Party Photos

[Spiral Photo]

This is, I guess, what you could say I specialize in. The majority of my shutter-firings have been from parties like these. Feel free to check out my galleries at www.spiralphoto.com. On the bottom of the home page, there's a yellow link for the archives, which includes links to over 90 party photo galleries.

http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/i_love_techno/images/IMG_12943.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17199.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17355.jpg
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17196.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17410.jpg
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17566.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17627.jpg
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17100.jpg

[Steve Parr]

Aside from them being a tad on the small size, I like 'em. You've been able to pull off showing movement very well, especially in the first two...

[Spiral Photo]

Yeah, I make them that size so it helps encourage people to buy prints rather than print the gallery photo. Plus it allows me to put more of them in a post.

Thanks for looking!

[DwightMcCann]

Well, after all my "more images" whining I see I started in the wrong place ... sorry about that. I agree with Steve, a little bigger would still be better and a bit of narrative would nice. Many of us shoot similar entertainment/bands in many venues and it is always nice to hear a few details.

[Spiral Photo]

it is always nice to hear a few details.

Not a problem. Actually, some of these photos are from different parties, but for the most part, they're pretty much all the same. This was an electronic music event held at a Firemen's Banquet Hall in Springfield, MO. Not a very pleasing venue since it's primarily for banquets, but the decorations for the party that 90% of the above images were from were actually pretty impressive. Here's a couple pics of the setup:

http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17033.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/movement/images/IMG_17036.jpg

Typical "rave" scenery. Nonetheless, it is great fun. I do a little DJing myself from time to time, so I fit right in. Luckily for me, I'm the only one who does as much as I do for documentation of what goes on at these parties. As far as getting the venues in the shot, it'll be much easier once my fiance and I split the purchase of a Canon EF-S 10-22mm. Been looking forward to it for almost a year, and it looks like once we get our taxes back we'll be able to finally get it!

When I shoot events like this, I typically make it a point NOT to fire the flash straight on unless I'm shooting with a telephoto. I'm a bounce freak. I'll bounce the light off of anything; the ceiling, the floor, the wall, my shirt, my hand, a friend's shirt, and with this particular venue, there's a large wall-covering mirror on one side of the room. Sometimes, bouncing becomes essential once the fog machines kick in. Firing straight ahead lights the fog up and washes out the image.

[danedel]

good tips...never shot in these places though...too much fun enjoying them :-)

[Exit]

Nice clean shots! I do this kind of shooting as well about 3-5 nights a week...can't tell you how many BAD pictures I've seen taken by party/club photographers :)

[Spiral Photo]

When bouncing off of a shirt (which to me is the most convenient), it's fun to play with different colors.
For example, I was wearing a vivid blue fleece sweater to this Halloween party:
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/neewollah04/images/IMG_9299.jpg

For the longest time, I had the idea that wearing a white shirt would be the best for bouncing white light. However, I've come to learn that you can very easily overexpose when wearing white, so I've started wearing different shades of gray. Same white light, but toned down. Definitely a huge help when shooting with a large aperture to expose for the background. If you are wearing white, you have to close the aperture down to compensate for this, but then you lose your background.

[Spiral Photo]

can't tell you how many BAD pictures I've seen taken by party/club photographers :)

No kidding! It drives me nuts!!!

[DwightMcCann]

Party photography is a whole new thing to me. Love the idea of bouncing the flash off stuff ... they don't let me use flash except at Meet & Greets, but having it off camera and better yet bounced sounds like a real winner ... I'll experiment.

[phishhead_23]

I guess in order to bounce, you'd need a separate flash, huh? I'm running into the problem of not being able to get crowd shots at the clubs and bars I'm shooting at. Very nice images, btw. What lens are you using?

[Spiral Photo]

I guess in order to bounce, you'd need a separate flash, huh? I'm running into the problem of not being able to get crowd shots at the clubs and bars I'm shooting at. Very nice images, btw. What lens are you using?

Oh, sh--...I forgot to mention. I'm using a 420EX flash. You can't do this with a built-in flash unless you use like a mirror or something, which is a huge pain and barely worth trying. The 420EX flash head swivels 180 degrees left, 90 degrees right, and tilts 90 degrees up. You have quite a bit of leverage with that. My next venture will be getting an Off Camera Shoe Cord II. www.bhphoto.com has them for $50US.

http://www.canoncompanystore.com/isroot/annexnew/SiteImages/accesories/2391A001AA-1.jpg

[Spiral Photo]

Just found this one. One of my favs.
They had no idea.
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/chunky_funky/images/IMG_19363.jpg

[phishhead_23]

Where was the party at? My fiance and I used to go to parties and run an oxygen bar. It was fun (and fairly lucrative) but there aren't really many good parties anymore.

