Nightclub, DJ, Dance, etc tips appreciated...

[bradh]

I have some opportunities to do some shooting of electronic dance music events, most often taking place in a dark club such as the Lizard Lounge with the typical colored light setup and lasers and such. My focus will be primarily on 'artsy' looking photos of the DJ, crowd interaction and environment, overall atmosphere type captures... parts of the event that have a lot of action or reactions in the images... not the 'pose with your friend while I take your picture' sort of thing that is dominating that scene right now for some reason.

Basically I would like some suggesting on shooting to capture a lot of the colored lighting while not getting the blurriness from a long exposure. I shot a Taking Back Sunday concert but it was a year ago and at the time it was just a lot of guess and checking on my part while at the event.

Some examples from that event that I would like to recapture the ideas of in the nightclubs.









Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make it clear that I half know what I am doing, but could use some advice if someone had it. Thanks!

[Paulo]

On the forum, do a search on Redmouse (aka Jordan). He's done some and shared some night club/concert type images before. Always very cool about sharing information or technique used.

[venchka]

In a nutshell:

ISO 1600 minimum, higher is better

The fastest lenses you can get your hands on. Real fast lenses. 2.0 max. aperture minimum. Lenses that actually WORK wide open is a plus. 35/1.4, 50/1.0 to 1.4, 75-85-90/1.4 to 2.0, and 100 to 135/2.0 are historically what folks use in low light & fast action. Folks have been doing this since the early 50s with fast lenses and Tri-X. It's not new. Color will add a bit to the challenge, but it's manageable.

[Jake]

Check out this guys stuff. He shoots a lot of DJ's and dance club type photos.

WARNING: Some of the galleries on that site contain nudity and are not work safe.

[bradh]

Thanks for the replies. Computer has been out of commission so haven't had a chance to check up on here. (@ work now... hehe)

[venchka]

The link to the club scene in the Netherlands is interesting. Imagine walking into a place like that in Dallas or Garland or Plano?????

Different strokes for different folks. I guess if you're limited to an f:4.0 zoom you have to resort to flash and posed situations. Kinda takes all the fun out of it, in my personal opinion.

[bradh]

My main problem is I need to get some higher end, lower focal length lenses. The stuff I have now was centered around being used in photojournalism/sporting events... so I've got the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 with a 2x and the Canon 70-200 F4/L blah blah
I think I will sell these and use the money to grab some new stuff..
Just really have the thrifty 50 right now to see how I like that prime.
Looking for other stuff 35 and lower.

[venchka]

Interesting near duplication of zooms.

The 70-200 2.8 zoom is very versatile for a multitude of purposes. Maybe a bit big in a club setting. A lot of concert/theater photographers use Canon's 200/1.8. Size can be handled ok. On the other hand, the Canon may deliver better performance at f-4.0. It is lighter and smaller too. Pick one to keep.

Sigma makes a 30mm 1.4 lens. If the perfomance wide open is acceptable give it a once over.

You didn't mention the body these go on. Cropped? Full frame?

[bradh]

Oh I only have both around still because I picked up the Sigma around November on Craigslist (someones friend on here or something.) I haven't really shot anything since around mid-December and so they've both been collecting dust while I decided what I was going to do for my next photo venture. I'm not sure I want to carry something that big around in a nightclub anyway. By the way, I use a Canon 20D.

[venchka]

Check out the Sigma 30/1.4. I know it's good at 5.6. The question is, "How good is it at 1.4?"

John will be along shortly I'm sure to say that Canon's 35/1.4 is the end all to beat all. That's probably true if cost isn't factored in. I wonder if it's 3 or 4 times as good as the Sigma?

[bradh]

Yah I am looking at a lot of different reviews for a lot of these lenses ranging from 20-30ishmm and see a lot of complaints about sharpness not being there except about say, F4 or F8. That's why I'm hoping someone steps in and says, "Hey, I have ___ and here are some photos I took with it in the dark, etc etc" so I can see some comparisons. A lot of the consumer reviews are hard to interpret...thus my grain of salt approach...especially when you see almost totally opposite reviews. Meh.

[venchka]

A regular around here, a wedding photographer I think, owns the Sigma 30mm. Give a shout in a new thread with the lens as the title. That should get her attention.

[bradh]

Further lens discussion thread created: http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum...429#post378429

Haha, I'm wordy, but trying to simply the response I am looking for. Thanks Venchka, and in the new thread I mention some more versatile(?) lenses that caught my eye.