NIGHT CLUBS!

Hey guys, i was looking through some photos from a club we were at last night and it got me thinking. How do they do those long exposure shots with the blurred lights but the people in the shot are still in focus?? this is all hand held as well

Second curtain flash?

So it cant be done with the camera flash?

You can in some cameras. I know you can in the 7D. But even doing first curtain will give the same look.

Flash fact #1: Every flash photograph is two exposures in one – an ambient light exposure and a flash exposure. This is a critical fact to remember. The shutter opens, the flash fires, the shutter closes. During this time, both ambient light and flash will contribute to the recorded image. Flash photography requires managing both exposures.

FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY 101 – A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

Google "dragging the shutter".

2nd curtain will capture the subject at the end of the drag, rather than the start. This can be a good look where you're trying to convey movement of the person and their "ghost" (caused by a long shutter), but may not be what you're after at all.

I hate suggesting actual settings rather than suggesting you learn the principles, but once you've done some reading my suggestion would be to experiment and start with shooting M; high ISO, wide aperture, shutter to taste then add ETTL flash.

Get out of club photography - it is degrading work, bad pay, and you get treated like a monkey.
Talk to the birds instead, instead of being essentially a servant!

Club photography is great! Maybe not as an all around thing but I love doing it. For now...

Your flash will freeze the subject as long as that subject is within the flashes range. I was fooling around with this at christmas. I had a slower shutter and swept the camera about 5 inches during the exposure. The t shirt is about 5-6 feet away and the christmas tree is about 10 -12.