Hi everyone! It’s been a long time. I’ve been a busy guy working on various projects. I wanted to let you all know that I am sharing free video nightclub photography tips at Nightclub Photography TV. Boy, it’s been ages, and our guide is still not complete! Sorry, we’re perfectionists! To hold everyone over though, check out the free weekly episodes at NPTV. I’ve posted the latest episode here. Another one will be airing tomorrow. (There will be a new episode every Monday.)

When someone gets into nightclub, nightlife, and concert photography, knowing and using the right nightclub photography settings is a big deal. As a ‘newbie’, no one wants to take bad photos because as a photographer, you won’t want to be embarrassed by showing your subjects a horrible shot! So, understanding what settings to use for particular shots is very important. What shutter speed? What aperture? What ISO? Over expose or under expose? There are so many questions and you only have a few seconds to adjust your camera between shots in a nightclub night when the party starts.

I will be discussing many different camera settings for different situations in the Ultimate Nightclub Photography Guide that will improve your photos immediately. Right now, however, I want to focus on something much more fundamental, and really, much more important than knowing a few different shutter, aperture, and ISO combinations. I want to emphasize that you really need to know your camera inside and out. In other words, truly master all the functions, features, and menus of your camera. Honestly, I know many photographers who are only weekend warriors and they cannot handle a camera as quickly and gracefully as a professional. If you don’t use your camera often, you’re not going to be able to make on the fly changes in different settings fast enough. As a result, you’re likely not going to get a good variety of shots because you’ll probably stick to the camera settings you’ve grown used to, and if you’re slow, you’re going to miss some great photo opportunities while you’re fiddling with your camera!

The point is, knowing what nightclub photography settings to use for different shots is one thing, but more important than that is knowing your camera like the back of your hand. Unless you shoot very often, I doubt you could tell me, instinctively, what direction to ‘turn the knob’  to increase shutter speed, widen your aperture, or lower your ISO. These are extreme basics you need to know when shooting in a dynamic environment like a nightclub.

Start handling your camera everyday. Even if you don’t have a shoot, make sure you practice, practice, and practice. Also, when’s the last time you’ve read your camera’s manual? You might be amazed at the things you will learn about your camera that you never knew, or be pleasantly reminded about certain features you used to use but forgot about for some reason. Once you know your camera very well, you will have a lot of confidence to experiment with different nightclub photography settings on the go.

Okay. It happens to a lot of photographers, and it probably is going to happen to you if it hasn’t already. You’re going to get comfortable with a certain shooting style and your photos are going to look the same–all the time. Photographers begin to develop their skills and start to take great photos; however, when this happens nightclub photographers begin to find themselves in a comfort zone that they never want to leave. This, in turn, leads to a lack of creativity which leads to nightclub photos that practically look the same. Typical lighting, typical poses, typical subjects. If you want to be great, then you’re going to have to take some out-of-the-box photos!

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your shots. You can’t be, or else you going to be just like any other nightclub photography junkie. One easy nightclub photography tip you should use to produce some creative photos is to experiment with your flash settings and exposure levels. A perfect exposure isn’t necessarily a dynamic and exciting photo. Take a look at the photo above. When I took this photo, I wanted to give these party goers a ‘celebrity feel’ in the photo (i.e. bright, flashy lights). I used a wireless flash and decided to have some fun. I set my flash to manual and increased the power (i.e. to produce a brighter light). I then asked a stranger (which is always fun) to point the flash at the group. With a slow shutter speed (1/4),  I took a 4 shot burst, and this was pretty much the effect I wanted. I wanted the subjects to be blown out a bit while other people in the picture weren’t affected by the brighter light.

So, that’s one easy way to experiment at the club. But, if you’re still hesitant to play around while out at a shoot, then experiment during your post processing. Here, you can get as crazy as you want and not worry about ruining your photo. You should have a back up!

There are so many things you can do during post processing that it would be impossible for me to go over everything. I do enjoy limiting the number of colors in a photo, like you see above, and this is something you might want to play around with when editing. When shooting from within a Dj’s booth, I really like the effect of keeping purples and blues and pretty much getting rid of everything else. Of course, different situations will produce different results, but you get the idea!

So get out there and really, don’t be afraid to experiment! if you want to be great at nightclub photography, learn to expand your repertoire and get some original shots!

So it’s October, and July came and went. We were supposed to launch the guide then and and revamp the web site a little bit. Unfortunately, I’ve been tied up with some other work I have going which has been keeping me from finishing things. We are definitely still here though and will have the guide ready for all of you early 2010! Guaranteed!!! For all of you who have emailed inquiring about the guide, it is not yet for purchase, which is why you cannot get to the shopping cart yet. As I mentioned though, we will get everything up and running for all of you ASAP. Again, sorry for the delay. It will be worth the wait.

Well, I’m on the road again, this time I’m in Asia. I’m having a great time, but I’ve got some major jet lag!

Thanks to all those who have been signing up for our Newsletter. We haven’t forgotten about you! All of you who sign up will get a free segment of the Ultimate Nightclub Photography Guide. I have to personally apologize because I didn’t plan on having to travel so much, which is preventing me from finishing up the guide, and the website. For those of you who sign up for out Newsletter, we will send you a note once we’re fully up and running!

In the meantime, our blog has been pretty active and there have been some educational comments/conversations going on among users. Feel free to get involved in the discussions! I will be placing a “Recent Comments” section in our blog so all of you will know about the latest discussions.

That’s all for now. I wanted to give all of you a quick update. I’ll be posting more tips soon!