Extremely poor lighting, need soem help.

[Shutter22]

This will be my second time shooting at this place. They have two lights, two. One with a blue filter and one with a red. The bands can bring their own equipment, but the bands that I usually shoot for are too poor to get their own lights.

I've been asked to shoot there a second time. I'm really antsy because it was the most difficult thing I've ever done. They all turned out way too dark, had way too much contrast, and too much noise to really make them work, but for some reason the bands like them and use them.

I really want to make an impact and give them something they can really use and people will like. I know I'm capable of much better quality, but I might need some advice.

These were some of the better shots.



f/5.6, 1/15, 1600



f/4, 1/15, 1600



f/5.6, 1/10, 1600



f/4, 1/10, 1600



f/4, 1/20, 400

(flash used)

[Shutter22]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d_deleon/

There's the rest of the shots I sent to them. They're all on the front page.

[skifurthur]

It would probably help if you let us know what shutter speed, ISO, aperture, lens, etc you used.

[Shutter22]

At the time my fastest lens was f/4, so they're all at least that.

I'll edit it right now with the exif next to each one.


Hopefully one advantage I have this time is much faster lenses, but any other advice would be stellar.

[Inspired Photography]

The bands will like them cos thats what bands do

I would pump up the flash. In this type of venue, nobody is going to care to much about the flash going off. Looks like you have 8-10ft ceilings, so bouncing would be no problem.

Your sig doesn't say what flash you are using, but I would shoot manual at 1/60th f4 ISO800 or thereabouts, and click away with your flash. Bounce it off the roof, and leave the catchlight card out for a little front fill, or tape a white business card to the top of it.

If you do it right, and convert to B&W as you have done, you will get a tonne of winners i think. You can even convert them to monotone and give them some form of colour to take away from them being B&W all the time too.

I have shot under almost pitch black conditions using this method, and you would be surprised what you can get from it.

To practice, walk around your house in the middle of the night using these settings, and see what you get from it.

Rob

[narlus]

if you want to shoot ambient, spend $80 for the 50 f/1.8 lens; it will be money well spent.

[Shutter22]

Originally Posted by Shooter-boy

The bands will like them cos thats what bands do

I would pump up the flash. In this type of venue, nobody is going to care to much about the flash going off. Looks like you have 8-10ft ceilings, so bouncing would be no problem.

Your sig doesn't say what flash you are using, but I would shoot manual at 1/60th f4 ISO800 or thereabouts, and click away with your flash. Bounce it off the roof, and leave the catchlight card out for a little front fill, or tape a white business card to the top of it.

If you do it right, and convert to B&W as you have done, you will get a tonne of winners i think. You can even convert them to monotone and give them some form of colour to take away from them being B&W all the time too.

I have shot under almost pitch black conditions using this method, and you would be surprised what you can get from it.

To practice, walk around your house in the middle of the night using these settings, and see what you get from it.

Rob

I was definitely thinking of going the flash route. I only put them in bw because the colors looked ridiculous, everywhere that was black on the 1600iso pictures was red.

I was also considering doing some dragging because of all the bright color on their little stage.

[Inspired Photography]

I suggest you do what i mentioned about using these settings walking around your house at night. Shoot manual, f4, 1/60th, and ISO800. Bounce the flash where possible.

These settings will reduce the power of the dodgy lighting over your flash, and will ensure that you have enough speed to reduce blur and stuff.

Try it! You will see what i mean!

Rob

[kmb]

Not really "extremely poor" - f/4, 1/15, 1600 translates to f/1.4 1/125, 1600 when using a 1.4 prime fully opened. It's just normal poor if you ask me . Point being that if you have to get good pictures from a club without knowing the lighting conditions in advance, a 50/1.4 (or even 50/1.8 probably - I've never used one though) is better than any number of f/4.0 zooms... If you can't afford or for some reason don't want to buy a prime lens, I'd suggest experimenting with flash as noted previously in this thread

[Village_Idiot]

Knocking the aperture down to eve 2.8 would buy you maybe a 1/40-1/50 or better shutter speed. Also, if the bands really want good shots and you're concerned about the flash, let them know about the situation before hand and ask them if it's ok if you use the flash for a couple of shots.

[gcobb]

A 2.8 lens in that situation would have been a band-aid. A 1.4 would have been 2.
I used a second sync the only real time I tried to get a shot and it worked, but they had more lighting still. In a position to shoot like this, about the only thing you'll learn is that you need something a lot faster and they need to beg or borrow some lighting.

[René Damkot]

Actually, I like the first shot.
B&W conversion on #2, 3 and 4 needs work...

Also: Open up the aperture as far as it will go. If it won't go further then f/4, consider a new lens

[digitalwhims]

Kick up the ISO, pump up the flash (bounce it), open the aperature, decrease movement of subject as much as possible, use a higher speed lens, and USE A TRIPOD! Then say three hail marys and go for it. Since you are shooting digital you can adjust as you go.