Event photography help

[synthetik]

NOTE: I already posted this thread in the Urban life photo sharing section. Any mods feel free to remove it from that section, it fits here much better. Sorry for the mistake :o



So I've been shooting event photography semi professionally for a few months now. I'm starting to get better but I need some advice from you old pros. Im shooting on a 350d with a sigma 24-60 straight 2.8, 430ex speedlight..

Im going to show you a few of my shots then a few more of another photographer at the same event and hopefully you can tell me what I can do to get my frames to look more like his. I'm not sure exatcly what is off, light difussion, white balence, lenght of exposure for BG / slight motion blur, etc. Thats where you come in. Here it goes:

A few of my photos:

http://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/48.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/17.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/28.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/34.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/38.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/30.jpg

Ok now some of his images from the same event. He might even post on this board I saw he was shooting with a canon aswell. He did have a pretty large fan type diffuser on his flash wich I'm sure helped a bit but I know I'm missing much more than that. Heres his images:

http://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/dolce012.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/dolce034.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/dolce049.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/dolce059.jpghttp://www.dolcepresents.com/pictures/champagne/dolce011.jpg

I know these Images are not "techinicaly" that great, overexposed flesh tones and blowouts of some of the highs but it seems to be the standard and what people like in the club scene around here...
Do you think hes doing a lot of post processing of the images? Because of how many images I have to shoot for each event and how little I get paid my post processing is usually VERY minimal.

I usually shoot around ISO 800-1600 between f2.8-4.0 and shutter anywhere from 1/12- 1/60th.. usually on TV (because the lighting condtions change so fast and sometimes something crazy happens and you have to shoot it within secconds) and sometimes manual if Im in an area with static light.. Also I set my flash to ETTL and automatic zoom. Somtimes I manually push it to max zoom..

Hope this was enough info for you all to help me out. Lets hear what you have :)

[dengli]

Yours seem a bit dark on my monitor so I'd pp them a bit using levels in Photoshop. Not sure about the other guys. They seem over processed and far too contrasty. Not a fan of his flash technique either as there are many hotspots and some of the faces are washed out.

Much prefer yours.

[Tripod]

Im with Dave I like your shoot better. I shoot at a bar all the time. Because it is a cave and the girls keep the few lights in the plce turned down low the flash is a must but if you use the flash go M or P with TV the flashis just fill. Because I am using a flash my normal setting are M with f5-8 and 1/60 to 1/125 shutter speed. My ISO is 400 to 800 to save battery life in the flash with ISO 200 or 100 if I have lots of batterys. Then I put a Lumiquest pocket bouncer and defuser on the flash. You then have to put your flash at + 1/3 to 1stop because the bounce and diffuser drops it by 2 1/3 stops. You can see some of my work at tripodhawaii.com under the Kemoo Farms section.

[synthetik]

Thank you for your comments :)
I understand that his images are a bit overexposed and have blowouts, maybe over saturated too and a little soft..
I'm not sure exactly what I like about his images, I think its the softness and slight motion blur (preserves atmosphere of club) and the warmer goldish color of peoples skin.

All of my images are straight off the camera, I'm expected to have 80 finishsed shots for each event (usually shoot around 300) and they need to be done by the next day. When I start putting some of these into my portfolio a bit of cropping and leveling could make them that much better.

Any more advice?

[Spiral Photo]

I typically shoot at ISO 800, rarely higher. I also typically don't point the flash straight on. I bounce off everything; the floor, the ceiling, the walls, my shirt, a friend's shirt, my hand, mirrors, whatever is around that's not dark. My shutter is usually set around 1/8 sec, and the f-stop at 5.6-7.1(ish). Then I do post processing on all my images to enhance color, sharpness, and contrast. Here's a few examples:

http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/sumo/02.11.06/images/CRW_19430.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/chunky_funky/images/IMG_19287.jpg
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/chunky_funky/images/IMG_19249.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/refresh/images/IMG_11353.jpg
http://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/refresh/images/IMG_11351.jpghttp://www.djspiral.com/images/photography/people/parties/refresh/images/IMG_11446.jpg