IMG 0171 wrote:
never done it before, but from what I understand you pretty much need a flash.

Not true but it helps.

Either get a VERY fast lens (i like my 50mm 1.8) and use a high ISO/wide ap with a medium-fast shutter (experiment)
OR
Use a slower lens and a flash. But try not to blow it in people's faces. Use it low and bounced/diffused if possible.
There's honestly lots of ways to do it. Nightclub lighting differs. This is just how i do it.

Paolo Diavolo wrote:
theres not one setting you can put it on and leave it.

you're going to have to adjust things all the time.
use the flash for sure, and some sort of bounce card.
even if you have to use a rubber band to attach an index card to the flash;
that will work just fine.

i use a 17-50mm f/2.8 (on a 1.6 crop) when i shoot in clubs.
your lens will be wide enough.

qft...

club photography is no joke...

it takes alot of learning and knowing what to do without trying...

dklee studio photo wrote:
not to bash you, (op) but it baffles me why a nightclub would offer you a job doing night club photography if you don't even know how to do it.  I have done many club pics in the DC area and it bothers me that they would get someone with zero experience to shoot.

but to give away the trade secret, yes you need a flash.  from that, it is all on your own because that is how you develop your look, otherwise, you are just copying what another photog's style is.

No its not a DC club lol luckily its a friends club in Martinsburg, Wv.....he asked me to do the pics for him because i offered him TFCD for the experience. and i've beening googling and using bing tryin to find tips and decided MM would be the way to get a better answer.

DrafDesigns Photography wrote:
it would be best to use a faster lens than f3.5 or f4.5.  A f1.4/f1.8/f12.8 would be ideal. 

Set camera to ISO 800 or 1600, open appeture to get maximum light from the scene. 

The shutter speed will need to be adjusted accordingly since, some shots will be of people dancing, others will be posed shots.  If you use a flash, dial it down to 1/4 or 1/8 and use a bounce diffuser to limit background shadows.

Finally something that makes sense thank you. Now if i can only know how to do the open apperture ill be set lol.

Ronnie G Photography wrote:
Finally something that makes sense thank you. Now if i can only know how to do the open apperture ill be set lol.

no offense but that doesnt make sense given the equipment you have.

"apperture" properly spelled aperture is your f-stop.
your lens is probably 3.5-5.6 meaning that zoomed out it can be opened to 3.5, but once you zoom in (probably around 50mm or so) it can only open to 5.6 max.

simple instructions:
when you shoot at the club, for starters just put your flash on TTL.
in manual mode set your aperture to 5.6
shutter speed 1/100th
ISO 640

if its too dark, raise your ISO, or lower the shutter speed.
too slow of a shutter speed, everything will be blurry.
try to keep at least 1/80th.
fool around with it from there.

Koriana wrote:
I'm only sticking my two cents in because it was mentioned that you don't necessarily need a flash for the photography you're talking about but you WILL need a flash because of your slow lens.

worth mentioning again.

Ronnie G Photography wrote:
Finally something that makes sense thank you. Now if i can only know how to do the open aperture ill be set lol.

set the F stop value to 1.4 or 2.8 the widest aperture your lens can give.

Be conservative with flashing, it's a club so people can become annoyed as others have stated. 

If you can ask those you want to shoot if they can step out of the core crowd to the side.  That way you can then use more flash, not annoy anyone, and have less clutter in the background.

DrafDesigns Photography wrote:

set the F stop value to 1.4 or 2.8 the widest aperture your lens can give.

Be conservative with flashing, it's a club so people can become annoyed as others have stated. 

If you can ask those you want to shoot if they can step out of the core crowd to the side.  That way you can then use more flash, not annoy anyone, and have less clutter in the background.

It's a club. It has flashing lights and strobes as part of the atmosphere. A few more camera flashes won't annoy anyone unless you fire it a foot from their face at full power.

Perceptible Fallout wrote:
In a crowded club, the last thing you want is a 50mm to take people shots in the crowd. It just doesn't work in your favour unless the place is deserted.

Your 18-200 will be fine. Work at around f4-5.6.

Don't be afraid to push the ISO up to 1600 or even more, you want to capture the ambient light, not end up with a images flashed out and a black background...

Vary your shutter and drag it... go 1/30 and slower... your flash will freeze the shot.

With the flash you can either bounce (if the roof isn't too high and dark) or off camera, have a play and see what you like. Also set it to rear curtain sync or whatever nikon call it.

I agree with the angle of a 50mm lens especially with the crop factor on his D300. Personally I still think it's doable and maybe a good investment for the OP so he can experience and play with a fast lens (if he doesn't want to drop the extra money on the 35mm f/1.8). They might both be a drop in the bucket for him though. If so, he would be better off with the 35mm. Anything wider in the faster range starts to turn a little too impractical for his needs.
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of pushing the ISO to 1600. I know the noise is improved in the D300 compared to previous models...still...unless you have D700 a Nikon past 800 looks like shit. If he's shooting a flash he won't need to bump it up past 800.  IMHO.
Nikon calls it rear curtain.  I agree that shooting rear curtain in a night club really results in nice ambiance.

