DanPower
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- May 7, 2012
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- www.danpower.co.nz
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Hey guys,
I've done some searching but the search function here returns some really vague results, it's hard to filter it out.... Mods if you think this belongs somewhere else please feel free to move it.
Basically a friend of mine is throwing a rave (bush party or doof) and I've offered to take photos. There's no expectations on me to deliver pro quality photos.... they can't afford a real photographer, and I want to use this as a learning experience. If we get some great photos then it's win/win, if we don't then it's not a big deal and I get to sink beers all night for nothing
For those of you who've been to a rave, skip this paragraph... those who havent, the scene is thus..... a nightclub, but in a paddock. It will be open air, no natural light but the show will involve lasers and light shows and probably some smoke. The main shots I can see in my mind are of the DJ's themselves (both close up and from behind the crowd, the DJ's will be partially under constant light but most likely coloured light), candid shots of the crowd and also wide angle crowd shots both from in front and behind the crowd.
The issues I've identified so far are:
* slow lenses and my camera's inability to handle super high ISO... therefore longer shutter speeds which doesn't help me capture people dancing etc
* the fact that I don't have a flash!!!
I currently have a 550d with the kit 18-55 and 55-250 lenses. I expect to use the 18-55 lens more than the 55-250, with the possible exception of some tripod-mounted shots of the DJ's from far away with the 55-250, but they will come late in the night. As this is not a paid gig I'm happy with the performance of the 18-55 kit lens, but I'm wondering whether I should consider hiring (or since this is a 5-day gig, just buying) a faster lens like the 18-55 f/2.8? Also I've decided that I would like to avoid using anything over ISO400 as I seem to get MAJOR noise at 400 and above... this is an issue for another discussion as I'm told the 550D should be usable up to 1600ISO, but anything over 400 for me is no good. Anyways let's just say I won't go about 400 or maybe 800 for this shoot.
The important thing..... and the one thing that I know NOTHING about though is..... flash. I have been considering buying a flash for a while, but this has kind of prompted me to think about it now. I don't want to spend $500 on a speedlight right now as I might find flash photography isn't my thing and never use it again. Are there cheaper alternatives that work as well? I have heard of Youngnor (youngor? yougnor? youngstore?) units but I on't know a lot about them and the reviews are very mixed. Does anyone have any real world experience on how they compare to the Speedlights? EDIT I have done a bit more googling and it seems you need to set the flash power manually.... is this an issue, or if you are in an evenly lit/unlit area (e.g inside a nightclub or outside in the dark on a farm) is the manual thing really an issue?
So here's the deal.... for this shoot I'm planning on using a hotshoe-mounted flash with a diffuser (or, since it's outside and there's no reflected light, should I consider a small lightbox?) for the close up crowd shots and maybe using the same flash as an off-camera for the DJ shots. Does this sound ok? Remember there will be no ceiling to bounce light off.... the only light I can put on the crowd will come directly from the flash. I also do not have access to reflectors or anything like that... I might be able to get some white sheets hung up around the DJ's to help with light but that's gonna be a stretch....
The biggest Q is should I be looking at one of these cheap chinese knockoff flashes or should I spring $500 for a speedlight? The main issue is that the canon speedlights cost a ****load and I might never use it again.... I have the money, but I would really rather not spend it particularly if I'm not going to use it much...
The second part of the question is that if you have one of these knockoff flashes, do they function as good as the speedlight or worse? Harder to set up? And I assume they take AA batteries, how long does it take to blast a set of batteries?
My budger for the ENTIRE flash setup (including batteries, diffuser, lightbox etc) is around the $200aud mark. As I said I *could* spend $1000 or more but as this is experimental and the first time I've done this I'd like to keep the budget down if possible....
Thankyou so much guys
I've done some searching but the search function here returns some really vague results, it's hard to filter it out.... Mods if you think this belongs somewhere else please feel free to move it.
Basically a friend of mine is throwing a rave (bush party or doof) and I've offered to take photos. There's no expectations on me to deliver pro quality photos.... they can't afford a real photographer, and I want to use this as a learning experience. If we get some great photos then it's win/win, if we don't then it's not a big deal and I get to sink beers all night for nothing

For those of you who've been to a rave, skip this paragraph... those who havent, the scene is thus..... a nightclub, but in a paddock. It will be open air, no natural light but the show will involve lasers and light shows and probably some smoke. The main shots I can see in my mind are of the DJ's themselves (both close up and from behind the crowd, the DJ's will be partially under constant light but most likely coloured light), candid shots of the crowd and also wide angle crowd shots both from in front and behind the crowd.
The issues I've identified so far are:
* slow lenses and my camera's inability to handle super high ISO... therefore longer shutter speeds which doesn't help me capture people dancing etc
* the fact that I don't have a flash!!!

I currently have a 550d with the kit 18-55 and 55-250 lenses. I expect to use the 18-55 lens more than the 55-250, with the possible exception of some tripod-mounted shots of the DJ's from far away with the 55-250, but they will come late in the night. As this is not a paid gig I'm happy with the performance of the 18-55 kit lens, but I'm wondering whether I should consider hiring (or since this is a 5-day gig, just buying) a faster lens like the 18-55 f/2.8? Also I've decided that I would like to avoid using anything over ISO400 as I seem to get MAJOR noise at 400 and above... this is an issue for another discussion as I'm told the 550D should be usable up to 1600ISO, but anything over 400 for me is no good. Anyways let's just say I won't go about 400 or maybe 800 for this shoot.
The important thing..... and the one thing that I know NOTHING about though is..... flash. I have been considering buying a flash for a while, but this has kind of prompted me to think about it now. I don't want to spend $500 on a speedlight right now as I might find flash photography isn't my thing and never use it again. Are there cheaper alternatives that work as well? I have heard of Youngnor (youngor? yougnor? youngstore?) units but I on't know a lot about them and the reviews are very mixed. Does anyone have any real world experience on how they compare to the Speedlights? EDIT I have done a bit more googling and it seems you need to set the flash power manually.... is this an issue, or if you are in an evenly lit/unlit area (e.g inside a nightclub or outside in the dark on a farm) is the manual thing really an issue?
So here's the deal.... for this shoot I'm planning on using a hotshoe-mounted flash with a diffuser (or, since it's outside and there's no reflected light, should I consider a small lightbox?) for the close up crowd shots and maybe using the same flash as an off-camera for the DJ shots. Does this sound ok? Remember there will be no ceiling to bounce light off.... the only light I can put on the crowd will come directly from the flash. I also do not have access to reflectors or anything like that... I might be able to get some white sheets hung up around the DJ's to help with light but that's gonna be a stretch....
The biggest Q is should I be looking at one of these cheap chinese knockoff flashes or should I spring $500 for a speedlight? The main issue is that the canon speedlights cost a ****load and I might never use it again.... I have the money, but I would really rather not spend it particularly if I'm not going to use it much...
The second part of the question is that if you have one of these knockoff flashes, do they function as good as the speedlight or worse? Harder to set up? And I assume they take AA batteries, how long does it take to blast a set of batteries?
My budger for the ENTIRE flash setup (including batteries, diffuser, lightbox etc) is around the $200aud mark. As I said I *could* spend $1000 or more but as this is experimental and the first time I've done this I'd like to keep the budget down if possible....
Thankyou so much guys
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