Nightlife / Club Scene / DJ - Help Needed!

[For9Studios]

With all the darkness, disco lights, different color lights, what are the best camera settings to use where I want to freeze the subject but show the motion in the background? What glass, (flash or no flash), etc.

My equipment is as follows:

Camera Body: 50D, 5D
Glass: 16-35L, 70-200L, 85L, 50MM (Sigma), 15MM Fisheye (Sigma), and 580EXII Flash

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Patrice]

Look up threads by eRose. She does band/club photography on a regular basis.

 

[Big Mike]

Flash plus a slower shutter speed.

 

[e.rose]

Look up threads by eRose. She does band/club photography on a regular basis.

Not gonna happen. They all got wiped last night when LaFoto accidentally banned me along with someone else for spam.

 

[Antarctican]

^^^ Oh noooooooooo! (Oops.)

 

[For9Studios]

Thanks all for the leads...

Big Mike - I'll try that!

e.rose - saw your stuff on your blog and flickr - great work. I see you use 50MM with no flash at 2.8. for some of the pics.

I'll try the suggestions and post pics for C&C sometime after the event.

 

[e.rose]

Thanks all for the leads...

Big Mike - I'll try that!

e.rose - saw your stuff on your blog and flickr - great work. I see you use 50MM with no flash at 2.8. for some of the pics.

I'll try the suggestions and post pics for C&C sometime after the event.

Yes sir, I did :sillysmi:

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out! :sillysmi:

 

[ghache]

I usually use a slow shutter speed of 1/60 to 1/100 with a 50mm 1.8
pointed up and I tild the head a little backward (sb-600)and i use a 4X6 aurora boiunce card.

Depending on the camera you use. crank your iso to 400 or so to get a little bit more flash power.

These are pretty much the settings i use in a bar.

i also play alot with my flash from flash to rear curtain sync. (helps get the ambient light a little more.)

 

[Croissant Seven]

I've struggled with this as well, especially audience shots at live shows. The bands are lit up like daylight, but the crowd is dark, and I've found people averse to flashes popping off in their faces.

I saw one guy at I show I played who put remote flashes on stands around the dancefloor, he was way more pro than I am so since I never saw the images, I can only assume that it worked for him.
C7

 

[Ian Kirkland Isaac]

With all the darkness, disco lights, different color lights, what are the best camera settings to use where I want to freeze the subject but show the motion in the background? What glass, (flash or no flash), etc.

My equipment is as follows:

Camera Body: 50D, 5D
Glass: 16-35L, 70-200L, 85L, 50MM (Sigma), 15MM Fisheye (Sigma), and 580EXII Flash

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

As the previous posters said here, lower the shutter speed. For example, if I want to lets say focus on the subject and let in more ambient light I drop the shutter speed, ususally to about 1/5 or 1/4 and even 1/3 depending on what I am going for. If you are trying to get the ghost or motion effect, I recommend going to 0.4 or 0.5 on the shutter speed.