urgent help needed with nightclub crowd shots

Jaffa_1234 · Feb 8, 2013

Hey guys, newbie to the forum here. Ive been a club photographer for a couple of months and everything seems to be going fine. i mainly do fashiony/dress up events so the emphasis is more on individual portrait style photos than a lot of crowd shots. The promoter im working for over the weekend is more interested in catching a party vibe with lots of crowdy pics, preferably with hands in the air and all that jazz. i find dragging the shutter ( usually i go to like 0.3 to capture ambient light) is to haphazard when dealing with a big crowd. sometimes the effect is cool but can become to blurry. For the crowd shots ive tried 1/30 to freeze motion and it seems to work but less ambient light is let in as a result ( making the pics look stale.)Ive been told an aperture of around f.6 will keep the shot in focus , whereas my iso i usually keep around 800. Ive tried turning flash off (raising iso and keeping these settings) and this can work to great effect although it depends on the lights which can be a tad unpredictable. Can anybody give me some tips and settings that they would use to get good crowd shots. Im working with canon 650d, efs 17-55mm f2.8 lens and a 430xII flash.

jaomul · Feb 8, 2013

Not an expert but have tried this. I would go for a faster shutter speed (1/60), no flash, f4 and try to have the focal length as wide as you can to take the shot, get close. Small focal length should give more dof. Adjust iso to your requirement and shoot raw. Tweaking wb afterwards can pay dividends under changing lights. Maybe give it a go. Clubs and gigs etc are usually the type of places that a little noise in photos can be ok. Don't be afraid of high ISo numbers

jamesbjenkins · Feb 8, 2013

Shoot in raw (so you can rescue WB/exp later) , wide as you can get, no flash, ISO 1600, you can probably get away with 1/60 shutter if you have a steady hand.

If that doesn't work, remember that exposure compensation is your friend.

Good luck!

Mach0 · Feb 8, 2013

I don't know how well your camera is with higher ISO but I would raise it up some. 1/60s is ok but if its dark In there you would need to raise the ISO or open up the aperture. I would really raise the ISO. I would pick a good angle and shoot on the wider end of your lens with a higher ISO. A little post work and downsizing, you might not see too much noise. Don't be afraid to drag the shutter a little slower. You gotta learn to time the movements between the lights and the crowd( depending if the club has a nice light set up.)

samhaddixphotography · Feb 8, 2013

f/2.8 Lenses are typically great quality lenses, but might not be fast enough when shooting in super-low-light situations, like in a club. It might be worth renting a 24mm f/1.4 lens to see what type of difference it makes. I think you'll find it really amazing!
-Sam
www.samhaddixphotography.com

goodguy · Feb 8, 2013

I am not an expert at all and probably this is not an answer that you will like but if you are working in low light condition you might concider a better camera, the Canon T3i and T4i are not known for their good high ISO shots.
If you are serious I would say go for the Canon 6D or 5D. You can bump up the ISO on these cameras as they are Full Frame and very good in low light situation.

Pallycow · Feb 8, 2013

I'll go against the grain a bit here, and say to use flash. Depending on ceilings to bounce off of, or if you have a fong sphere. many things. the idea is not to hit them directly but indirectly. it will help to freeze the action and not make them bright white and ghastly...and still pick up the ambient light colors.

Night clubs are a bit darker than what I been shooting, the band I shoot has a great lighting setup as well, so my sample images won't really be helpful. but I believe a very low powered flash well placed can still help you quite a bit.

Mach0 · Feb 8, 2013

Pallycow said:
I'll go against the grain a bit here, and say to use flash. Depending on ceilings to bounce off of, or if you have a fong sphere. many things. the idea is not to hit them directly but indirectly. it will help to freeze the action and not make them bright white and ghastly...and still pick up the ambient light colors.

Night clubs are a bit darker than what I been shooting, the band I shoot has a great lighting setup as well, so my sample images won't really be helpful. but I believe a very low powered flash well placed can still help you quite a bit.

X2. I will say this, the last club I shot ceilings and walls were black. I used a stofen cap.