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First off, let me set the scene and give you a bit of history to this ’round 2′ of my low light photography journey…..

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In my previous post ‘Nightclub Photography Explained‘ I explained how I was asked by a good friend of mine (who is an exceptional DJ) to take some photos of a gig he and his DJ partner did at a club in Richmond, London.  On that occasion he asked that I did not use a flash as this was off putting in the confined area that we had to work in.

This time when he asked me to take some more I had the option of a flash on the form of my new Canon Speedlight 430EX MK11.  I was extremely keen to get to know the new flashgun and also to get some photos of the gig at a huge wedding at SOFITEL, a hotel right next to the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport.

The shoot was a challenge from the beginning as it was to last from 13:30 when I was picked up until 5:30 the next morning, this was hard going but great fun and a great learning experience.

Anyway, enough of the ‘bloggy’ type stuff, on with what was involved……

Kit

• Canon 50d
• Canon SPeedlight 430EX Mk11 (superb bit of kit by the way!)
• Canon 50mm lens
• Sigma 17 – 70mm F2.8 -4.5
• Tamron AF70 – 300mm F4 – 5.6
• Manfrotto tripod (for the HDR stuff)
• Selection of Cokin Filters (mostly ND/Grads and an 8 way Star filter)
• Beanbag

Preperation

As the wedding already had a selection of photographers (a selection due to the 650 guests!) my friend had already asked the permission of the bride and groom and family).  I was very careful not to tread on the toes of the wedding photographer as he had his job to do and I had mine.

I had also asked questions such as;

• How many guests?
• How many DJ’s?
• Do any of the DJ’s have a problem with me photographing them?
• How big is the venue?
• How big is the stage for the DJ’s?
• What sort of photos were they looking for (portrait, action,background, crowd etc)?
• What was the overall purpose of the photographs?

Arrival and setup

I was told in no uncertain terms that I was there to take photos and not to do the manual work setting up and carrying the kit in, this was great as there were 2 transit vans full of gear and the stage was 2 floors down from the carpark!  This gave me a chance to take some time to get acquainted with the venue and also to get some shots of the room without too many people moving about.  I used a Star filter for some shots to enhance the lights.

I also took a series of shots of the stage being created, lights, sound systems and 2 large projector screens all added to the overall effect and also offered some great HDR subjects, this all took about 3 hours in total to erect.

Before the ‘Storm’

Once the stage was prepared, sound and visuals tested there was a brief window to get some portrait shots of the 4 DJ’s (hence the name, 4DJ), it also gave us a nice chance for a beer! ;0)

Off we go!

Once the show started I began to get some shots, at this point it was quite quiet as the guests were letting the large wedding dinner get down and so I could photograph the DJ’s without worrying too much about getting in their way.  I got some overhead shots of them (literally overhead by holding the camera above my head and pointing it in the general direction of the subject, worked well!).  I also used this as an opportunity to get some shots from in front of the stage before the dance floor got too busy!

Without the flash

As well as posing certain challenges, not using a flash also offers some great advantages.  Silhouette shots, shots enhancing the colours of the light show and deliberately blurred shots are all aided by avoiding a flash.  I order to get a correctly exposed photo I usually made sure that there was at least one light source in the image that the camera could use.  I ranged from F2.8 to F16 and from ISO 100 to ISO 800 during the shoot.

Long exposures were possible due to the tripod and beanbag and without these many of the photos would not have worked (a tripod is essential for low light photography!).

With the flash

I was dying to try out the new flashgun and this situation definitely called for a flash for certain situations.  I used it primarily for the portrait shots and also for some of the overhead shots of the decks.  I set the flash to 1/4 power and angled it slightly backwards, this seems to work well and did not wash out the photo or cause shine on the faces of the subjects.  I set the camera to automatic and let it do the work rather than try and figure out what settings worked best for the light (bearing in mind I had very high volume dance music blaring in my ear and strobe lights blinding me!).

Capturing the mood

I tried to capture the mood of the evening by getting my friend MC’ing, ‘scratching’ and playing the drums at the end of the evening, as well as the crowd dancing and having a great time.  I think it is very important that you also get in the mood and don’t try to stay serious and walk about like a security guard.  If you are enjoying the situation you will be able to portray this in your photography!

The rest of the photos from the evening can be found in my gallery.