Dance Floor... what are your settings?

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

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.

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

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

Simon

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 .......

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paul33 wrote:
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 .......

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************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!

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

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.

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.

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

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Old thread about dragging shutter with samples and suggested settings

Look in second page for samples.
https://photography-on-the.net …p?t=138130&high​light=lime

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

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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?

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