Amazing Nightclub Photography

ArmittageShank

Hi guys, seen some of the photographs from The Wright Venue and I am wondering how some of these effects were achieved? Every picture is so colorful and the subjects are lit really nice. I downloaded the pictures and copied the camera settings from each picture and I think some sort of effect in photoshop was used?


A f/5 Shutter 1/6 iso 640 Flash Gun (Can see from mirror)


A F/5.6 Shutter 1/20 iso 500 Flash


A f/5 Shutter 1/2 iso 400 Flash
I love this picture but how is it so crisp on such a low shutter?

melekalikimaka

rear sync, push the reds to blow out, mash contrast to max as with saturation... amazing nightclub photography...really? the face isnt even in focus in the first one

edit.

oh dear didnt see no. 3, no. 3 is a thing called 'hdr'

pete4130

Looks like rear sync/slow sync flash.

They look like they've been HDR'd and Topaz Adjusted like hell and then over sharpened. I don't think they are good images.

They are colourful and striking in that sense but that sort of processing is simple. Push everything to max and use every filter/gimmick at hand.

ArmittageShank

Ok I went overboard with "amazing" I just really like the really bright colours. There are a few more really good examples on this guys facebook page, but I couldn't nap the camera settings so I just picked a few random examples from his tumblr. Anyway thank you for your expertise.

CianRyan

The only thing I find amazing about this is the amount of hair on the arms of the lad in the second picture.

Pretty puke inducing pictures tbh, I wouldn't be into them.

ArmittageShank

pete4130 wrote: »

Looks like rear sync/slow sync flash.

They look like they've been HDR'd and Topaz Adjusted like hell and then over sharpened. I don't think they are good images.

They are colourful and striking in that sense but that sort of processing is simple. Push everything to max and use every filter/gimmick at hand.

Would you have to manually adjust each image or do you think this is a PS action?

The reason I am asking, I take a few pictures down at my local and he really likes these type of photos. I use a 5d with the kit lens and im assuming I wouldn't be able to achieve anything along these lines with such a basic set-up?

melekalikimaka

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Would you have to manually adjust each image or do you think this is a PS action?

The reason I am asking, I take a few pictures down at my local and he really likes these type of photos. I use a 5d with the kit lens and im assuming I wouldn't be able to achieve anything along these lines with such a basic set-up?

yup no problem, pretty sure theres lightroom presets even, take a whole of 2 seconds to apply it

Leftyflip

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Would you have to manually adjust each image or do you think this is a PS action?

The reason I am asking, I take a few pictures down at my local and he really likes these type of photos. I use a 5d with the kit lens and im assuming I wouldn't be able to achieve anything along these lines with such a basic set-up?

Do it one by one, or set up presets.

All that's done is increasing the vibrancy and saturation, and probably the clarity slider...


No. 3 should have never existed...

CianRyan

5D, basic?


Doesn't look like there' anything special about the lens your man is using, they've been edited so much that he's killed them anyway.
You'd want an external flash I'd say, maybe you can manipulate the flash on the 5D more than the 450D I use though... Stone age stuff I guess?

melekalikimaka

Leftyflip wrote: »

No. 3 should have never existed...

no.2 is almost acceptable, borderline hipster with light leakeque burning on the right

ArmittageShank

Sorry I didn't mean the 5d was basic I meant the lens. (Im still paying it off slowly over 6 months later) Yeah the flash I use isn't that powerful but external flashes are ridiculously expensive I have been upping the brightness in lots of crowd shots.

Im assuming the light leak isn't natural and is a photoshop brush/effect then, melekalikimaka you really seem to know your stuff could you recommend any photographers for me please?

Thanks for all your replies btw.

CianRyan

You can get a pretty simple Nissin flash for €150 new, I bought one for my girlfriend and it's well, great!
The only reason I'd want to spend more myself is for a faster refresh rate, it's already got most of what you'd need to start.
Seeing as there's no film for the light to leak into, I'd say it was just red light going off at the same time as the camera, could also be PS but I'd say not judging by the light in the background. Curtains, etc. have red light hitting them.

