Flash gun for Night club photography!

vix345 · 26 Mar 2008

Hi

I need some advice! A friend has asked me to be his photographer for the night at an event he is organising. I have a Nikon D40x. Has anyone got anytips for nightclub photography as it is not the condition I am used to taking photos. I have been looking at buying the sb600. Can anyone offer any advice or tips??????

Thanks in Advance

Vicky

cherryrig · 26 Mar 2008

Just get a SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, SB-28. Basically the same as the SB600 but cheaper and have the same features as the SB600. You could prob get two or three older SB's for the same price as the newer ones

vix345 · 26 Mar 2008

Will this be enough to get some decent shots? I only have the lens that came with the D40x Kit

Grant · 26 Mar 2008

A low aperture lens is vital, so you don't blind half your clients with a too powerful flash - and so you get a pleasant enough bokeh...

Garry Edwards · 26 Mar 2008

The name of the game is to make it look like the nightclub it is - so use high ISO (not ideal from the quality point of view but necesssary), the widest aperture you can sensibly use, say 1 stop down from maximum and a shutter speed that gives you about 1 stop of underexposure.

Typically, you should use about f/4 @ 1/15th at whatever ISO is needed ('correct' exposure f/4 @ 1/8th) and use just enough flash power to preserve the atmosphere but freeze the movement

8utters · 26 Mar 2008

Flash is essential, i'v been doing nightclub photography for a while now and for that purpose, my flash is probably the most important piece of kit I have.

Settings wise here's what I use when taking photos of people (I use full manual all the time):

Shutter: Around 1/8
ISO: 320
Apature: 4 (wide open on my lens)
Metering: Center-weighted average.

You want the ISO high-ish but not too high or you will get nasty noise. Also try the shutterspeed lower say, 0,3 to get more of the background in if it's turning out dark.

I also use a Sto-Fen diffuser on my flash, works great.

Try and bounce the flash off celings and walls, I always do that and gives a great effect.

The thing is that every club is different, they all have completely different lighting so you need to adjust your settings accordingly.

Grant · 26 Mar 2008

i've only ever shot nightclub photographs, once.

Exposure: 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash fired

But you can tell straight away ISO 400 and my shutterspeed would've been better, etc.

cherryrig · 27 Mar 2008

Get a 50mm lens either 1.4 or 1.8 so that you can have a low f number and a higher shutter to avoid blur

Then just use a ISO to suit this.

markp · 27 Mar 2008

When I gave it a go I used my kit lens, onboard flash, widest aperture setting, ISO 400 and a reasonably slow shutter speed.
The slower shutter speed and wide aperture lets more light in after the flash, meaning you can get a bit of background light in after the flash has fired and a few cool efects.

I'd have preferred to have an off-shoe flash on a short extension cord to add a bit more interest, but it is more stuff to lug around. Take a look around on www.dontstayin.com for some tips and examples.

8utters · 27 Mar 2008

cherryrig said:
Get a 50mm lens either 1.4 or 1.8 so that you can have a low f number and a higher shutter to avoid blur Then just use a ISO to suit this.

50mm isn't nearly wide enough for club photography. Especially for group shots. It's also not particularly suitable because there's not often much space to move in busy clubs.