How can I take better NightClub Pics

Hi, I am a graphic designer who has recently become more interested in photography, I have a Nikon D300 with 18-200mm lens, 18-50mm lens and a Sigma EF-500 DG Supper Flash.

I recently took some pics for a clent in a nightclub and my pictures where a bit dull, I was using my 18-200mm lens and found it better to use the in-built flash. I tried several settings but still didn't get as good a picture as I was after! :mad2:

Does anyone have any suggestions on the settings I should use to get a good close up pic of people in this kind of environment? All help greatly appreciated.

Can you post some of your results.
Just guessing but you may have to invest in a faster lens.

Frankly, night clubs tend to be extremely poorly lit. You do not want to use your 18-200mm as it is a very slow lens. If your 18-50mm is an f/2.8 lens, it would be better, but ideally you might want to go for a fast lens like a 35mm f/2.0 or 50mm f/1.4. The larger aperture will gather more light and thus you can get more of the ambient lighting in the photo.
Your built in flash is not a very good flash, in all honesty, it's more important for beginners or for triggering off camera remotes. If you use your EF-500 flash, you will get better results, but you should try bouncing the flash as well for better quality of light.

I can't show any of my pictures. They were at private events, often with my family and they don't want to be on Internet.

Most of my pictures that fit into the "night-club" category are at weddings, with people playing at being at stars coming into the venue and dancing later on.

For this sort of image I use the D300 with 18-200 (usually) and SB800 flash head-on, 800ISO, leave the camera to sort out the focus. My usual focal length is about 28mm and my shooting distance is about 6 feet. I'm going for small groups from the waist upwards frozen in action by the powerful flash, with the background visible but non intrusive.

I shoot very quickly - I see a likely subject (more usually a group of 2 or 3) I approach to my preferred shooting distance with a look on my face that says "Wow here is the group that I have been waiting for all evening" Wait for an instant till they've seen me then FLASH - again - FLASH - ohcomeongivemeanotherone - FLASH - thankyouuuu". Then I storm off in search of the next victims. By the end of the evening I have everybody

At home I sort out exposure problems (RAW) and I pick the best out of the three each time. As I seem to have the knack of making people laugh my pictures are usually anything but dull.

Show us some examples of your problem.

I have been a London Club photographer for 2 years now and i find that even though the lighting may not be as good but the different colours from the lights and lasers work so well behind focused objects.

I use a Canon 450d and a 18-55mm lense with a Canon 430ex flash. I always set my camera to 400ISO f4.5 and speed of about 1/30. The slower the shot the funkier the colours will look. With my flash i set to 0 and just work from there up or down depending on the clubs light. I find that if you turn your contrast down and your saturation up, also the colour tone up, you will notice the colours are much brighter and more vivid.

REMEMBER ALWAYS FACE YOUR OBJECTS IN FRONT OF LIGHTS AND LASERS SO THEY ARE GLOWING BEHIND THE PERSON AND YOU WILL GET AN AWSOME COLOUR EFFECT!!!

Nice reply by Miss Wicket, lots of practical detail, settings and tricks to get the right result, from someone who actually knows what she's talking about.

Welcome to the site.

No worries,

I always like to help when i can, as i know it can be very frustrating not getting that perfect picture, but practice makes perfect. Here is one example using the settings above.

http://pixmaster-eu.dontstayin.com/1...5bcb5ad1f8.jpg

http://pixmaster-eu.dontstayin.com/6...bd51da466e.jpg

http://pixmaster-eu.dontstayin.com/c...133289c4f2.jpg