Need some help on shooting a Bar and keeping the light.

[rjames]

Hi there.

 

Hope you guys can help me out. Im going to shoot some pictures of a

friends bar during a busy time as he wants some shots from behind the

bar, etc. I have a Nikon D-70 which im still getting used to.

 

I dont have any external show flash just the speedlight flash

attached to the camera.

 

Im a bit worried about losing the atmosphere in this rather gloomily

lit bar if im shooting with flash. There are some lights in there but

not too many and its definately not "lit up". So I dont want to take

some nice shots trying to catch the atmosphere and have everyones

faces lit up with a big bright flash.

 

I cant really practice until on the night aswell so Im just wondering

if you guys can offer any advice about how I could shoot the pictures

and try to keep the effects of the flash to a minimum.

 

I am a beginner photographer and just recently moved from 35mm to

Digital. The D-70 seems like a very nice camera but im still finding

my feet in the manual mode.

 

Any small pearls of wisdom would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

Stan

[jpbarilguerard]

I'd want at least one practice night, but since this doesn't seem to be possible, you'll have to take chances.

 

This is hard to do, since you'll have to shoot in available darkness. I'd personally use one or two off-camera flashes and experiment with gels to get an ambience I like, but since this is not possible, I'd suggest sticking with a tripod and playing with motion blur to suggest the feeling of a busy night in a bar. 2-3 seconds exposures should give you interesting motion. Plus, you'll showcase the bar's lighting, which is good if the client wants an accurate representation of reality.

[todd peach seattle, washi]

Unfortunately, this is one of those things where one evaluates what the situation presents and then relies on one's past experience to adjust.....

 

Failing that, I'll try some starting points. Let me presume that you're using the kit lens (advice changes if you have something like a 35/2.0 or 50/1.8 AFD available).

 

ISO to 1600. White Balance to 'auto'. Set your custom setting number 21 (under the 'pencil' icon) 'shutter speed' to something like 1/8. This will 'uncage' the lower limit of flash shutter speed lower than the default 1/30. Use a monopod, or a tripod with a single leg extended if that's all you have. Exposure mode to 'A', and select the widest aperture of f/3.5 on the wide angle setting of the kit lens.

 

Pop the flash up, and consider removing the lens hood to avoid the odd 'eclipse' effect you get with the D70 on-board flash at wideangles.

 

Set up like that, the exposure meter will show you the shutter speed selected, and advise if you're looking at underexposure for the ambient background.

 

Pick 'flash friendly' compositions. If you're behind the bar, you're looking for maybe some interesting interactions at the counter (customers? wait station?) that are maybe an even 4 to 5 feet away. Avoid including anything closer than that in the composition (like the interior bar area) as it will be too bright from the flash. Also avoid trying to illuminate 'slant range' targets like trying to shoot down a crowded bar. Flash works well when its job is to light a limited range from the camera (farther away, dimmer; closer, brighter).

 

Chimp often and adjust to taste. If you find you have more light than you thought, I'd consider a couple adjustments: if the monopod is cramping your style and you can get by with 1/30 on the lower end of shutter speeds (the 'meter' will tell you), then lose the 'pod. If you have a lot of light and/or like working with the 'pod, you might bring the ISO down for better (more noiseless) image quality. I am in the camp that says ultimate image quality (noise/grain) is overrated compared to making compelling images in an environment where the average P&S is useless.

 

There may be a way to do exposure compensation on the built-in flash alone, but I couldn't figure it out. I'm using the SB-800, where if the flash is looking 'too hot', I'll dial in a little negative comp on the flash itself.

 

Good luck, have fun, learn from the experience.

[twmeyer]

<a href="http://www.clayenos.com/night/night5/night5.html">Clay Enos</a> has an interesting small flash technique that you may be able to adapt. Look around his site for the blog, where he talks about his technique a little... t

[gaius1]

You'll need some stuff:<ul><li>SC-29 cord (if you plan to use AF you will need its AF-assist capability)<li>SB800 or SB600 flash<li>28/1.4 lens</ul>. Set "slow rear sync" and dial in -2 on the flash. Set ISO 800 or 1600 if you must. Use the cord to position the flash to mimic the angle of the main light your subject is in, probably one from behind/above the bar. Set your lens to wide open or one stop down.<p>This is basically the technique I use in bars and clubs (but with an F5 and a 50/1.4) and it works well enough for me.

[todd peach seattle, washi]

One more thing: figure out how to enable/disable the AF assist light. It will be very annoying in a bar (white 'penlight' on that camera). Unfortunately, you may not be able to focus without it. Stick to the center AF point as it is more sensitive.

[thomas_sullivan]

Tom Meyer........interesting website Enos has. I never could do flash with a film camera.....well, nothing creative anyhow, but I've basically fallen into Enos's way of using a digital and post viewing to narrow down the balance between ambient and flash (although I mainly use the histogram to figure it out). good description though on there about how to do it all......little time consuming finding the part of the blog that mentions it, but good reading getting there, so thats ok too ;o)

[gaius1]

The red AF-assist from the SC-29 is must less off-putting than the D70's built-in.

[randall paul]

Good points guys! One thing you could also do which I do is if I wanted to use the onboard flash because I didnt bring my SB's and just doing happy snaps. I would use a amber Mylar celiphane on top of my flash unit to warm it. I never shoot above ISO 200 if I am flashing and normally always shoot at 250th or 500th of a sec to gain more ambience of the bar and reduce hot spots. I always shoot manual mode and play with my aperture. Very rarely use a mono or a tripode with flash as it is too confining when looking around and I hate being at one level or re-adjusting all the time. Since I shoot at faster sync speeds I don't need a tri or mono. For me the hoter the flash the lower the aperture visa versa. Have fun and test it out!<div></div>

[rjames]

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied with suggestions. Im trying all the different methods and went out last night and really managed to learn a whole bunch from what everyone suggested, results were really good aswell so I am not as nervous now as I was before. I think with some more practice I may be able to get the pictures I wanted.

 

I owe you all a beer.

 

Thanks,

 

Stan.

[gaius1]

Last Friday night (1)<div></div>

[gaius1]

Last Friday night (2)<div></div>

[sean de merchant httpw]

<p>As <i>slow rear sync</i> I will give you another term for <i>slow flash synch</i>:</p>

 

<p><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=dragging+the+shutter">Dragging The Shutter</a></p>

 

<p>Essentially this amounts to using underexposure with the flash to keep the shot sharp (very short flash duration), but using a longer exposure (again underexposed) to fill in the shot with the available light. Some practice with your equipment will help you get a feel for it. What this technique yields is a touch of sharpness mixed with the warmth of the available lighting. Or not so available lighting as most bars have. With a DSLR and ISO 1600 available, you should be able to handhold 1/30-1/15 second exposures and get workable shots.</p>

 

<p>hope this helps,</p>

 

<p>Sean</p>

[ryan w. radtke]

I love shooting bar room shots, and would never even attempt to capture a good one with digital. Digital just dosnt have the iso range you can get with film. I think 35mm might still be pushing it, medium format would be the best way to do it. If you picked up a cheap yashicamat, say 100 - 200 bucks. That would be perfact. The best way to do it would be with 3200 iso film, Ilford is the best, and a small fill flash held off to the side and above at arms length. The flash I use is a sunpak 383. I set it to the lowest power. I used to do extended exposer, i.e. 1/8 or 1/4, bar room shots with 3200. You can see some of these on my protfolio here on photo.net. I grew tired of this methoid because it was difficult to get consistantly good shots due to shake and due to subject movement, and you cant get good contrast with this methoid either. Digital is good for production shots, but its supprising how much easier certian types of shots can be with manual film cameras.