Low intensity flash

Hi All....Looking for some tips if possible.

I was shooting a nightclub the other night - its a swing/jass and burlesque night.

You can see the shots here - The images Iv taken with flash are called "flash"

http://500px.com …afana-bam-bams-norwich-uk


I'm looking for advice on how best to control the intensity of the flash to allow more natural/background light though.

On these shots the flash has effectively knocked any interesting light out of the image, while its done a fine job of illuminating the subject they look kinda lifeless in comparison to the high Iso shots where no flash was used.

I had my flash pointing directly up, with the lowest intensity it would goto. All shots taken with 24-70 2.8.

If anyone has any advice Id love to hear it. I'm very green when it comes to flash work, and this is the 1st time Iv used it in anything close to this situation.

cheers!

For those flash shots in a club-type environment, I would not be bouncing off the walls/ceiling, it tends to ruin the atmosphere.

I would be shooting the flash straight at the subject (with the flash either on or off camera depending on practicalities, and you can flash-exposure compensate to taste) in ETTL mode to let the flash take care of the subject exposure, then drag the shutter to let in the ambient light - this is a fairly standard nightclub-shooting scenario - there are some excellent threads on this here already...

I don't think the flash contribution is the problem. Controlling the ambient exposure is the key, along with controlling the color.

I notice the shutter speed jumps up to 1/200 in all your flashed images. That's why the ambient is underexposed in those shots. If you're using Av mode, there is a custom function you can change so that the camera continues to expose the ambient correctly. Better yet, you could switch to Manual mode.

The white balance is also different on those shots, my guess is you're using AWB? Try using a CTO gel on the flash, and switch to Tungsten WB or shoot RAW so you can control that.

Curtis N wrote in post #16422915
I don't think the flash contribution is the problem. Controlling the ambient exposure is the key, along with controlling the color.

I notice the shutter speed jumps up to 1/200 in all your flashed images. That's why the ambient is underexposed in those shots. If you're using Av mode, there is a custom function you can change so that the camera continues to expose the ambient correctly. Better yet, you could switch to Manual mode.

The white balance is also different on those shots, my guess is you're using AWB? Try using a CTO gel on the flash, and switch to Tungsten WB or shoot RAW so you can control that.

100% spot on. I would add that I would stay out of ETTL and any auto functions like AV for these set ups. Bright back lights throws ETTL all over the place especially auto modes. Put it manual mode and manual flash and control the amount of ambient you want in with shutter speed and amount of light you want to hit the subject from flash output on camera....Bracket works well here....I would be draggin that shutter big time.

cheers guys for the advice - I have to admit I never considered working around the ambient light in this case - But what you're saying makes allot of sense

With that in mind - does anyone know of any good threads or tutorials on nightclub photography. It looks like I might be shooting more of these and would love to do a better job the 2nd time round?

I like your shots without flash, and would suggest definitely staying on the low power flash or none at all.

imo, you might want to explore off camera flash dialed down a lot.

this is a good thread for that:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1315936


club stuff, post 3:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=419399

title of this thread has a "not work safe" mention:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=895331