Club Photography

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AppleSimon

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Hi, I'm new to the forum. My name's Simon, and I'm from East Midlands. I have been into photography for a few years, but want to develop my skills so I'm here seeking advise and tips...

On Thursday night I was asked by a friend to take some photo's in a club of his dance workout class. So it's a typical club night (music, lights etc).

This is the first time I had ever done anything like this and to be honest I was disappointed with my results so I am here looking for tips on how to improve for next time.

My Setup;

Nikon D200
Nikon 70-200mm F2.8
Nikon SB-800 Flash
ISO - 400
Shutter - 160
EV - +3
WB - Auto

I was concentrating so much on the actual action that I forgot about the atmosphere of the night, so I didn't really capture the clubby feel to the night, with all the lights etc...So I am after some help on how I can change this for next time and improve my pictures.

I will upload a couple of the pics later so you can see how much I killed the lights.

Appreciate any help :)
 
TBH fella, that's really not the best lens to be doing "club" photography with......

Not sure if your body is a crop or not but you'll want a lens that around 15mm (give or take) on the wide end.

Unless you're shooting people standing in a straight line, you'll want about f4-5.6 or so to keep groups in focus.

To get "atmosphere" you need to drag the shutter and use 2nd curtain flash so running in full manual is a good idea too.

Set shutter speed to around 1/10 (as a starting point) and then adjust to get a balance between allowing the ambient light in and freezing the action.

Also, by twisting the camera as you take the shot and/or zooming in/out you can get some very interesting effects.

A TP user (Bassjunkie83 I think) has written a good "how to" for club photography.
 
Using any flash at all will ruin the atmosphere, as you will light up your subject with white light and the effect created by the club's own lighting will be lost. So I'd put the flash off for the time being.

A successful outcome depends on what kind of lighting is illuminating your subjects, how bright and what kind of coverage is there? So it is all a bit if this, and but that.
Still I guess if you are trying to capture a group of people working out, then they are going to be pretty much spread out. Also if they are working out then they aren't going to be still. So you'll need a pretty fast shutter.

I would turn up the ISO as high as possible and then shoot with the slowest shutter speed possible for the level of moment going on. Set your aperture to try and maintain a decent exposure level and shoot on a wide angle to to give deeper depth of field.

The results will be very grainy admittedly but atmospheric, in focus and hopefully not excessive movement blur. Provided there was enough light to achieve an reasonable exposure level at all.

If reasonable results are not obtainable due to not enough light then you need to start thinking a bit laterally, in fact, this next suggestion may be a better one anyway.

Set your strobe well away from you so that some of your subjects are lit from various angles so if you are standing at 6 o'clock then you have the dance floor in front of you then try putting your strobe at 3, 12, 2, 4, 7 o'clock etc, and also vary their heights, so that the light is pointing downwards or put the light low so that it is point up. Actually to do this effectively you need a friend who doubles as mobile light stand. The idea here is not to try and light the entire group of people but just a couple of them maybe or just one even. Having the strobe at 12 o'clock could produce some very interesting silhouettes especially mixed in with coloured lighting elsewhere.
You could try that...To do that then obviously you'll need a remote trigger for your strobe.

Hope some of that has been of help.
 
Last edited:
Just a couple of points

Circles said:
Using any flash at all will ruin the atmosphere, as you will light up your subject with white light and the effect created by the club's own lighting will be lost. So I'd put the flash off for the time being.
Click to expand...
Not quite true

Use of dragging the shutter (as suggested above) will keep the ambient light in the image and the pop of flash will freeze the subject and keep them well exposed. Use of a gel could help if colour is an issue. Generally that keeps the atmosphere in the image

Circles said:
Also if they are working out then they aren't going to be still. So you'll need a pretty fast shutter.
Click to expand...

Enter the flash :) Shutter speed at 1/15th (or around that) and the flash will freeze the subject.

Circles said:
I would turn up the ISO as high as possible and then shoot with the slowest shutter speed possible for the level of moment going on. Set your aperture to try and maintain a decent exposure level and shoot on a wide angle to to give deeper depth of field.
Click to expand...

A good exposure is crtical. With flash the aperture controls the flash power and the shutter speed controls the ambient light level. You will likely need a high ISO.

Circles said:
The results will be very grainy admittedly but atmospheric, in focus and hopefully not excessive movement blur. Provided there was enough light to achieve an reasonable exposure level at all.
Click to expand...
With a good exposure you will keep noise to a minimum and it's unlikely to be a problem in todays crop of digital cameras.
 
EOS_JD said:
Just a couple of points


Not quite true

Use of dragging the shutter (as suggested above) will keep the ambient light in the image and the pop of flash will freeze the subject and keep them well exposed. Use of a gel could help if colour is an issue. Generally that keeps the atmosphere in the image



Enter the flash :) Shutter speed at 1/15th (or around that) and the flash will freeze the subject.



