Dance Floor... what are your settings?

[CateUK]

Hi

Assisted at my 3rd wedding on Saturday. All the other bits are coming together, no flash in a dark church, bright sun lit formals (haven't had rain yet!!)

But my dance floor is so hit and miss! The last wedding was a disgrace! I had set up that they would dance in the middle where the disco lights where but they ended up in the far corner basically in the dark. Couldn't bounce the flash as the ceiling was brown wood but the flash at them made them static and over exposed, upping the ISO even more didn't give a nice effect either.

Just wondering what you guys would use on a dark dance floor (no natural light) with only the flashing disco light and a bit of light coming in from an adjoining room!

Thank you, Cate

[jj1987]

quantum flashes with pocketwizards firing them wirelessly. Preferably bouncing them, sometimes we connect these softbox things and point them down. Between 2-6 depending on the room. I use on camera flash to fill in shadows bouncing causes, and for the AF assist beam.

[OdiN1701]

Yeah wireless flashes or strobes or something plus some on-camera fill if needed.

[Arnie1]

quantum flashes with pocketwizards firing them wirelessly. Preferably bouncing them, sometimes we connect these softbox things and point them down. Between 2-6 depending on the room. I use on camera flash to fill in shadows bouncing causes, and for the AF assist beam.

Sounds interesting....do you have a link to your mentors web site so we can see the results?

Simon

[paul33]

I always find blasting the shot with too much light kind of takes something away from the moment. I much prefer to work with the light that is present and drag the shutter to get shots like .......

http://www.nenedigitalweddings.co.uk/dance.jpg

[BLS439]

I always find blasting the shot with too much light kind of takes something away from the moment. I much prefer to work with the light that is present and drag the shutter to get shots like .......

http://www.nenedigitalweddings.co.uk/dance.jpg

************THREAD JACK*****************************
Can I ask a stupid question? I have heard of dragging the shutter several times, but can't find a good link or search result describing how to do it. Is this like a rear curtain sync kinda thing?
*************END OF THREAD JACK************************

Thanks!

[tim]

I don't like to use flash in situations like this, if I really have to I often use a single 550EX on a tripod with an umbrella.

Re dragging the shutter google will tell you - http://www.planetneil.com/faq/dragging-the-shutter.html

[CateUK]

Thanks for the replies

Paul33 - that's the kind of look I wanted! But as my pix weren't coming out, I tried the flash which didn't work either, what I wanted was something in between... like this, ambient lighting, atmosphere and a bit of blur so you get the movement.

[paul33]

I may be using the wrong terminology but basically I switch to Aperture Priority and an ISO around 400, depending on the light, switch on the flashgun and shoot at around 1/2 to 1 second exposure.

The flash will fire immediately, freezing that moment but the shutter stays open long enough to capture some motion blur ......... the combination can leave you with a nice result if you're lucky !!!

Definitely need to try different shutter speeds, particularly if the couple are moving faster or slower than norm but keep firing and you'll get some good shots.

[jj1987]

Sounds interesting....do you have a link to your mentors web site so we can see the results?

Simon
webpage is under construction at the moment. When it's done I will most definatly post.

Powers does the same thing, so heres a sample
http://powersphotography.com/wedding6/images/Hebah-and-Newell-Album-B-44.jpg
its broken up weird because I grabbed it from his webpage. Basically the idea is that it LOOKS exactly like the room was bright. In this case the ceilings were high enough he might have had them pointing horizontally.

[lime]

Look in second page for samples.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138130&highlight=lime

[sony23]

Hi Paul , I seem to recognize you from another forum:) , anyway the best way to explain dragging the shutter is here ----------same link Tim just posted--------------------dont be afraid to up your iso, this image is right from Photoshop raw at iso 800 shutter 1/25 at 200mm 4.5 in manual 580 flash with an omnibounce on.

Bruce


http://www.inframe.co.uk/images/125.jpg

sorry didnt notice the subject title
this is one at iso 1250 1/40 f4.0 in manual 580 flash with an omnibounce on

http://www.inframe.co.uk/images/126.jpg

[woffles]

Putting your flash on second curtain will help also. Just point it straight at them if there isn't anything to bounce off of. As long as you have a slow shutter and dial down the flash you should get a decent effect.

[Rumjungle]

Putting your flash on second curtain will help also. Just point it straight at them if there isn't anything to bounce off of. As long as you have a slow shutter and dial down the flash you should get a decent effect.

Forgive me, but what would be the difference/advantages between using the 1st or 2nd curtain in this instance?

[Maureen Souza]

Shutter speed of 400, ISO of 800 and a bounced flash usually work in a dimmed environment.

[Dellboy]

A few tricks I use:

If shooting in available light I use an ST-E2 it's the only focusing aid I know of that you can use and put out no flash. Your % of keepers goes up dramatically with this and you rarely miss the good moments.

If motion blur is required I run a slow shutter speed ( 1/2 to 1/15 of a sec) and couple it with rear curtain sync.

To balance ambeient light with flash set a high ISO ( take a few shots then chimp and adjust if needed ) and run as slow a shutter speed as you can get away with to prevent motion blur or camera shake.

Of course large appertures are the "order of the day" with these shots so I usually shoot a fast prime wide open.

Hope this helps you some, Dellboy.

[Yella Fella]

My first attempt of properly shooting indoors at my mates wedding a few weeks ago... I had set iso 800 and set shutter speed of around 40/50, coupled with flash bounced, that worked fine for me... but the background lighting was just right I thought.

Again like others have suggested, down to the ambience and how far you can handhold slow shutter speeds

[Toogy]

For the situation you described, I would have pulled out my GF Lightsphere. I hardly use it, but for that situation I would have used it. I'd shoot at about 1/30-1/40th sec at ISO 800-1000 with the lightsphere pointed straight up without the cap on the end.

[Arnie1]

I've been experimenting with 2 x 550's and an ST-E2 transmitter. I shot a wedding on sundy and put a flash at each side of the room ontop of the bands speakers...then as you move around the room use ratios on the ST-E2 to dial up or reduce each flash.

The ST-E2 also makes focusing a whole lot easier.

[woffles]

Forgive me, but what would be the difference/advantages between using the 1st or 2nd curtain in this instance?

Sorry so long in answering this. Forget about this thread. If you use second curtain shutter you get the same effect if you used it to shoot a car driving by. The lights will appear naturally behind the car. Same for people, the blur will appear behind the people instead of in front of them. The second shutter flash helps stop the action to get a sharp picture while still showing movement. First curtain will fire and then the movement will be in front of the sharp subject covering it up.

[islandphoto]

And how do you set it to this setting??

[Rumjungle]

Thanks, woffles...makes perfect sense.

Joanna, on my camera it's C.Fn-15. I imagine it's one of your custom functions as well.

[Rumjungle]

I just checked, it should be C.Fn-15 on the 5D as well.

[bpuppy]

Here's what I do ... Manual mode ... ISO 200 ... 1/8 sec at f/4 ... with flash set to manual zoom, 105mm ... Rear-Curtain sync on ... wide lens (like 12mm or 17mm)

This freezes action in the center of the frame, but looks all cool and blurry on the outside of the frame.

http://www.timforbes.com/images/photos/00034_lg.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/60/198468797_89a555d0a1.jpg

[linarms]

What a cool technique, bpuppy! Mind if I borrow it sometime? :-)

[Arnie1]

bpup....nice technique, I'll definately try this one at the next gig.