Night Club Photography Questions?!

CRIS510

CRIS510

New member
So I just started taking photos at different clubs, but the results I get are not what I am looking for. I get confused whether to use aperture, manual, or shutter speed priority. I have a Nikon d3000. Also, I am not sure what type of flash I should use. Please, any tips would help. Thanks!
 
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Joseph Bautsch

New member
Hello and welcome to the Nikonites Community. We need a little more information on the style of shooting you are doing. Informal flash shoots of the patrons for sale? Or just shooting for the enjoyment of it? Most nightclub shooting is low light and even when flash is used it's low level and adds to the atmosphere of the club. But it's your style and technique we need to know about. The the D300 is a great low light camera when used with the appropriate lens. Please complete your profile with your camera, lens and any other equipment you are using. With that information we can give you more recommendations on how to use it.
 
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johnwartjr

Senior Member
I think he is using a D3000, not D300, which would limit the low light capabilities a bit... but I agree, we need more information.
 
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
I get confused weather to use aperture, manual, or Shutter speed priority
Click to expand...

To answer your question quickly, I'll tell you how I handle this. If depth of field is important, I shoot aperature mode --small aperature(e.g. f/22) for great depth, and big(e.g. f/2.8) for shallow. If there's action involved and I want to stop it, I shoot shutter priority ( 1/250 or higher). If you're using flash, you can't go higher than 1/250 (well, you can on some cameras, but you get weird effects).

If you're in a low-light situation such as a club, you'll need to up the iso first of all and then decide what look you're going for.

I agree with everybody else that you need to give us more info before we can be more specific. It would also help if you posted a photo.
Hopefully this helps some until then.

By the way, kudos to you for not being in program mode:) (I'm assuming the D3000 has that)

Best Regards
 
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AxeMan - Rick S.

Senior Member
FYI to everyone, coming from a D3000 user, yes it has program mode and something call guide mode which is program mode made easy. On a D3000 uping the iso is only good till about 400 after that it starts to grain out fast. The D3000 also has the Active D-Lighting filter that you can turn off and on, it helps with the grain a little, however the write times to the memory card are very long, and you can miss shots because of it. (These are the two reasons I'm getting out of the D3000 at tax time for a D90) I'm not knocking the D3000 it was a great camera for me, and I have taken some great shots with it but I outgrew it even before I bought it, just didn't know it at the time.

I do a lot of dark outdoor night shooting, and find myself shooting in Aperture Mode at f/4.0 - f/8.0 for starting points with 10 to 20 sec exposures (on a tripod) then adjust the aperture from up or down from there as needed. If your exposures start to turn red you need to close your aperture and or shorten you exposure time I run into this all the time shooting lightning pictures because I have to wait for the shot.

As for inside shots not going to be much help here. Stay out of program mode, I find it makes your pictures blue in tint (well at least mine maybe I'm doing something wrong still have to overcome this issue and stay out of program mode) I find the onboard flash is weak in a large area, you might want to think about another flash unit. Flash units everyone has an opinion on that. I don't want to start thread inside of a thread, but I will tell you I heard the SB400 will work better than the onboard flash, however personally as soon as I can get my hands on a SB700 I'll be using that. You'll have to decide what you want and what you need.

In the mean time, now it will not look the greatest but try making a bounce card out of a index card bending it at a 45^ angle and taping in front of your on board flash. I have had a lot of luck doing this with shots around the house.

That's it from me a D3000 user, I'll let the experts take over from here.

DSC_4002.jpg
Test shots
f/5.6 200 iso
On board flash

DSC_4003.jpg
Test shots
f/5.6 200 iso
On board flash index card bounce card

Both photo's
Photoshop for personal cosmetic reasons
(Skin cancer removal)
 
CRIS510

CRIS510

New member
Well I am a beginner photographer! I just started about a few months ago. I want to go into fashion, but i like to go to clubs a lot. So I go to different clubs all the time. I figured I can start being a night club photographer to start getting my pratice and some recognition. But I like to shoot in all different ways. I do not like to just shoot randomly. I have seen some photographers there which i really like there style and was wondering how to get on that level. Does it require a special flash kit, which I still do not know very much about. Here is a sample of something I am looking for.

pratice.jpg
 
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AxeMan - Rick S.

Senior Member
At least your going to need a "Flash kit" as you call it for the D3000. Your going to need to "soften" that flash. I suggest you visit the thread on flashes. That is where I researched for my flash. What your looking to do I don't think the on board flash will do and you'll need to bounce the flash off of something. I'll let the experts suggest camera settings

Flashes Forum

Rick
 
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Joseph Bautsch

New member
If that's the type of flash picture shooting you want to do then I would recommend the SB700 flash unit. This unit is moderately priced and will have the power to do this kind of shooting. You will probably want to turndown the power on the flash. The flash in the shot you posted is too hot causing different areas to wash out especially the facial features. A flash diffuser or using bounce flash will help. The picture was taken up close probably with full power on the flash when it was not needed. I would also follow Rick's advice and read through the Flashes Forum for additional information on using a flash unit.
 
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