Taking indoor club photography

[MohaimenK]

So I get a call that a friend's opening up a club and he wants me to be his official photographer for it. Thats cool and all but on Tuesday I have to go take some interior shots of the club so he can start printing them for promotional purpose.

I will use the 5Dm2 and the 16-35 2.8L

With that, I'm trying to figure out, what'd be the best way to get the sharpest images? I don't plan on using flash, although I could but I wanted to get a dark, vibrant look. So I thought of taking my tripod and soing a few long exposure shots with the aperture closed down to f/10-f/11

But if someone has done this before, please share your knowledge on this. Thank you

 

[ababysean]

why dont you use your iPhone?

j/k

I don't know what I would do, but def tripod shots, no flash.
How cool. I can't wait to see them.

 

[MohaimenK]

hmmm nobody god any ideas on this??

 

[gsgary]

Long exposure poping flash to paint in light where needed

 

[MohaimenK]

Yeah I saw somebody post something the other day, can't find the thread. They were taking shots in different exposures and then layer stacking then masking to get one image. That's what I was thinking of doing.

 

[gsgary]

Painting with light :: Photocritic photography blog

 

[MohaimenK]

Lol! I posted that like 4 times here before. But there was a recent one by a poster a week ago of his house. He also posted a link of a company that does that for cruise ships and such.

 

[rCOSIO]

Yah, i have shot a club before for their flyers. TriPod, long exposure, no flash. It let me gather all the lights and details how it would look at night with the long exposure. Dropped the ISO down and longer exposure to get nice quality.

 

[o hey tyler]

On camera flash, second curtain sync. Literally all you need.

 

[MohaimenK]

Yah, i have shot a club before for their flyers. TriPod, long exposure, no flash. It let me gather all the lights and details how it would look at night with the long exposure. Dropped the ISO down and longer exposure to get nice quality.

I see. That sounds good. I was gonna probably leave the ISO to 3200 but you're right, if I'm doing long exposure shots, I won't need to raise the ISO that high. Thank you! :thumbup:

On camera flash, second curtain sync. Literally all you need.

Thanks. I didn't wanna use flash to be honest. I mean, I do have 2 640/s and 1 320/s strobes w/ large softboxes but I've just read on another thers (from a different forum) not to use flash as it'll give you unwanted reflection depending on what you shoot.

Lets see how it goes, I want to get the dark, but vibrant look of the club.

 

[cyngus]

do this and dont deviate from it.. you'll love the shots.. i'll find you a proper link but this is the best advice i can give..

trip pod = worst idea..
mono pod = not such a bad idea but still not really a great idea

why?.. you want to be up in peoples faces and in the heart of the dance floor.. to capture the true energy of the night.. you cant bring a tripod on the dance floor

long exposure is what you need to do.. but hand hold it.. how do you do this without bluring the subject?
with a strobe

you need it off camera.. to get the best really dramatic results.. DONT JUST PUT A SPEED LIGHT ON TOP OF YOUR CAMERA.. unless you have to.. i would sugest buying a cord and pulling the flash off camera.. hold it in one hand if you have to and shoot with the other.. or have an assistant.

the strobe will freeze the action while the slightly longer exposure will bring out the colors of the club and motion..

this is a golden technique i would suggest trying it out.. the real genius is using the flash off the camera.. everyone is used to seeing a speedlight onna camera ..(bright white faces no detail no drama) pulling the flash slightly off the camera makes the shot look just a LITTTTTTLE bit more unique.. give it a shot!

 

[cyngus]

and yes im aware that this is almost exactly the opposite of what everyone has said in this thread..

give it a try everyone

 

[LightSpeed]

One might think at ISO 3200 you'd be able to walk the club hand held, while capturing all kinds of images with plenty enough shutter speed to be sharp. You might mix some of that in with what the O HEY guy said. With the wide angle lens at about 20mm you should be able to stop down below 10 or 11 and still be sharp. I also think in that scene the flash may give you unwanted shadows as well as reflections. Just a guess.

 

[Village Idiot]

With people present or without?

If you're shooting without people to just get interior shots, just a tripod is fine.

Using an on camera TTL flash with rear curtain sync is how I see most club photographers doing it. There's a whole huge thread on POTN about club photography. One guy went as far as having a vagabond in a back pack so he could use his ABR800 ring light.

XTI with tripod and kit lens

 

[MohaimenK]

Yes VI w/out people. That's exactly the type of shot I'm thinking of. I guess I should do a little research on 2nd curtain sync.
Oh and what's POTN??

The other 2 posts above, I think you're thinking that I'll be taking pics of people while they're dancing. Sorry I should have mentioned, it's an empty club as they're just launching.