The Photography Thread

[MartyG]

One from the other w/e that I've gotten around to playing with

[Extra Terrestrial]

Have you folks read up about this?

World Press Photo of the Year

I'm no photographer and I have no such opinion about taking photos in warfare areas around the world but seriously...

There are plenty of better choices in the many other categories; I thought it was some bloke sitting down and having a quick breather from a paintball game.

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I have been absent from this thread for a while now and am pleased to see that most of the regulars and newcomers alike have produced some rather excellent captures; well done all.

[Magnakai]

I saw this macro shot today. Rather startling: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6687694

[Number45]

That's an amazing shot.

[funkydan]

WOW! That might just be too good!

Btw, does anyone have any (helpful) advice for my night-club shoot tomorrow night please

[Magnakai]

Okay, I've only done it a couple of times (and lost the results in my hard drive crash, gnash gnash gnash), but the gist is to generally worry more about the contents of the shot than the fidelity.
Try just wandering around and engaging little groups of people and getting them to pose for you. That's the sort of thing that people love. Try some first-curtain flash shots with a relatively long exposure to get some detail in the background.

The gold standards of modern club photography are probably:
http://www.dirtydirtydancing.com/ and http://www.lastnightsparty.com/

Just have fun and be a bit crazy and laid back. Clubbers love posing, so you should have an easy time. Good luck!

[Magnakai]

Also, there's a bit of discussion here: http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcbo...g_id=976&page=

And this small guide might help: http://www.digitalfrog.nl/?p=30 (very slighty NSFW)

[funkydan]

Thanks so much Magnakai - that digitalfrog dude seems to know his onions! Funnily enough, I'd seen some of those sites already, but thank you sending me the info.

I'll be using:

• D200 (with a spare battery on the side) and 3gb worth of memory
• I was going to predominantly use my 18-135mm Nikkor. I'll take my 50mm f1.8 as well, but I think it'll be bright enough in there with the lights and my flash so I probably won't need it anyway (if I can avoid changes in a hot sweaty club I will)
• My bro's flash gun (I think it's a SB-600) with a diffuser
• I'm gonna try to use 1/2 to 1 second exp times but will also try quicker ones too
• I'll keep the camera moving around. I'll have about 4 hours of shooting DJs, crowd and people so I won't need to rush too much
• I'll bring the tripod in case, but I don't imagine I'll need it but better to have it in case I do
• I also have a mate as a wingman too, which will be helpful (especially if I can persuade him to carry my crap )

Sound good? I'll post results afterwards

[Magnakai]

Sounds like you're prepared! I've seen the dirtydirtydancing guy in clubs a couple of times (though funnily enough he didn't wander over to shoot me. Must've been an oversight!) and he's just got a medium-size SLR with a pretty nice lens plus a flash with a diffuser on it.

It'll be good to have a tripod if you want to get some overview shots. Might be nice to have some stuff from the DJ booth or from behind the bar, if you don't mind pissing off the staff a lot.

[Garf]

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent tripod ?

I have a Nikon D40, and would mainly be using the Sigma 10-20 with it when I would want to use the tripod.

I've been looking at the Manfrotto 190XB legs and the 486RC2 Ball Head - anyone know if it's any good, or if there's better, or even if this is overkill for a relative beginner ?

[funkydan]

Well, they've asked me to do DJ shots (which will mean booth access, so I intend on meeting Josh Wink ), crowd shots and shots of good-looking punters. I'm feeling a lot more confident now that one of my mates is coming along as well, as it means I'm not going on my own. Thanks for your help dude - I really appreciate it. Getting quite excited now

[funkydan]

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent tripod ?

I have a Nikon D40, and would mainly be using the Sigma 10-20 with it when I would want to use the tripod.

I've been looking at the Manfrotto 190XB legs and the 486RC2 Ball Head - anyone know if it's any good, or if there's better, or even if this is overkill for a relative beginner ?

I got a really good one off of ebay a few months back for about ?12 and it is very good. I'm still a beginner/amateur and it's fine for what I need

Here you are

[charlesr]

Dan dude, go and buy a copy of mixmag for inspiration. They have LOADS of photos from clubs.

[Ginger Tosser]

It is said with tripods, buy cheap buy twice.

The Manfrotto one looks a little overkill but you'll see the benefit of a strong tripod later on, especially if you get a zoom lens or do a lot of slow shutter shots.

That said the one on ebay might be a good cheap one to start off with and at £12 probably not the worst way to spend that money.

[Garf]

I got a really good one off of ebay a few months back for about ?12 and it is very good. I'm still a beginner/amateur and it's fine for what I need

Here you are

It is said with tripods, buy cheap buy twice.

The Manfrotto one looks a little overkill but you'll see the benefit of a strong tripod later on, especially if you get a zoom lens or do a lot of slow shutter shots.

That said the one on ebay might be a good cheap one to start off with and at ?12 probably not the worst way to spend that money.

Dan - Cheers for the link.

GT - Someone else said exactly the same thing about buy cheap, buy twice, so that's why I looked at a more expensive one.

That said, I don't want to pay a load for something I might not use that much (although I'd like to think I will use it as much as possible). I think I'll spend a bit longer looking around before I decide.