How to be a good club photographer?

[reddragdiva]

Here's a contentious question on photography: something for the photo guide on how to take a good picture on a night out. It's an issue I was avoiding, but people seem to want it. Here's what I have so far in the guide:

• Frame the shot properly in the LCD if possible — it saves time editing afterwards. (Taking photos is fun, editing photos is boring.)
• Most cameras advise "save battery by not using the LCD or flash," but you need both for clubbing. Take spare batteries. Take a spare card too.
• Don't just photograph people's face and shoulders, get a full-length shot as well — their outfit will have been planned from top to toe. (courtesy ciphergoth)
• You can't use flash in smoke. Don't even try — just set the camera fast and brighten the shot later. If you must use flash in smoke, turn saturation/vividness down.
• Sort out permission from club and subjects sensibly. Use common sense — upsetting people is bad. (noted by bramsmits)

This is well out of the technical area and into matters of opinion. And I really don't want to end up inadvertently writing a book-length list of ideas and side-issues. But what works for you? What obvious errors do you get sick of seeing that a non-technical automatic photographer could fix easily?

Comments

[drpete.livejournal.com]

What obvious errors do you get sick of seeing that a non-technical automatic photographer could fix easily?

Red eye.

[reddragdiva]

How do they fix physics? Compact cameras have the flash near the lens. You could use something with a flash standing off to one side, but that sorta loses the 'compact' aspect.

[ladykathryn.livejournal.com]

Red eye's really easy to edit out, but an awful lot of work to avoid in the first place.

[hazyjayne.livejournal.com]

Portraits that are badly composed... the rule of thirds is very easy to follow...

[reddragdiva]

Oh, good one!

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Don't use flash when your subject is some distance away. You'll just get the backs of people's heads if e.g. you're taking a picture of a band.

[yaruar.livejournal.com]

don't use flash with bands full stop unless they have agreed to it and you have a good enough flash gun to actually cover the distance effectively.

i'm always very amused when you see sporting events and thousands of flashes going off in the stands... silly really!

[hazyjayne.livejournal.com]

Oh and, flat surfaces are your friend when doing long exposure shots :)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

If they're holding a drink ask them if they want to put it down first; people are not walking adverts for beer companies.

[neenaw.livejournal.com]

What obvious errors do you get sick of seeing that a non-technical automatic photographer could fix easily?

Photographs of badly dressed mingers.

[reddragdiva]

Taste is probably not teachable. Good thing our friends are all breathtakingly gorgeous and impeccably well-dressed.

[ladykathryn.livejournal.com]

Warn someone you're taking the photo, even if it's only a 2 second "hey, over here" - avoids shots of the back of people's heads, open mouths and sudden wardrobe malfunctions.
Also, don't take pictures of me. Breaks the camera.

[redcountess]

Diva always gets the subject's permission first. He only takes candid photos of crowds and people whose permission he has implicitly.

[reddragdiva]

Surprise shots of people who don't know and trust you produce pissed-off people, yes. I'd link to my photo policy if the site wasn't playing up ...

[trayce.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the no flash in smoke point. I've seen your photos and mine rooned by a damn smoke machine and a shit flash.

Problem is, dark room/flashing lights/moving bodies makes for some tricky work!

[reddragdiva]

Sometimes a photo really just isn't possible and you have to get what you can to bother.

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

#1, incidentally, is a good argument for using digital zoom as a framing/cropping aid when shooting from a distance (more at gigs than clubs, though).

[reddragdiva]

Bah!

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

Digital zoom is teh suck though.

[andymariachi.livejournal.com]

I did a guide for fire performance photography a while back after getting fed up of being asked to be in photos for people, and them not having a clue. I should repost it at some point

[reddragdiva]

Indeed, please send me a link!

[wintrmute.livejournal.com]

One of my personal pet-hates about amateur club photography is when someone takes hundreds of photos through the night, and then uploads *all of them* to their website, even the ones they didn't mean to take, where it's a shot of the back of someone's head, or an empty piece of floor, or ten shots of the same person, each only minutely different.

For gods' sake, people, go through, edit, and pick just the best ones!
20-40 good photos, I'll look through them all. But if there's 400, and I'm yawning by the end of the 10th, I won't bother checking the rest.

[reddragdiva]

I tend to excessive numbers of shots in galleries, but they're usually of different things ... that's my excuse. It does get painful.

[kits-the-dm.livejournal.com]

I'll agree with you on the LCD Framing and bringing extra batteries.

For me, the only tips I have...

Take multiple shots if time (and subject) permits. Its a basic one really, but some people don't do it. If your camera lets you take 3 or 4 shots at once, do so.

Also, if you're going to use my cybershot F505v, hand it to B. She takes much better photos with it than anyone else. (mind you, the damn thing only has an LCD viewfinder, so you've got no choice BUT to frame the shot properly using the LCD.)

[reddragdiva]

Yep. My Canon Ixus 50 has a mode to take a pile of shots as fast as it can. I set things up for no-flash and did quite a few sequences of flashless shots, and got great results from them. Really helps people forget the cameras are there