CLub photography

[tomtom]

Hi

In a couple of weeks from now im going to be taking some photos for a University social group event held at a nightclub, could someone inform me on the settings and gear ill need? im assuming it'll be quite dark in there, i have a cannon 50D its got a flash, would that be enough or would i still need a flash pack?

Please help

Cheers

[ricktas]

Settings will be determined by the environment, so whilst you assume it might be dark, you might find it has bright downlights etc. So without knowing the lighting conditions, we would only be guessing at what settings.

if you use flash, you will be over-riding the ambient light, which can be the factor that makes the shots what they are. Nightclub lighting can create great moods, and if you use flash you will eliminate that lighting by over-powering it with flash. You may find increasing your ISO, using as wide an aperture as possible gives you great results that reflect the lighting and ambience of the venue. You have to take into consideration that increasing the ISO increases noise and it is a balancing act to get a fast shutter speed with minimal noise.

If you are going to use flash, I am not familiar with the built in flash on Canon, but you may be able to decrease its output to just 'fill' in some light. whilst allowing the ambient lighting to still shine through. The other thing that can be worth trying is called second sync flash, where the flash fires at as the shutter is closing, and this creates a great 'trail' effect in photos.

I would take your camera to a darker place, even your home at night with most of the lights out, and practice, test out different ISO's and apertures, and flash settings till you understand them and are sure what works and what doesn't, then use the ones you like.

[tomtom]

Cheers mate!

[tomtom]

would there be a specific type of lens that would be particularly good for this kind of shoots?

[kiwi]

50 1.8

[pollen]

Hi

In a couple of weeks from now im going to be taking some photos for a University social group event held at a nightclub, could someone inform me on the settings and gear ill need? im assuming it'll be quite dark in there, i have a cannon 50D its got a flash, would that be enough or would i still need a flash pack?

Please help

Cheers

Entirely depends on Venue and what level of quality you are aiming for

Bouncing an external flash unit is the easiest and best way. In some venues where the ceiling is too high and the walls are too far away you can't bounce (very rare, e.g. a warehouse or a stadium) in which case direct flash is your only choice besides going with available light (which requires speciality lenses, high ISO capable cameras and a lot of luck)

I don't think I've ever been to a club where bouncing is not possible though

Bouncing gives a very different look to direct flash though so some experimentation may be in order

[tomtom]

Thanks pollen, thanks for the help... im quite new to photography, could you share a link about bouncing?

Cheers mate

[JM Tran]

50 1.8

not really wide enough for club photography and group shots from my experience and that of colleagues, we tend to use the 35mm prime or 24 and sometimes a fish eye for creative and fun shots

I'd suggest cranking up the ISO and shoot with ambient lighting at wide open apertures to get the aforementioned club and laser lights and etc as it makes it look more atmospheric

[kiwi]

Fair call, 35 1.8 would be better prob. Nifty 50 just a good choice for most NTP.

[dyso10]

i would try 20 to 50 mm 1.4