simple matter of setting the camera to say F5.6, shutterspeed on 1/8th or even slower, taking the photo and then moving the camera around after the flash has fired to get the light-trail effect?

I'd preferably like to one of my cheapo neweer flashes which only has a power-setting (as I dont mind if that gets banged around) or <do I need> to use my pingpong (yongnuo) flash with some more advanced settings - I want the freeze my subject but have some nice disco light trails, basically.

Cheers:)
 
I think David's got it covered, but my 2 favourite effects are spinning the camera around the lens axis and zooming with a ss of about 1/10. With a wide lens and central subject (and zooming out rather than in) you can avoid the light trails trampling all over your subject.

Don't fall for the '2nd curtain sync' necessity nonsense, it's completely irrelevant, and I like to use 1st curtain so I'm picking the shot that I'm freezing. If you click the shutter using 2nd curtain, your subject could be somewhere else entirely by the time the flash captures them.
 
Missed the gear question:
Generally I'd go ETTL, so if the YN has ETTL that'd be my choice.
 
It really is as straightforward as you think it is. Use the flash as you would normally (be that E-TTL or manual, on camera or off camera). Then mess around with aperture, ISO and shutter-speed. There's no dark art to it.

The settings you use will vary wildly depending on the exact effect you want, the venue you're in, which way you're facing within that venue, what part of the lights' cycle you're in, etc., etc.
 
appreciated james :) I'll take the 24-105, that should cover me for most of what I need, maybe I'll take the tokina and shoot at 15mm for wide shot if theres enough dancers and the lights are good enough. Hopefully I can get behind the bar if there's some major drinking going on as well. Ta!
 
Carlh said:
appreciated james :) I'll take the 24-105, that should cover me for most of what I need, maybe I'll take the tokina and shoot at 15mm for wide shot if theres enough dancers and the lights are good enough. Hopefully I can get behind the bar if there's some major drinking going on as well. Ta!
Click to expand...
Crop or FF?
 
On FF 24mm will be wide enough. But you might want to play with wider.
 
lol,

i have been trying this for ages. So heres my tuppenths worth

Go wide - As wide as you can.
Get low. - Crouch down and shoot from knee height. Sometimes people see the camera and all lean forward towards it filling the frame with energy.
Shoot high - Stand on a chair, hold the camera above your head and fire away.
Flash - i set mine manually. On camera pointed forward. About 1/128 or 1/64 (im fairly close to my subjects and dont wantt o blow the white dress etc)and use the flash compensation to tweak. zoomed to about 50mm.I know i want a pool of light in the middle of the frame. Tweak to taste.
Settings - last time i tried i think iwas ISO 400 to 800. F4 - F5.6 SS was 1/8. I had a bit of a nightmare and had to adjust settings everytime i turned around.
1st curtain is fine
Hit the sutter, jiggle, pray!

It completely depends on the venue, the lighting at the venue, the energy of the people and the ability to get right in the action. At the last weding the brides and bridesmaids all formed a tight circle with arms round each others shoulders. I muscled in the middle put the camare almost on the floor aimed upwards and fired just as the beat of the music kicked in and they all jumped with arms in the air....was well pleased with that one....

Then, none of the next 10 - 20 shots came out as i wanted....

good luck, its a fun way to shoot. Hats off to those guys that consistently nail it and make it look cool...
 
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