[Spiral Photo]

These are all in Springfield, Missouri. I don't get out of town for parties much these days, so I'm fairly confined to this locale. It would be cool to have an oxygen bar, but I don't think the guys who put these together have that kind of budget. One day maybe.

[EricKonieczny]

Spiral Photo,

I like your unique style and thats what it is all about.

I work in a very similar scene that you do , but usually cover some higher profile events like music festivals and some of the bigger clubs in country in Miami, Detroit, NYC, Cleveland, Chicgago.

Take a look here for my photos ( www.ekreating.com ) , over 5000 photos and 90% just from 2005. I am covering events just abotu every weekend for owner, promoters, DJ's, and two websites and a magazine or two. ;)

Keep it up

[mgbeach]

good stuff, man, but I wouldn't be afraid to shoot straight on with the flash. or, tilt it up a bit. I shot with the digital rebel and 420ex at a Halloween party last year. I'm a big fan of dragging the shutter to give a little more energy to the shot. Seems like all the crazy lighting at those parties would be begging for it. It was discussed some in this thread
http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=109559

[Ursula]

I love it all!! :D

[Spiral Photo]

Spiral Photo,

I like your unique style and thats what it is all about.

I work in a very similar scene that you do , but usually cover some higher profile events like music festivals and some of the bigger clubs in country in Miami, Detroit, NYC, Cleveland, Chicgago.

Take a look here for my photos ( www.ekreating.com ) , over 5000 photos and 90% just from 2005. I am covering events just abotu every weekend for owner, promoters, DJ's, and two websites and a magazine or two. ;)

Keep it up

That's awesome. I'd love to get into something like that. Actually, this town is about to get the biggest EM event it's ever seen. Check this out:

http://www.nahojthrillz.com/ntpgoad.jpg

This thing is gonna have about 40-50 DJs, starts at noon, goes on until 6am. I know it may not sound like much in comparison to bigger-city parties, but this is huge for us here. I'm aiming for 800 photos for that one.

As far as leaving the shutter open to get the lights, I typically do that at every event. For general shooting, I shoot manually on ISO 400 or 800 using 1/8th sec shutter and 5.6 or 6.3 F-Stop. If I'm looking to get some motion with the lights, I'll shoot as long as a second with flash. In terms of using the flash straight-on, that's what's separated me from the mundane photos that everyone else there with a camera gets.

[dansumption]

Some really great photos (I especially like the panoramic shot), and some excellent tips as well. I've been shooting quite a few party/nightclub/gig photos these last few months, and it's been a steep learning curve, but there is still stuff here that's new to me. I've thought about bouncing off coloured shirts, but never tried it yet, but like you I'd assumed that white would be best. Next time I'll try wearing grey.

For off-camera flash I use cheap radio triggers from ebay, although I've heard that they don't work with proper Canon flash units (I use very old, very basic flash units which I pick up at car boot sales and charity shops).

[DwightMcCann]

Dan, glad you woke this thread up ... and am amazed by your flash-in-a-stocking-on-the-wrist idea! Welcome to POTN! Went to your website which seems very well done all around and particularly like your link to the explanation of why fees are set as they are ... I have added it to the FAQ. Anyway, I for one would be very interested in hearing about your adventures and experiences in this niche.

[livewire-photography.com]

hhmmm i like, i shoot clubs too, if i have time il post a couple from last night, but got to run out soon. if thats ok to post with Spiral of course?
Cheers

[dansumption]

Thanks Dwight. Actually, my website will soon (I hope) be a lot better done, at present it's just a design which I threw together in 10 minutes plus photo galleries exported direct from Lightroom. I have bigger plans for it, much bigger, but I have to get some time away from client work so that I can build a database for it and a snappier design.

I also have plans for something to augment the fishnet stockings. Watch this space!

I'm fairly new to party photography - I've been drifting in that general direction over the last year, since I started doing gig photography and gradually realised that I generally preferred photographing the people in the audience to the ones on stage. I just set up Dan Shot Me a couple of weeks ago, because people were starting to pay me to shoot parties and I decided it was time to make a proper go of it.

BTW yesterday I posted a small selection of my own party photos to this thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=303586). Please feel free to, erm, join the party over there as well.

[Ballen Photo]

Kent, You have a very nice series of "party" shots, most of which seem very similar to show photography. Nice work. ;)
-Bruce

[Rumrunner]

Nice photos there. I really like what you did with the first one of the series. Did you use 2nd curtain sync??

[Spiral Photo]

Actually, 1st curtain. Although, now I have a camera that allows for 2nd curtain.