Ronnie G Photography wrote:
Ok so I got offered a gig to take photos of a niteclub in town but I dont know what settings to set my Nikon D300 to.....
I use a Nikon D300 with a 18-200mm VR Lens,
So i was wondering if anyone could help me out as to what setting i should be setting my camera to....lol sorry for the amature question im just excited to be expanding my port once again.
Thank you all for any advice!

if you want to get photos like it' was actually shot in a club with their light, you'll be shooting at a high ISO and wide open. Put the camera on A and have at it...also, you might want to experiment with a rear curtain sync

Ronnie G Photography wrote:
Ok so I got offered a gig to take photos of a niteclub in town but I dont know what settings to set my Nikon D300 to.....
I use a Nikon D300 with a 18-200mm VR Lens,
So i was wondering if anyone could help me out as to what setting i should be setting my camera to....lol sorry for the amature question im just excited to be expanding my port once again.
Thank you all for any advice!

between all of the answers you've received, you actually have all the answers..vary things up a bit..you might also want to go -1 on the flash..on nikons, it tends to make the shot look a bit more realistic. Also use matrix metering

pullins photography wrote:
between all of the answers you've received, you actually have all the answers..vary things up a bit..you might also want to go -1 on the flash..on nikons, it tends to make the shot look a bit more realistic. Also use matrix metering

+1 (as in I agree on the -1 flash setting)

KorianaModel wrote:

I agree with the angle of a 50mm lens especially with the crop factor on his D300. Personally I still think it's doable and maybe a good investment for the OP so he can experience and play with a fast lens (if he doesn't want to drop the extra money on the 35mm f/1.8). They might both be a drop in the bucket for him though. If so, he would be better off with the 35mm. Anything wider in the faster range starts to turn a little too impractical for his needs.
I'm not sure if I'm a fan of pushing the ISO to 1600. I know the noise is improved in the D300 compared to previous models...still...unless you have D700 a Nikon past 800 looks like shit. If he's shooting a flash he won't need to bump it up past 800.  IMHO.
Nikon calls it rear curtain.  I agree that shooting rear curtain in a night club really results in nice ambiance.

the D300 up to 1000 is fine for what the OP is trying to do. Film wouldn't have done as well

Ronnie G Photography wrote:

Finally something that makes sense thank you. Now if i can only know how to do the open apperture ill be set lol.

???

James_Cessna wrote:
You're going to need a very fast lens (2.8 or better), shoot ISO 400 or 800 with a flash, and either an f-stop of 50 or 60 with a 2.8 apeture should do it.

Uh.. you've got different settings for f-stop and aperture?  Cool.

pullins photography wrote:
the D300 up to 1000 is fine for what the OP is trying to do. Film wouldn't have done as well

Well, it would have depended on the film and how you exposed it. Besides grain is purttyer then noise.

FStopFitzgerald wrote:

Uh.. you've got different settings for f-stop and aperture?  Cool.

Back to the OP........  Who are you shooting for?  Junebug or some other site like that? 

YOU NEED A FLASH.  Here is the thing.....  Some dude from my area threw up a really solid shot of a......... keyboard and a super soft guy behind it.....  Who wants that?  I wouldn't pay you for it.  And forget super fast, since you'll have a flash........  If I'm indoors and I'm "forced" to shoot (Tonight when I get home I'll be doing just this in fact), I'm probably going to shoot aV with a fixed 250 shutter and the stop between 5.6 - 7.1 the entire time.  Then make flash comp adjustments to deal with exposure..... 

WHY you ask would I go down this "lazy" road?  Simple...  My shots will come out clear, my shots will have good exposure, AND... I will be drinking.  Shooting in Manual and mixing with alcohol will only work for the first few drinks.  After that you'll forget to double check settings and go fire for a half hour at 10 f2 by accident. 

PLUS...  This company buying your shots is a website right?  If you don't have to worry about prints you should then worry simply about getting as much work in focus and exposed correctly so you can sell them.

SnapShotzLLC wrote:
Don't make fun of the over medicated........    Or the GWC's that haven't read chapter 3 of Photography for Dummies. 


Back to the OP........  Who are you shooting for?  Junebug or some other site like that? 

YOU NEED A FLASH.  Here is the thing.....  Some dude from my area threw up a really solid shot of a......... keyboard and a super soft guy behind it.....  Who wants that?  I wouldn't pay you for it.  And forget super fast, since you'll have a flash........  If I'm indoors and I'm "forced" to shoot (Tonight when I get home I'll be doing just this in fact), I'm probably going to shoot aV with a fixed 250 shutter and the stop between 5.6 - 7.1 the entire time.  Then make flash comp adjustments to deal with exposure..... 

WHY you ask would I go down this "lazy" road?  Simple...  My shots will come out clear, my shots will have good exposure, AND... I will be drinking.  Shooting in Manual and mixing with alcohol will only work for the first few drinks.  After that you'll forget to double check settings and go fire for a half hour at 10 f2 by accident. 

PLUS...  This company buying your shots is a website right?  If you don't have to worry about prints you should then worry simply about getting as much work in focus and exposed correctly so you can sell them.

+ 1,000,000

Probably the best advice so far.  Makes perfect sense.  Especially the alcohol part.  Lord knows that drunken photography and presets go hand in hand...lol.
I'm glad that you made the comment about the keyboard image.  I was thinking the same thing but I figured that most MMers think my stuff is crap so maybe I don't know what's good...lol