"club shots" with Canon Rebel XT

[Mantis]

Hi there. I hope this is in the right area of the forum.

I have been asked to take photos for an event at a club next month. I need to take photos of the costumes people are wearing and capture the feel of the mood in the club.

Problem is, i've never taken low-lit shots before. I was wondering if in order to take good quality shots, I would need to buy an additional flash opponent. I don't like using the flash that is attached to the camera, but I don't know how i'll be able to do this otherwise.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what settings, or what extra elements I need in order to take photos in a relatively low-lit club?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Tel]

Well usually the built in flash is only good for close ups (In my opinion)

But yeah, Other than that, I'm guessing theres dancing, so I dont think a really low shutter speed would work, But yeah, I'd wait for someone else's opinion, I'm not very knowledgeable on this subject.

[JSPhoto]

Your built in flash is pretty much useless. There are two things you can do to help though.

1: you can buy an external flash, if on a tight budget you can get a Sunpak, such as the 433D and use it in manual mode

2: get yourself a 50mm F1.8 lens, it will cost around $79 new, yes, NEW.

That combo should help you out a lot. Realize though that in low light your AF will search a lot, it's normal for that type of camera.

JS

[livin4lax09]

expose for the scene, shoot second curtain flash, and set your WB to flash. Using this technique, you will have blurred action, but at the same time, a still image of the people close to the flash. try to shoot at a smaller aperture if possible, and shoot with MF. On-camera should work fairly well, but check out photo john's party pics in the viewfinder forum, they are a good example of flash with a dragged shutter. best of luck.

[Mantis]

thanks guys - I appreciate your fast replies and helpful suggestions. I'll look into getting an external flash and a lens if I can manage it.

[Photo-John]

I shot this photo with the Digital Rebel XTI, which is pretty much the same as your camera. I shot it in shutter priority (TV) so I could select a slow shutter speed. I have a 550EX flash that I held in my hand and fired with a slave system. You can also use the Canon off-shoe cord. Having the flash off the camera allows you to create shadows on your subject for a mroe interesting photo. I also move the camera on purpose to accentuate the feeling of motion. Practice makes perfect! And with digital this kind of photo is fairly easy because you can test abd tune them up as you go.

[Mantis]

sweet! thanks man... that shot looks great. pretty much what i'm hoping to accomplish.

[Stephen Lutz]

Using flash in a club usually destroys atmosphere, rather than captures it. John's picture is a great example of creative use of flash and ambient light to combine the best aspects of both. Well done.

When I shoot clubs (at least atmosphere shots) I usually end up going with no flash. I have a 10D, which I set to 3200 ISO, and use a 28-70 2.8L wide open. I usually shoot manual mode, 1/15 of a second, f/2.8. For focusing, I use a speedlight with only the focus assist light active (via a custom function on the camera). When I get the pictures back, I tweak them to taste.

Here are some taken at a Goth club in downtown Louisville. My favorite is the one of the couple dancing, with the guy's head in the bottom left. Very surreal, much like the club itself.

For comparison, I included a typical flash picture, of your intrepid photographer with two of my Goth friends. Notice the flash destroys the mood.

[Photo-John]

Steve-
You know these are all uploaded to your member gallery, right? The one of you and the two girls was obviously not taken by you. So it shouldn't be in your member gallery. Please remove it from your gallery. Actually, I'm not so sure it's appropriate for this thread either. I'd hate for someone who might be offended to be surprised by it. There's no warning and it's pretty racy.

Thanks-

[livin4lax09]

agreed with john. there's a reason why posts have tags.

[Mantis]

I got myself an EF 50mm f/1.8 lens and a Sigma EF-500 external flash.

I'm almost completely lost as to how to use the flash, so i'm reading the manual at the moment.

Thanks so much for the tips... any more help would be appreciated as i'm swamped with work to do and may not have time to read everything in the manual.

[Stephen Lutz]

You might try dragging the shutter and shooting second curtain sync. What that means is shoot at about 1/15th of a second, while metering for the ambient light. Select shutter priority, 1/15 and let the camera figure out the aperture. Then, set the flash to fire with the second curtain (custom function has to be changed to do this.) This will freeze the subject (with the flash) and allow swirls in the background. You might have to drop the flash power a bit, maybe 2/3 of a stop. Try some test shots first to see what works best, then leave the settings alone. Vary if needed for different effects. I believe John did something similar to this for his club shot above. Very effective, and not that terribly difficult to do with some practice.

One neat trick is to have an assistant hold the flash by the main subject and trigger it to strobe right on the subject. Shoot the photo with ambient light for metering and the main subject will be well lit in the strobe and the crowd will be all swirling around him/her. I have an example from a club I shot in, if I can find it! If I can, I'll post it. I am on my second 250MB hard drive!

EDIT: Here it is!

[Mantis]

sweet! thanks man (and everyone else) The event i'm going to is tonight, so hopefully all goes well!