Quick OT question, did you have another SLR before the 5D? I'd have bought something cheaper and bought a nice lens or too to go with.

condra

HDR/Unsharp Mask/Contrast/etc
Makes me wanna barf.
See: http://ihateyourhdr.tumblr.com

pete4130

There is some sort of adjusting on each shot. You'd shoot on manual setting to get the best balance for the ambient light ant your flash. Once you have that looking ok then it should be ok for most of the shots...some areas/lighting might be brighter or darker so you'd adjust accordingly.

You set the flash output to highlight the subject, without overexposing it.

There is a little trial and error going on. Usually its using higher ISO, slower shutter speed and some fill in flash.

If you have a 5D, you're really not getting the most from it using a kit lens. Kit lenses are quite slow in low light.

ArmittageShank

CianRyan wrote: »

You can get a pretty simple Nissin flash for €150 new, I bought one for my girlfriend and it's well, great!
The only reason I'd want to spend more myself is for a faster refresh rate, it's already got most of what you'd need to start.
Seeing as there's no film for the light to leak into, I'd say it was just red light going off at the same time as the camera, could also be PS but I'd say not judging by the light in the background. Curtains, etc. have red light hitting them.

Quick OT question, did you have another SLR before the 5D? I'd have bought something cheaper and bought a nice lens or too to go with.

Alright sweet, I didn't know could get them for that price, that's decent enough might look for something second hand though. What do you mean by faster refresh rate? Multiple flashes?

No I didn't, had a digital camera and a hipster fish-eye lens. I definitely would have done that in hindsight unfortunately my photography teacher seemed to care more about newer camera models than a cameras lens. (Lesson learned)

CianRyan

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Alright sweet, I didn't know could get them for that price, that's decent enough might look for something second hand though. What do you mean by faster refresh rate? Multiple flashes?

No I didn't, had a digital camera and a hipster fish-eye lens. I definitely would have done that in hindsight unfortunately my photography teacher seemed to care more about newer camera models than a cameras lens. (Lesson learned)

Ouch on the teacher thing! I learned early that no one's word is gospel(if you're into that sort of thing). Look into a second hand 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 if you want to budget. Both are great lenses and perfect for learning.

Yeah, the higher end flashes have (to my limited understanding) two chargers(?) so you can shoot again much quicker after the flash goes off, the refresh time with the Nissin Di622 is a couple of second. No real issue unless you need to fire off a load of shots in low light.

Lens
The flashes seem to hold their resale value quite well so you might be better off buying first hand and having the warranty.

ArmittageShank

http://ihateyourhdr.tumblr.com
Yeah some good bad-examples there, I am guessing the general concensus with the photography community is stay away from hdr.

There is some sort of adjusting on each shot. You'd shoot on manual setting to get the best balance for the ambient light ant your flash. Once you have that looking ok then it should be ok for most of the shots...some areas/lighting might be brighter or darker so you'd adjust accordingly.

You set the flash output to highlight the subject, without overexposing it.

There is a little trial and error going on. Usually its using higher ISO, slower shutter speed and some fill in flash.

If you have a 5D, you're really not getting the most from it using a kit lens. Kit lenses are quite slow in low light.

Thanks for all that information, very helpful. Is there anyway to boost the standard flash on the camera?

Yeah I was told that before, Im finding it difficult to choose a lens though I already made the mistake of buying a camera that was too technically advanced for me and I don't want to make the same mistake with a lens.

ArmittageShank

Ouch on the teacher thing! I learned early that no one's word is gospel(if you're into that sort of thing). Look into a second hand 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 if you want to budget. Both are great lenses and perfect for learning.

Yeah, the higher end flashes have (to my limited understanding) two chargers(?) so you can shoot again much quicker after the flash goes off, the refresh time with the Nissin Di622 is a couple of second. No real issue unless you need to fire off a load of shots in low light.

