Settings for photography in clubs

sam_justice · Jul 11, 2009

Hey guys, still learning. Two things,
I was wondering what kind of settings you'd need to take a picture in a club like this (ignore the terrible photo itself, I think the range of colors in it is pretty neat) http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto..._223354115441_814725441_7543341_8042458_n.jpg

and also, how would you get a focus so that the background appears to be a lot further away than it actually is (like in this photo)
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto..._127307745089_672730089_3574903_3651565_n.jpg

Thanks in advance

yogibear · Jul 11, 2009

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

Read this. One of the better investments you can make as a beginning photographer. It will get you started on playing with basic settings like aperture, shutter speed, iso and more.

DO IT!!!

Overread · Jul 11, 2009

+1 to what Yogi said!
That book will explain a lot to you and is very easy to understand for the new photographer (and the older as well). Its certainly worth investing in a copy .

As for the shots you linked to that first one look like the person used popup flash and just snapped the shot (ok that sounds harsh it could have been a really heavily composed shot - but that is the effect it gives in the end

)

Dwig · Jul 11, 2009

The image in the first link was quite obviously done with on-camera flash. Probably a good deal of of adjustment was made the the image in an image editor (PS, ...) to balance the brightness of the more distant subjects with the closest. They wouldn't naturally have the same brightness with this lighting arrangement.

The second image was also on-camera flash, but the exposure was set, either by in-camera automation or manually, so that there is a significant amount of ambient fill and the shutter speed was somewhat slow so that the ambient lit component of the exposure is quite motion blurred.

Your second question about how to make the background appear further away than you eye normally sees has nothing to do with exposure or lighting. Simply use a wide angle lens and shoot from a closer distance. The closer the distance and shorter the lens' focal length the greater the effect.

sam_justice · Jul 11, 2009

Thanks for that guys, big help.
With the first photo the colors seem so much more vibrant than any photo I take, is this due to the exposure or post effects (Photoshop so on)?
(Btw I'm using a Lumix DMC-G1 with the standard lens you get with it)

fast1 · Jul 11, 2009

yogibear said:
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

Read this. One of the better investments you can make as a beginning photographer. It will get you started on playing with basic settings like aperture, shutter speed, iso and more.

DO IT!!!

i second that, you should be better after applying the tips in the book

KmH · Jul 11, 2009

sam_justice said:
Thanks for that guys, big help.
With the first photo the colors seem so much more vibrant than any photo I take, is this due to the exposure or post effects (Photoshop so on)?
(Btw I'm using a Lumix DMC-G1 with the standard lens you get with it)

Actually, it looks like the photographer had the white balance set to Cloudy rather than Flash. That would account for the very warm tones. However, it's also possible it was a mixed light situation.