Photography Tip: Clubbing/Night Life Photography
Written on March 27, 2009 by CincauHangus
I found the following settings to be very useful for me when I’m shooting in clubs of people, for both still and in motion. It also works well to capture surrounding lighting/ambiance, as long there’s no direct light towards you.
The settings solved the problems I had in the Photography Fact #1 post I posted in February.
Mode: Shutter/Time Value
Shutter Speed: 1/4 – 1/2 sec
ISO: 800
Flash: External Flash, set to TTL (or iTTL)
Flash direction: Up/Direct
Exposure Compensation: +- 0 (for direct use -1/3 stop)
Lens maximum aperture: f3.5
Success rate really depends on your timing. If possible shoot when it’s dark, and there’s no flickering lights, etc. You can still capture the environment/surrounding lights if there were any present.
The built-in flash may be able to achieve similar results as well, but I’m not too sure. You gotta try it out yourself! =)
It worked for me, hope it works for you. 
EDIT:
Few more notes to add:
- My photos were shot in RAW.
- If photos are slightly too dark, increase exposure in Lightroom/Photoshop then it should be okay.
- And finally, get your timing right! =)
Here are some photos that used this settings:
Filed in: Photography.