Lens
The flashes seem to hold their resale value quite well so you might be better off buying first hand and having the warranty.

This type of lens would be good for short DOF but im guessing it would have no use in crowd shots Cian? (Cheers for teh link btw)

Bejaysus I didn't know it would take a few seconds to re-charge that sucks but im sure it could be worked around easily enough. I see what you mean about the warranty I could see it getting broken due to huge size and the odd drunk asshole.

Thanks for all the info I swear you can learn more in a few posts than a few weeks.

pete4130

The refresh rate depends on the output of the flash. If you have it set to 1/128th power it will repeat fire no worries (provided your cheap flash is able to have its output power adjusted).
Even a high end Nikon or Canon flash won't be able to fire more than 2-3 full power flashes before it has to charge up. Some of the higher end Nikon flashes have an extra clip on battery pack that allows you to use 5 batteries instead of the standard 4 AA's in the flash head for faster recycle times.

I'd look for a used Canon 430 flash before going for a 3rd party flash. You're going to upgrade at some stage more than likely?

melekalikimaka

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Im assuming the light leak isn't natural and is a photoshop brush/effect then, melekalikimaka you really seem to know your stuff could you recommend any photographers for me please?

Thanks for all your replies btw.

it could be from a red light source, rear sync can sometimes have that effect. what sort of photographers? night club photographers or good photographers that do portraits? TBH nightclub togs are much of a muchness, theres only so many settings you can use in a nightclub and composition is a very small factor, I'm not a personal fan, but Terry Richardsons style I think could be applied to nightclub photography easily enough, as for getting the effects that will get you more work as a nightclub tog, I would probably look at the lomo website and check out those images, depending on the crowd I imagine that style will turn alot of your images into people profile pics and your sig in them can only increase your popularity.

OldGoat

ArmittageShank wrote: »

http://ihateyourhdr.tumblr.com
Yeah some good bad-examples there, I am guessing the general concensus with the photography community is stay away from hdr.

Welllllll, people hate HDR when it's overdone but thats no reason to never try it.
It's a tool that you should play around with and have in the toolbox as it can be useful...about once or twice a decade...maybe...at a push.

To stay away from HDR is the equivelent of a carpenter disregarding a chisel because he saw someone using one as a hammer.
OK it's not a brillant analogy but you get the point. Learn it but use it sparingly and with finesse.

ImagenEstilo

Had to laugh at the hair on the arm comment previously. What an observation!! I laughed out loud.

I would agree with a previous poster that you are better off sticking with a Canon branded flash. It will give you TTL functionality, will have a rotating head, will have manual adjustments from 1/128th to 1/1 power, will recharge faster will have the ability to use an external battery pack and will be better built. You get what you pay for.

The above photos are bog standard. I reckon some sort of effect was used in apart from the obvious work on curves, contrast, saturation and sharpening. They are all direct flash (bar the first one which was bounced off the ceiling to camera left), unflattering photos with unbalanced flash. I would question the shutter speed of the last image. I would expect more blur in the background. The last image to me is just wrong on so many levels. It is processed to death.

A good nightclub photographer should at the very least gel their flash to match ambient. You can get creative with how your flash exposed subjects appear. A good set of gels would cost a tenner. I would also be using bounce flash to add a little more professionalism. Indoors with nice high ISO and a wide enough aperture (as in that 50mm that a previous poster suggested) you will not burn out your batteries unless bouncing off dark walls). Recycle times should be fine. The 50mm lens that a previous poster suggested I would regard as a top lens albeit somewhat limited because it is a prime. Given the 5D is full frame I would be thinking along the lines of the 24-70 f/2.8 lens. Excellent low light lens with good focal range.

