Anyone with Club/Nightlife photography questions?

[Rukes]

Since this is the Sharing Knowhow section, I figured I would ask if anyone wants advice for nightlife/club/dj shooting?

I run www.rukes.com which is currently one of the most popular DJ-oriented photography websites in the world. I currently have the most popular dj/nightlife oriented website in SoCal, and I do most of the major events in Hollywood that are DJ related.

I have been doing nightlife photography for about 3 years now this October, and in just the past year and a half, I have grown immensely.

I now do the event photography for just about every major DJ in the world when they come to LA, and a majority of them fly me around the US or the world to take other event pics too.

Some people I work with regularly as their preferred event photographer:

Tommy Lee, Paul Van Dyk, Christopher Lawrence, Deep Dish, Junkie XL ,James Zabiela, Sasha, Nic Fanciulli, Danny Howells, Digweed, Paolo Mojo, Sandra Collins, Robbie Rivera, London Elektricity and many more.

Some sample pics (more on my website):
Tommy Lee & DJ Aero:

Christopher Lawrence:

Sharam (Deep Dish):

Paul Van Dyk:

[moshe3242]

Hi There,
Great job.
I live in the LA area too.
what kind of equipment do you use for your work, can you tell a little about settings, exposure and stuff like that ?
any tip will help, really thats the kind of photography i like and would love to have someone to learn from.

thanks much

[Rukes]

Originally Posted by moshe3242

Hi There,
Great job.
I live in the LA area too.
what kind of equipment do you use for your work, can you tell a little about settings, exposure and stuff like that ?
any tip will help, really thats the kind of photography i like and would love to have someone to learn from.

thanks much

My gear should display in the sig now, see below.

It's always hit and miss, it all depends on the club. Each club setup uses different settings.

Usually I have it on manual, around f/2.8 - f/3.5 (leaning towards the latter mostly), and the shutter speed at 1/8 to 1/20, or 1/200 for the "daylight" type shots when I can bounce the light off the ceiling. Now that I have a 5D (I had a 30D up to last week), I use up to 1600 ISO now. Before, I was using 400-800, which still works well.

[ssim]

There are a number of people here that do nightclub type of photography (not my thing for sure) and have been very gracious in helping others out when the need arises. I think there is always room at the bar for one more.

One of the better users, imo, here that does this work is Dwight McCann. You should check out some of his work.

[PhotosGuy]

Thanks for this thread!

One of the better users, imo, here that does this work is Dwight McCann.

Q & A: Dwight McCann (Event Photography)
More:
Concert Photography Tips: A FAQ Perhaps

[narlus]

Originally Posted by ssim

One of the better users, imo, here that does this work is Dwight McCann. You should check out some of his work.

dwight is a great shooter, and is always helpful w/ advice. however, the type of shooting he regularly does is pretty different from nightclub/DJ shots. anyway, i suggest to poke around the performing arts sub-forum.

[Discov3ry]

Great pictures and awesome website!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you start in a business of nightclub photography?

[Rukes]

Originally Posted by ssim

One of the better users, imo, here that does this work is Dwight McCann. You should check out some of his work.

As narlus pointed out, although Dwight is a great photographer, i'm talking about DJ/nightclub shooting which is very different from concert photography.

Originally Posted by Discov3ry

Great pictures and awesome website!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you start in a business of nightclub photography?

Thanks! I started out doing it for fun as a side job. I had a full time-job in NY and a Canon point-and-shoot I never used, so I decided to break it in by going to see one of my favorite DJs, BT. My pics came out pretty decent, and people seemed to like them.

When I moved to Cali about 3 years ago, I still had a full-time job but decided to get a 20D to try to take pics for fun, a bit as an excuse to get in free at clubs to see my favorite DJs and get on stage to meet them. After about a year of practice, venues and promoters started to hire me, then a bit after that, the artists themselves.

[B3SEO]

Nice photos! That 5D is incredible at ISO 1600. Blows me away.

[bacchanal]

Originally Posted by Rukes

Usually I have it on manual, around f/2.8 - f/3.5 (leaning towards the latter mostly), and the shutter speed at 1/8 to 1/20, or 1/200 for the "daylight" type shots when I can bounce the light off the ceiling. Now that I have a 5D (I had a 30D up to last week), I use up to 1600 ISO now. Before, I was using 400-800, which still works well.

I'm assuming these settings are typically with flash, right? Can you eloborate on your flash technique when you don't have a ceiling to bounce off of.

Really nice stuff btw.

[Rukes]

Originally Posted by bacchanal

I'm assuming these settings are typically with flash, right? Can you eloborate on your flash technique when you don't have a ceiling to bounce off of.

Really nice stuff btw.

Thanks! Yes, that's all with flash.

Its trial and error alot, usually takes me one or two visits to the club to get the lighting just right if I have no time ahead of time.

Usually I recommend a lightsphere with the dome pointed straight up, 45 degrees forward or straight forward (going by Gary Fong's guide).

With a low ceiling that is reflective or not black, I usually just use a lightsphere pointed straight up with no dome, since it will bounce back down and rain light all over the place, as you can see in the stage shots of my Vanguard galleries. The Ceiling is pretty low (not as low as some clubs) but the insulation is metallic silver, so it reflects everything I shoot at it

[Sathi]

I don't have any questions but shot #2 is amazing. Nice job.

[bacchanal]

Originally Posted by Rukes

Thanks! Yes, that's all with flash.

Its trial and error alot, usually takes me one or two visits to the club to get the lighting just right if I have no time ahead of time.

Usually I recommend a lightsphere with the dome pointed straight up, 45 degrees forward or straight forward (going by Gary Fong's guide).

With a low ceiling that is reflective or not black, I usually just use a lightsphere pointed straight up with no dome, since it will bounce back down and rain light all over the place, as you can see in the stage shots of my Vanguard galleries. The Ceiling is pretty low (not as low as some clubs) but the insulation is metallic silver, so it reflects everything I shoot at it

That makes sense. My flash results have been pretty inconsistent so far probably because I tend to flail around with the OFSCII, not really knowing what I'm doing. I tend to do okay when I have a nearby wall or something to bounce off of. I do have a diy foam diffuser/bouncer thing...but I generally don't carry it with me. It seems maybe I should just leave the flash on the camera and use the diffuser in situations where I don't have a good bouncing surface...like in basements etc. I'm not sure if I'm to the point where I can bring myself to spend $50 (or whatever) on a lightshpere...and I don't want CurtisN to laugh at me, but maybe one of these days I'll give it a go. Thanks for the insight.

[digitalfrog]

Hey, looks like we are working on similar stuff. I'm in europe, in Amsterdam.

[35Pixels]

wow im glad i found this forum, so helpful, i live in IL and i was wondering what are your flash settings, i usually do ETTL but sometimes my subjects come out dark or sometimes only the upper part of the body is lit up. Sometimes i increase the power of my flash to like +1/2 but get a really white face (overexposed).. i would like to have all of the body lit up evenly. i bounce my flash up, i tried straight forward but i get vignetting. i dont know if its in my camera settings or my flash settings. could it be my focus, i tried one shot, AI focus, or Al Servo.