A good exposure is crtical. With flash the aperture controls the flash power and the shutter speed controls the ambient light level. You will likely need a high ISO.


With a good exposure you will keep noise to a minimum and it's unlikely to be a problem in todays crop of digital cameras.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm well! he did say he wanted the atmosphere of the night. Yes we can all drag shutters and we can all expose for reasonable light levels and blast a subject with a flash but you do that at the expense of the atmosphere. I've made a lot of my living from taking pictures of stage shows and trust me, I know how to do it.

Anyway, I tried to help the guy with a bit of my knowledge and experience. I have made part of my living from doing just that very thing. I didn't want to get into an argument about it. He can take the advice or he can ignore it. As can anyone, but I 'm not here to have an argument sorry.

The other thing is he did say he had Nikon d200 which has pretty dire high ISO capability, that is why I said he'd have a lot of grain if he used it at it's highest level. Obviously getting a new camera would help significantly.
 
Circles said:
Hmmmm well! he did say he wanted the atmosphere of the night. Yes we can all drag shutters and we can all expose for reasonable light levels and blast a subject with a flash but you do that at the expense of the atmosphere. I've made a lot of my living from taking pictures of stage shows and trust me, I know how to do it.

Anyway, I tried to help the guy with a bit of my knowledge and experience. I have made part of my living from doing just that very thing. I didn't want to get into an argument about it. He can take the advice or he can ignore it. As can anyone, but I 'm not here to have an argument sorry.

The other thing is he did say he had Nikon d200 which has pretty dire high ISO capability, that is why I said he'd have a lot of grain if he used it at it's highest level. Obviously getting a new camera would help significantly.
Click to expand...

I'm not arguing? I may have a slight difference of opinion and this is a forum where we all discuss experiences. Whilst I do appreciate your point, there are many who also make a few quid from club photography and it doesn't require the type of lighting you suggest. Dragging the shutter a bit will likely give the OP the results he's looking for.

A google search will reveal a lot of examples. The problem I think he had withthe images he shot were the fast SS and the low ISO. I would guess he shot all at f2.8 but a smaller aperture would not help either. All these = dark backgrounds and a blast with flash....

I also appreciate the D200 is older (I didn't note that bit) but the results should still be decent.

Regards
JD
 
Hi Circles, take a look at this guide (with examples) that another forum user wrote http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=268784

I'm not saying what you're saying is incorrect as it obviously works for you and they type of photography you do. "Club" photography is a bit different and lots of people use the method of dragging the shutter and freezing the subject with 2nd curtain flash.

A a clubber after several Jagerbombs doesn't stay still enough to use 1/15 without a flash :lol:
 
I used to do this with my first DSLR
General settings were

1/5
ISO 1000-1600
f5.6
on-board flash! 1st curtain
18-30mm range used most (on a crop format)

This keeps the shutter open long enough to capture the ambient lighting, and the flash will also freeze your subjects nicely - which is a great help in busy nightclubs where they may also be staggering/wobbling somewhat! And also eliminates your potential shake due to the long(ish) exposure

End result should be that your subject(s) are lit by the flash, and the background/fill is ambient light only - worked well for me.

If Id made more money from doing it I would have upgraded the flash...but I found it worked fine for me.
 
I was shooting at a gig in Leeds last month with my 7D, and using an old Hoya 135mm f/2.8 along with a Carl Zeiss 50mm 1.8 and got some fantastic snaps with just these two manual lenses. This is in contrast to the guy who was at the front of the audience with his D3X and flashgun railing away with whatever 2.8 tele lens he had on there. I was just bewildered at the fact he had one of the best low light performing cameras available and he was shooting this gig with a flashgun and besides ruining his own shots by washing out all the stage lighting and mood, he was also ruining the atmosphere for everyone else in the place! Needless to say, with my crop sensor and 30yrs+ prime lenses I got much better shots with a far better mood than he got on any of his, and I know cause I saw the pics he was chimping over!

Needless to say, get the fast primes on there and loose the flash! Even if you have to ramp up the ISO to get the shots, they'll be much better than an ISO100 washed out flashgunned nightmare!

I think thats this little rant over!
 
You can use a flash to expose the subjects without losing any atmosphere from the shot, which would be my prepared method in this situation.
Especially with dancers as you can also use the flash to stop motion.

Regardless of flash, i still wouldn't want to be dropping below about f4.5 as the dof will be too shallow, even more so if you have groups.
 
Jamtea said:
I was shooting at a gig in Leeds last month with my 7D, and using an old Hoya 135mm f/2.8 along with a Carl Zeiss 50mm 1.8 and got some fantastic snaps with just these two manual lenses. This is in contrast to the guy who was at the front of the audience with his D3X and flashgun railing away with whatever 2.8 tele lens he had on there. I was just bewildered at the fact he had one of the best low light performing cameras available and he was shooting this gig with a flashgun and besides ruining his own shots by washing out all the stage lighting and mood, he was also ruining the atmosphere for everyone else in the place! Needless to say, with my crop sensor and 30yrs+ prime lenses I got much better shots with a far better mood than he got on any of his, and I know cause I saw the pics he was chimping over!

