Bar/Nightclub Assignment Q's

[NickD]

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share....

Here in Cincinnati we have a local publication similar to Metromix, if you're familiar with that. A guy on their sales team is a friend of mine, and in some causual conversation he mentioned that they were looking to increase thier online presence with more coverage of local events and photo galleries. Sensing an opportunity to grow my skills, I said I'd help out. It'll be a couple weeks before they send me out, but I wanted to make sure I'm prepared.

I'm currently shooting with a Canon XS with the kit lens and the 50mm 1.8.

Most of the venues will be typical watering holes around town, with the occasional lounge/nightclub. The job will be to capture the patrons enjoying themselves and a few shots of the venue itself. I'm really just looking for some general advice on proper settings to use. A speedlight has been on my wishlist for a while and I think it would be advantageous for this/these venues. Do you feel it would be necessary, or just a nice piece to have? I love my 50 and was considering only using that. Is the 1.8 going to help enough bringing light into what will most likely be a fairly dark area?

Again, any and all advice is appreciated. BTW, here is a link to their current gallery http://citybeat.zipscene.com/photos/

[Digidave]

I'm betting it'll take you about five minutes to figure out you wish you had a speedlight. Just quickly going through that link, you can see flash being used in a lot of those shots. f/1.8 will go a long ways in a darker atmosphere but you're going to want a larger DoF so you'll have to stop down to f/5.6 or even f/8. Then you're going to need more light for certain.

In small confined spaces you're going to wish you had a wider lens. As much as I love my nifty-fifty, It just wouldn't work well in this situation. Maybe 30 or 35mm?

[OsmosisStudios]

I can almost guarantee you that, without a full-frame body and f/1.4 glass, youre not going to get anything useful without a flash.

I'd say about 99.9% of bar/nightclub/etc photography is done with a flash mounted to the camera.

[mrdale]

As mentioned above you're going to need a flash. Check with your local camera shops, perhaps you can rent a flash and maybe even an off camera bracket. Buy one when you can afford it. There are also national rental companies, google 'lens rental'. rentglass.com shows a Canon speedlight for $31.00/week for example.

dale

[wilswong]

Perhaps google some tips on diffusing the light...for me it gives me a more pleasant effect.

Diffusing can either comes from bouncing off walls and ceiling or putting a card. I personally won't use the bounce card that comes with some camera flash because it is a tad small.

[OsmosisStudios]

I use the Sto-Fen Omnibounce. Works wonders.

[smc1377]

50mm won't be wide enough and even at f/1.8, it's not gonna let in enough light to forego a flash.

You'll need an external flash for sure. I use a Sto-Fen Omnibounce as well. Don't bother with an expensive lens, if you do this a lot someone will eventually spill beer on your gear. I had to go buy the same kit lens most people received with their camera body (18-55 IS). Ocassionally I'll use my 11-18, but that distorts people and I'll only use that when the place is really packed.

You can get away with just a cheap E-TTL flash if you want to. In fact, it's almost easier to use a cheap E-TTL flash cause people will inevitably bump into you and your gear and breaking a $75 Bower flash won't hurt as much as someone breaking your $400 Canon flash. Also, the cheap flash can easily tilt and rotate without having to press any buttons on the flash to release the angle. It makes it so much easier to adjust on the fly.

I shoot about 20 venues per month.

[wilswong]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I use the Sto-Fen Omnibounce. Works wonders.

I find that the stofen omni bounce actually cause discomfort to a lot of people whom I am not photographing as the diffused light travels around the photographer.

Same goes for gary foong.

So a bounce card is a better solution for me.