Need Help With First Night Club Shoot w/50mm

[Duhphotoman]

My first post so hopefully I won't embarrass myself! I've managed to get access to a local nightclub to practice my skills at band photography,and want to make the most of the opportunity. First, I'll be shooting with a 30D and Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens ( the lens which I recently purchased after reading many threads on this site!). After reading many of the threads found here, I think I've gotten a good general idea of how to proceed, however I still need a little guidance. My plan is to shoot manual mode, tungsten WB, lens at max. app. My question is setting the exposure properly. The stage has typical overhead lighting which will vary in intensity and color, so I'm unsure as to the best way to get my exposure reasonably correct. Will the exposure vary much depending on the predominate color of the moment, or does this matter since it's all tungsten lighting?

[shkspr]

set the wb to auto. start with iso 800 @ 1/125 & f 4.
chimp like your in the jungle. watch the histogram for bunching to either end.
adjust shutter speed and aperture as needed.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.....
have a lot of fun, enjoy, and remember, your shooting for fun & practice.

only stress when your getting paid to shoot the first 3

have fun, tim

[Rock Photo Star]

set the wb to auto. start with iso 800 @ 1/125 & f 4.
chimp like your in the jungle. watch the histogram for bunching to either end.
adjust shutter speed and aperture as needed.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.....
have a lot of fun, enjoy, and remember, your shooting for fun & practice.

only stress when your getting paid to shoot the first 3

have fun, tim


I don't think those settings will be sufficient but am curious to see how things turn out with them. Look forward to seeing the pics.

[Duhphotoman]

Thanks for the feedback! Forgot to mention in my original post that I planned on bumping up the ISO (another thing I learned from reading previous posts!).
Rock, what settings would you change from what SHKSPR has mentioned?

[René Damkot]

"Local nightclub" usually means a lot less light then 1/125s; f/4; ISO 800.

Venues I shoot are usually in the ISO 3200; f/2.8; 1/200s if I'm lucky.

I'd set tungsten WB or auto WB depending on lighting (cans or moving heads).
Shoot Raw, watch the histogram.

If you shoot at f/1.4, be aware that DoF is very shallow, so focus is critical.

Recent shots, both band and "night club": http://www.damkot.com/Recentworkonline%20copy.html
Exif should be in the images.

[djlanky]

"Local nightclub" usually means a lot less light then 1/125s; f/4; ISO 800.

Venues I shoot are usually in the ISO 3200; f/2.8; 1/200s if I'm lucky.

I'd set tungsten WB or auto WB depending on lighting (cans or moving heads).
Shoot Raw, watch the histogram.

If you shoot at f/1.4, be aware that DoF is very shallow, so focus is critical.

Recent shots, both band and "night club": http://www.damkot.com/Recentworkonline%20copy.html
Exif should be in the images.




Yes, you are absolutely right about the DoF! Keep that in mind when taking the picture as most shots will be groups of people and some will be out of focus!

[mosesport]

"Local nightclub" usually means a lot less light then 1/125s; f/4; ISO 800.

Venues I shoot are usually in the ISO 3200; f/2.8; 1/200s if I'm lucky.

I'd set tungsten WB or auto WB depending on lighting (cans or moving heads).
Shoot Raw, watch the histogram.

If you shoot at f/1.4, be aware that DoF is very shallow, so focus is critical.

Recent shots, both band and "night club": http://www.damkot.com/Recentworkonline%20copy.html
Exif should be in the images.

What type of flash do you use for these shots?

[René Damkot]

Audience shots: 580EX bounced of whatever wall is near, or using a "tupperware" diffuser, the bounce card or my hand.

Bands on stage: No flash in 90%

[Coppatop85]

Hey there! I have found that almost above everything, to try to keep the shutter speed above 1/125 (I try not to go below 1/160). This is because I find that almost every performer is constantly moving, so it's good to stop their motion to get sharp images.

Keep the iso @ 1600, shoot at f 1.4 - 2.0, try to keep shutter speeds up, and shoot in RAW, adjust the white balance after.

[D.A.]

Where i shoot (sometimes) is very dark place. You could only get with ISO 3200 or more with f/1.4 (only have Sigma) and only if the artists are not moving to much. Flash is allowed but doesn't look good and if you try to bounce it you want do nothing good 'cause the roof is not white so as side walls.
I think Sigma is sometimes not to wide on my 50D so i reach for 17-55 which is not fast enough. Damn :)