Amateur with possible paid Nightclub gig. What gear priority?

[Astheros]

Peeps,
So i am pretty big amateur to photography. I like to think I have some talent but I am new to the scene. I may be offered a paid gig to take pictures at nigthclubs and lounges for a promotions company. As of now my gear is the following...

Canon XSi with 18-55mm IS lens
Canon 50mm f1.8
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 (its stuck at shooting only f2.8) i just bought it used and its super hard to get focus in low light so i am afraid of using this lens.

Should I invest in a fast lens before starting to do this or should I invest in a dedicated flash unit. I cant really afford the 580 at this time so I was thinking the 430exII. what do you all think? i believe the right answer is the flash based on some books ive read that encourage breaking the included flash off of your camera :lol:


also...last time i shot at a lounge some shots came out clear while others came out blurred like crazy. even at the same setting. what i am doing wrong. whats a good starting point for very low light shooting?
thank you.

[René Damkot]

Get the flash.

Use a wide lens. (28mm isn't wide enough IMO, the kit lens would be better IMO).
Use high ISO: 800 or 1600.
Aperture: At least f/2.8. Maybe f/4. You'll need some DoF.
Drag the shutter. About 1/10 to 1/30, depending on club lighting. Maybe faster or slower.

Have a look here. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=6129682&postcount=3) Also have a look in the threads I linked to there.

[Astheros]

Rene i understand the high iso though if using a semi strong flash like a 430ex do i really need more than a 200 iso per say?

thanks for the input. appreciated. i think imma borrow a flash for the first couple shoots since i am broke and just got all this in the last month or so.

[René Damkot]

Yes. You need high ISO so you can use a (more or less) reasonable shutterspeed and still capture some ambient.

At ISO 200, you will probably capture no ambient at 1/20s, so you'll end up with "bat in a cave" images. (AKA: "Deer in the headlights") ;)

[Astheros]

yes ive been reading the thread you linked me to. thanks a lot for those btw. i just need to pick and choose cause theres a lot of conflicting information. especially the high iso/slow shutter or the low iso/fast shutter combinations.

i take it when you shoot low shutter speeds and high iso to capture ambient lighting. you guys are using second curtain sync to freeze the subject after the light has been captured? again, i know its being answered but it in many different ways so its a bit confusing.

[René Damkot]

As I think I tried to explain in the link, whether or not the action is frozen by the flash largely depends on the amount of ambient on the subject.

Compare these two images: First has almost no ambient, second has ambient (some persons AF assist light). Shutterspeed is the same (1/10s), yet one has the face blurred, the other not (well, less ;)).

Not the best example, but the closest match I could find.

http://www.moonglade.net/~rene/081206_Woofur/content/bin/images/large/rhd_20081206_Woof_0167.jpg

http://www.moonglade.net/~rene/081206_Woofur/content/bin/images/large/rhd_20081206_Woof_0122.jpg

[Astheros]

not trying to correct you by any means but do you mean the first photo (above) has ambient light. you said the second one does but according to shutter drag as you defined it it should be the first shot that has more ambient light hence causing blurriness.

my sample i took tonight. this was completely dark in my room with a 2nd sync flash. shot the picture moved the camera and then froze with flash at end. of course it was totally dark so no ambient light but the little lights on the electronics hence theres very little blurryness. i am correct?
i shot this at about 1/8 iso 1600
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7123/amphotography0614shuttedo1.jpg

[René Damkot]

You're right, I put the images in wrong way around :o

Corrected now.

For the rest: You are right: You only see motion in the parts that have ambient: the lights in this case ;)

[johnms88]

yes ive been reading the thread you linked me to. thanks a lot for those btw. i just need to pick and choose cause theres a lot of conflicting information. especially the high iso/slow shutter or the low iso/fast shutter combinations.

i take it when you shoot low shutter speeds and high iso to capture ambient lighting. you guys are using second curtain sync to freeze the subject after the light has been captured? again, i know its being answered but it in many different ways so its a bit confusing.

Put 10 photographers in a room and ask them a question and you will get 10 different answers. Photography is not a set recipe, there is no set way of doing something. Read all that info and build your own style from it. I am sure every method in the post will get you a useable image, just will have different looks that appeal to different people.

You will learn more from just going and doing it than you will from reading on here. You can only read so much, that, if you read too much everything will blend together before you can apply it and see how each method works/doesnt work.