In the case of your 5D, you are perfectly capable of capturing images better than this. Up the ISO to the max to avoid excessive noise, use your external flash to freeze the action using rear curtain sync. You can then ride your FEC to balance flash exposure with ambient exposure. You then use shutter speed to control the ambient light registering in your scene and the level of blur you want in your photos (Keep it under your max flash sync speed). Looking at your previous posts you may not know what this means. I recommend you research flash exposure (or have a read of a wee article I wrote on basic flash exposure: Flash Photography Basics

It just goes to show, images that I would regard as shocking are loved by others. Is there a lesson to be learned here I wonder? I suppose if I was given the job of club photographer the whole idea would be to capture the vibe and the personalities. You want the images to look colourful (ambient light and saturation), balanced (bounce flash with gelled flash) and natural looking with little visible signs of processing. To me, the above images only tick the first box. Check out club images from Global Underground. I was always a fan of these images.

Sorry for the long and boring post.
Dave

Snowie

All Im saying is the clarity slider should never go above 20pictures have just got fancy effects. Theres nothing amazing about them...

Ben D Bus

ImagenEstilo wrote: »

I would agree with a previous poster that you are better off sticking with a Canon branded flash. It will give you TTL functionality, will have a rotating head, will have manual adjustments from 1/128th to 1/1 power

Yongnuo flashes have all that too. And they're so cheap relatively speaking that you could easily afford to carry a spare or take into risky locations such as a nightclub full of drunks!

I haven't used this particular vendor but I have 2 of these (Nikon version) and they work great

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Yongnuo-YN468-II-TTL-ETTL-Flash-Speedlite-For-Canon-EOS-600D-550-/181036339341?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraFlashUnits_JN&hash=item2a269b508d

KevinGossRoss

Eeeeurgh. Those made me cringe.

ImagenEstilo where can I find gels for cheap in Dublin? I lose these things at a magnificent pace.

ImagenEstilo

I just came across that brand of flash there this week. Bang for your buck they are something else. I was checking out the specs of them and for an entry level flash they are crazy cheap. I was looking for the catch. Obviously the TTL versions I would only consider but yeah on paper they look like they would get the job done. Better than taking your SB-910 into a club with you I suppose.

KevinGossRoss wrote: »

ImagenEstilo where can I find gels for cheap in Dublin? I lose these things at a magnificent pace.

Kevin, I don't know about Dublin. I picked mine up on Amazon. There is a cheap and cheerful set of 50 gels for a tenner on there:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosco-Strobist-Collection-camera-flash/dp/B005GU2JS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361526038&sr=8-1

For more serious stuff I use the Honl gels, both Autumn and Hollywood kits.

Kenny Logins

Ben D Bus wrote: »

Yongnuo flashes have all that too. And they're so cheap relatively speaking that you could easily afford to carry a spare or take into risky locations such as a nightclub full of drunks!

I haven't used this particular vendor but I have 2 of these (Nikon version) and they work great

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Yongnuo-YN468-II-TTL-ETTL-Flash-Speedlite-For-Canon-EOS-600D-550-/181036339341?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraFlashUnits_JN&hash=item2a269b508d

I have a couple (one TTL the other manual), can't fault them (amateur usage only of course).

ImagenEstilo

Speaking of flashes and build quality and that type of thing, I was shooting outdoors there mid last year and had an SB-900 on a stand attached to a lastolite softbox. There was a bit of wind but nothing crazy. All in all, I reckon the flash was about 7 foot off the ground. Of course the unthinkable happened, a gust of wind came along, caught the front of the softbox and blew the f**king thing over. The flash took the impact on concrete, the clatter of it off the ground was horrendous. Went over to inspect the carnage. The batteries had popped out of the flash, screen smashed down the middle, there was a lump carved out of the plastic where it took the impact. I put the batteries back in and she sprang back to life. Still working to this day without issue. That is build quality.

KevinGossRoss

Agreed! Nikon flashes are incredible. Being a Canon user, I went through three Canon flashes (2 430ex2s and a 580ex) in less than a year. I won't be buying another. One for on the camera, Nikon for off camera work. I have a friend who does mostly extreme sport photography as a career. He still has his first Nikon flash - knocked over countless times. You now bang it on a hard surface to get it to switch on but it still works. Amazing.