Doin' it in the dark (aka, shooting cocktail hour)

By Jason Odell | August 11, 2009 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3) | TrackBacks ( 0)

I had the pleasure of going back home to Florida for one of those "you are getting old" rituals-- my 20th high school reunion.  Unlike last time, when I brought my point and shoot film camera, this time I was ready, armed with a Nikon D3, 24-70mm lens, and SB-900.  I figured I'd do what I had always done at official high school events-- shoot photos!  But I wanted to make sure that these photos would have a better quality than the standard snapshots we get with the point and click cameras that I knew everyone else would be using.

The problem with shooting in dark martini bars is that they are dark. Very dark. And what little light there is is strong colors, like reds and blues.  Expect bad AF performance,a and flash is an absolute must.  Since I was trying to enjoy myself at the same time as shoot (hey, you gotta carry your drink!) I abandoned the idea of holding my flash off-camera.  OK, so I won't get the absolute best quality, but hey, I wasn't being paid for this gig, either.  I decided to go with the following setup: