HELP! Scared Photographer

[stuart_jarman]

I've been offered my first photography job at a Nightclub taking

shots of a modelling contest. Whilst I think it may be a step into

the 'event photography' genre I just don't know what to expect from

my camera when firstly I have to deal with:

 

-flashing/spinning multi-coloured lights

 

-smoke machines

 

Does anyone have any advice on what sought of shutter speed I will

need/ or any other tips? I will set the F stop down to 6.3 and ISO

to 200. I am shooting with a Nikon D70 and SPB 600 speedlight. I'm

nervous because I feel the environment that I'm shooting in may

determine the quality of my shots and I don't want the quality of my

shots to be what the guy behind me will shoot with a mobile phone!

 

Thanks for any input.

[chris_hutchins]

you'll definitely need a higher iso if you want to see any detail in the backgrounds. you may also have problems with the flash and smoke...

[chan_wei_jian]

definitely use a fast lens perhaps a 50 f1.8 or even a 50 f1.4

[steve_levine]

Part of being a pro, is the ability to "exactly anticipate your results". The key to this of course is the pre-shoot test. Since there are "no" film or processing costs, it will cost only your time to learn this.

[gaius1]

Where on Earth did you get f/6.3 and ISO 200 from? I shoot often in clubs, and speed typically varies from ISO 800 @ f/4 if you're lucky to ISO 3200 @ f/2 at a gig last night...

[scott_linstead]

I think your best bet is to use the old "spot meter the face" of one of the models and set your exposure based on that, give or take a 1/2 stop or so as per your judgement. This way, your meter won't get fooled by smoke and or bright point sources like spinning lights. I think there's a tutorial on this topic on this very site. I don't have much experience with this, but I did shoot a "concert" once for a local band. I didn't use flash so as to preserve the atmosphere of the concert. I also followed the rules suggested by the above mentioned tutorial. You can see the results at

 

http://www.minddrivemusic.com/

 

Hope this helps

 

Scott

[john schroeder]

Bring a stack of model release forms! Photograph and document drivers licence or other identification of the models. A 50mm f1.8 would work well. If you have a flash put some frest batteries in it and bring two extra sets. I would use slow sync flash to capture the movement of the models and also standard flash to freeze everything. Show up early and ask the clubs lighting person to demostrate what lighting they are going to be using for the event and do some test shots. This will allow you to set your gear up correctly and also find the best shooting locations. don't be afraid to move a table or two. Get a "Must Have" shot list and a "Would like to have" shot list from the client. Once ou have the "Must have" shots in the can then go crazy and experiment. Have some fun and be creative. I have found that these shots are usually the best ones and the ones that get me the most referrals.

[vinh]

Is the modeling contest going to be on the floor level or on a stage? On the floor level, the 50mm might be good, but on a stage... you'd have to be too close to the stage and have to shoot upwards at a hard angle; that or you might not even have enough reach... better to get "at least" a 85mm--a 70-200mm VR would be even better.

 

crank up that ISO, and lose the flash if you want to preserve atmosphere. as mentioned above, the smoke machines might cause problems for the flash--it's like highbeams while trying to drive in a fog.

 

 

f/6.3 is smaller than you're probably going to get in practice. at low-light events i often have to shoot wide-open. plus, you want to isolate the models from one another anyways.

[rconey]

I shot a fall fair midway at night with a nikon 8700 digital. 400iso with noise reduction. Crazy, wild colored lights, lots of movement. I was very pleasantly surprised with the accurate white balance. A faster lens (it is f2.8-4.2 depending on zoom) would have been nice. 800iso and f1.8 might have frozen motion better.

 

The suggestion to ask the place for a test shoot makes the most sense.

[brad_w]

Stuart - What are you shooting for? What are you trying to show? Who is your market for

the images and what types of shot are they interested in seeing?

 

Wide with funky light and complex colors may make you feel like Bill Allard and might be

nice for a bar owner looking for an ad or a stock image with attitude. It's also very low

percentage shot with ambient and a very difficult image produce intentionally. It's also of

almost no interest to a model looking to strut his/her stuff . OTOH on-

camera flash is totally unappealing, so showing the models looking good will likely require

something off-camera, a flash bracket at the very least but you'll get that "wedding" look.

Remote triggering is better.

 

Sorry to say, Stuart, but I think you should be scared - it sounds like you're in over your

head. If you have the time, get in as early as you can - days if possible, not hours - and

try out a few things. The flash backet or a few slavedspeedlights if you can get a hold of

them. If there'll be a spotlight on the models, that could be enough...maybe.

 

 

-B

[mark newcombe www.mcnphoto]

Couple of monos with radio slave over head could help. 800+ iso 1.4 , 1.8 or 2.8 at least. If you are nervous do it for free, becuase if your nervous now how are you going to be on the night.

 

Don't charge if you are not 100% confident in your ability to produce results that are worth paying for as it'll bite you for sure.

 

Good luck, relax, don't charge for this one and the pressure will be lifted off your shoulders. Hire some fast glass if you don't have it or can't buy it, through the 600 away it'll be useless and buy noise ninga. The money you spend on hiring some good glass might pay for some nice portfolio shots.

 

Regards

Mark

[aravind raman]

Why don't you go there once before the shot, and guess what focal length you might be shooting. I really think night club, will be jampacked for sure.

<p></p>

I have seen few photographers in dpreview.com using fisheye for their work. You can check out this <a href="http://www.pbase.com/digitalfrog/">gallery</a>,

<p></p>

 

<p></p>

and also this <a href="http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1021&message=14518631">link</a>

 

<p></p>

Hope this helps

<p></p>

Aravind

[ralph_lemarechal]

I have a different aproach to most of what has been said in this thread (don't say it's wrong, but I get good results doing differently)

 

No need high ISOS, 200 is more than enough for example.

You may want to read my mini-mini-mini guide to party photography here:

 

http://www.digitalfrog.nl

 

Cheers !

 

Ralph

(and thanks for refering to my post on dpreview, it is very nice.)

[stuart_jarman]

Thankyou everyone for your input. I'm an amateur trying to do a pro's job! However, I have taken some good advice from the responses, the most important one I feel is prepare myself! I am going in tonight to the club to check out the lighting. I have also told the Promo Manager that I will do it for free as I am still learning. I will do the best I can. The beautiful thing about photography is that its a life-learning skill... as long as you can press that shutter you have a picture!