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Yikes! So, I need some input on club lighting...
I have my first ever club shoot for a local hip hop group...and I have no clue what my best bet for lighting is... I usually use just stand lighting either with or without my built in flash. Is there something better and more mobile I should pick up to use instead? I just thought I'd look for some input... Apr 16 06 02:33 pm Link What camera and speed light do you have now? What lens(s) do you have to use? I would shoot with the fastest lens you Apr 16 06 02:40 pm Link part of the fun of shooting at shows is using the available light. i would just grab a fast lens and fast film, and maybe a small flash as a kicker. remember that motion blur can be used to your benefit. Apr 16 06 02:40 pm Link Christopher Bush wrote: I second this. I've shot a lot of club shows for bands. The available light in a club is very atmospheric, use it to your advantage. Christopher is right on target. Get the fastest lens you have (f/1.4 to f/2.8) and shoot at high ISO. If you have a digital camera, I hope it can handle high ISO speeds well. If you're shooting colour film, a lot of pro club/concert shooters like pushing Provia 400F to 800 or 1600. Works well. Apr 16 06 03:14 pm Link I posted almost this exact same topic a couple of hours before you..... https://modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=41736 check it out my friend, hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Jon Apr 17 06 09:23 am Link I've shot hundreds of concerts in small clubs. Here are some helpful hints, in no particular order: 1. Light metering is your biggest problem -- typically club lighting involves large areas of darkness behind relatively brightly-lit performers. Matrix, center-weighted, or averaging light meters will typically produce serious overexposure in this situation. If you have a spotmeter and can meter off the face, you'll get much better results. 2. White balance is your second biggest problem. Often I just set it to Tungsten, shoot in RAW, and then tweak it in Photoshop Camera RAW when I get home. 3. Getting sharp images is your third biggest problem. You need to use a camera that has good performance at high ISO. In really dark clubs, you'll need f/2.0 or faster lenses at ISO 1600 to get good results. If you shoot wide open, watch your autofocus technique carefully -- your depth of field will be razor-thin. 4. Avoid the temptation to use flash, unless you're REALLY good at balancing flash with ambient light. Nothing destroys a good club/concert picture faster than a blast of flash. Shoot without flash, you get a moody, atmospheric photo that can make the viewer feel like they are right there. Shoot with too much flash, and you end up with a snapshot that looks more like a crime-scene foto. 5. In terms of what you shoot, be careful not to concentrate exclusively on the band on-stage. If the crowd is crazy and happening, make sure you capture that. Especially capture any interaction between the crowd and the band. Here are some examples of my concert and club work: http://bangbangphoto.com/v-web/gallery/Musicians Have a great shoot! Paul Apr 17 06 09:34 am Link |