Needless to say, get the fast primes on there and loose the flash! Even if you have to ramp up the ISO to get the shots, they'll be much better than an ISO100 washed out flashgunned nightmare!

I think thats this little rant over!
Click to expand...

How do you know he was shooting ISO100? :) He was probably dragging the shutter for effects and getting all that ambient light in.
 
He wasn't necessarily using ISO100 that was just as an example of low ISO.

I did see a fair amount of the shots afterwards on the LCD, and the vast majority were just plain flash exposed subjects with dark backgrounds. I didn't see any long exposure light trails or funky colouration on the ones I saw.

Getting in the way of the audience and annoying people with the flashgun is the main issue I had with the guy, so maybe that is tainting my opinions ;)
 
EOS_JD said:
I'm not arguing? I may have a slight difference of opinion and this is a forum where we all discuss experiences. Whilst I do appreciate your point, there are many who also make a few quid from club photography and it doesn't require the type of lighting you suggest. Dragging the shutter a bit will likely give the OP the results he's looking for.

A google search will reveal a lot of examples. The problem I think he had withthe images he shot were the fast SS and the low ISO. I would guess he shot all at f2.8 but a smaller aperture would not help either. All these = dark backgrounds and a blast with flash....

I also appreciate the D200 is older (I didn't note that bit) but the results should still be decent.

Regards
JD
Click to expand...

Eos JD, I understand what you mean and I'm not arguing either, with you or anyone else come to that. As others have mentioned they have their own ideas and preferences to enable them to get the results that they want. If we all did everything in exactly the same way then it would be a pretty boring set of photographs.

I think if you achieved what you set out to do with your lighting effect then it it is a good and desired result. If on the other hand, you are disappointed with your results, as in the case of the OP, then getting all kinds of advice and opinions of different sorts would be helpful to him to try and achieve something closer to what he had in his minds eye and it would all help in achieving it.

Whilst my advice didn't suit you and possibly anyone else, it did give two ways of achieving something which retained the atmospheric effect of the dance hall. I'm not suggesting for a minute that anyone else is giving wrong advice at all. I'm was just adding my two cents worth, The advice wasn't bad advice, it was just not what you'd want to do personally.
 
I'm trying to do club photography and I'm having a problem with my settings. To start of with I only have the Canon 350D atm and my maximum ISO is only 1600 I have the standard kit lens and a nifty fifty for now as I'm a beginner. But my pictures don't really have any sort atmosphere to it. I want to get the lasers in the background whilst shooting a scene or people but the flash spoils it. I need the flash on as I'll get long shutter speed then if in AV mode. There's nothing special about the pictures atm. I would like some advise on what would work for me thanks :)
 
Circles said:
Eos JD, I understand what you mean and I'm not arguing either, with you or anyone else come to that. As others have mentioned they have their own ideas and preferences to enable them to get the results that they want. If we all did everything in exactly the same way then it would be a pretty boring set of photographs.

I think if you achieved what you set out to do with your lighting effect then it it is a good and desired result. If on the other hand, you are disappointed with your results, as in the case of the OP, then getting all kinds of advice and opinions of different sorts would be helpful to him to try and achieve something closer to what he had in his minds eye and it would all help in achieving it.

Whilst my advice didn't suit you and possibly anyone else, it did give two ways of achieving something which retained the atmospheric effect of the dance hall. I'm not suggesting for a minute that anyone else is giving wrong advice at all. I'm was just adding my two cents worth, The advice wasn't bad advice, it was just not what you'd want to do personally.
Click to expand...

I agree. THe thing with club photography is that it's pretty much shoot what's there and you don't get much chance to set up lighting or have off camera stuff (unless you have a good assistant) because of the environment you are in.

Hence the reason I suggested dragging the shutter. That's the way most club photographers shoot but there are always more than one way to skin a cat :)
 
razorfish said:
I'm trying to do club photography and I'm having a problem with my settings. To start of with I only have the Canon 350D atm and my maximum ISO is only 1600 I have the standard kit lens and a nifty fifty for now as I'm a beginner. But my pictures don't really have any sort atmosphere to it. I want to get the lasers in the background whilst shooting a scene or people but the flash spoils it. I need the flash on as I'll get long shutter speed then if in AV mode. There's nothing special about the pictures atm. I would like some advise on what would work for me thanks :)
Click to expand...

High ISO, slow shutter speed and flash tyo freeze the subject - Lasers may be more difficult to capture though.

Set flash to 2nd Sync if you can too,
 
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