Original subtitles

Let's get stuck into setting up for the

dance floor, shall we?

And this is covered over two episodes, but

before we do, let me just show you

the three setups we're going to cover.

First, and the one I most commonly use,

is bounce with and without off-camera flash.

This is my absolute go-to setup for

anything from the first dance onwards.

And nowadays, I only use the off-camera

flash side in extreme circumstances.

For example, if the dance floor is incredibly

dark and the ceilings are high.

We'll go through the settings for all of

that shortly.

The second, and the one my other body

is generally set up for, is full ambient.

Again, cameras now are capable of being pushed

much harder than they were several years ago.

So if I'm shooting at 6400 ISO and

above, it has to be a total dungeon

for me not to achieve some kind of

exposure.

If we look at this shot of Emma

and Jade again, this is without any additional

lighting.

I'm just using the lights the DJ has

in play.

I'm pushing the ISO to 6400, f1.6

and one hundredth of a second shutter.

The key here is to burst shoot in

high continuous to avoid any camera shake.

So there will have been eight to ten

frames from this moment, but this one was

the keeper.

Finally, the third option in my playbook, shutter

drag.

Now I don't use this anywhere near as

much as I used to.

It can be quite an intrusive approach.

The flash gun is aimed directly at your

subjects.

But it is really handy in situations where

there's almost no ambient light.

Or for example, you're outside and there's nothing

to bounce flash off.

It's also a super helpful technique to have

as a sparkler backup shot.

Both of these shots are set up in

the same way.

Both on a 24mm lens, f8, ISO 200,

0.3 second shutter.

And then on the flash gun, and this

is the key part, the flash gun is

zoomed in to 50 or 70mm.

And we do this to make sure that

the light from the flash gun is concentrated

on the subject.

We don't want to light up the whole

frame or scene, just the couple.

I've also heard lots of photographers say this

shot is created by setting the flash to

fire on the rear curtain.

Please ignore this idea.

When the flash fires, that's the element of

the shot that lights and freezes our couple

in the frame.

If this is set to the rear curtain,

if you see a moment, you'll fire the

trigger.

Then have to wait for a flash to

fire at the end of that shutter.

I want it to fire first, which captures

the moment.

Then I move the camera, the drag part,

to create the light trails.

It's also important to note it has to

be dark to use shutter drag.

If you use it in a very light

marquee with good ambient light, the frame may

just look overexposed.

It's also vital to hold the camera a

little higher and point down.

And I also shoot two to three quick

bursts, then move on to someone else.

It's not fair to keep firing this in

the same person's face.

They'll either have an epileptic fit or punch

you in the face.

I did warn you.

So that's setup two and three covered from

a technical point of view.

Let's get into the meat of the main

setup.

And first up, I want to say this.

Simplify that shit.

If you're terrified of shooting the dance floor,

I just want to focus on kit for

a brief moment.

Now it's very easy in this industry to

get sucked into thinking you need every piece

of gear ever manufactured to help you shoot

the dance floor.

You don't.

Gone are the days when you needed transmitters

and receivers.

Most speed guns have these now built in.

And even third party flash guns are now

exceptionally good value and build.

I currently carry two Godox V1s.

Both have the same functionality as the top

of the range Canon 600s.

They have built in communication.

I can zoom the flash and they even

have a brilliant modeling light feature.

I'll pop the link in the video description.

And from a settings point of view, I

never use ETTL.

They're always set to manual power.

I want the control of the flash output.

And I'll explain why shortly.

The on-camera flash is also just aimed

over my shoulder, often just 45 degrees into

the ceiling in that direction.

I would show you, but both cameras are

in use here.

So finally, on the subject of simplifying, even

in 2019, I made things even easier for

myself by dropping the off-camera flash element

of my work.

And less we'll cover in a bit.

It's absolutely needed.

Most venues I've worked in, bounce flash on

camera more than has me covered.

Okay, so we've gone over kit and keeping

it simple.

Now let's look into the basics of setting

up bounce flash.

And at this point, I just want to

say a couple of things.

First off, if you've been on flash workshops

before and you're still not comfortable with setting

up, I want you to wipe the slate

clean and forget everything you've been told.

I mean it, forget it all.

My approach here is incredibly simple.

Some of you may even find it patronising.

It's not meant to be, but I'm just

trying to make sure that anyone of any

level can make sense of it.

But it's efficient and it allows me to

capture the action how I want it capturing.

Please feel free to keep it as simple

or make it as complex as you wish.

But this is how I do it.

The first thing we're going to address is,

and I actually think it's time to bring

out the drawing skills again.

I know what you're thinking, but this has

been pre-drawn, so it's no better than

it was last time.

I mean, I've warned you before, I'm not

very good at drawing, so this is the

best I could do, right?

Don't knock me.

I'm a trier.

Everyone loves a trier.

Now, I want you to visualise the high

jump.

Probably not the sentence you were expecting me

to open with here, but please just trust

me and bear with me for one moment.

So, we have a high jump and we

have Pedro.

He's back.

We all love Pedro, don't we?

He's probably the highlight of the course so

far, isn't he, Pedro?

He's got his camera.

I mean, it's a very big camera.

It's disproportionate, really.

But he's ready to go.

Now, the high jump and the bar is

really just a metaphor.

And the bar represents the exposure level we

need to achieve in order to see the

skin of our subject.

You following me so far?

Okay.

So, the first mistake I think people make

when they come to shooting the dance floor

is this.

And I'm going to illustrate how hard they

push the camera by showing you how high

they're going to jump.

They don't jump very high.

And by that, I mean they don't actually

push the camera very hard first.

So, in order to make up this difference,

they rely on flash power.

And there's still a way to go.

Okay.

The flash power far outweighs the camera's jump.

And when you put more flash into a

scene, what happens?

That's right.

You got it.

The atmosphere disappears from the frame because you've

artificially lit it.

So, instead, what I want you to think

of first is this.

Can you jump higher to start with?

What if we push the camera harder to

start with before we add the flash?

If you didn't know, the red represents flash,

by the way, and the black is the

camera.

Can you see how the balance has shifted?

We immediately don't need as much power from

the flash gun because we're pushing the ISO

higher, which allows us to jump higher to

begin with.

And this is a couple of things.

First off, it helps us retain the atmosphere

within the scene because the flash power is

minimal.

Secondly, and very importantly, the flash gun can

recycle much faster.

So, I can burst 10 to 12 frames

and the flash fires every single time.

If I was shooting at full power through

the flash gun, there's no way the flash

will be able to keep up with the

burst speed of high continuous.

Are you impressed with my drawing?

Should I just stick to being a photographer?

I think I'll just stick to being a

photographer for now.

And just look at this sequence as a

prime example.

Naswana and Anthony on the dance floor in

a dark barn with high ceilings.

I'm shooting at 6400 ISO here and these

are burst frames.

There's not one misfire from the flash gun.

Every single one is exposed and balanced.

And from a sequence of 50 frames flash

firing on every single one, this is our

frame that we finish with.

This is the one I delivered from that

moment.

Another great little tip for you, and this

is only if you set your flash power

manually.

I don't use ETTL, but you can change

your flash power without changing your flash power.

Confused?

Let me just explain.

So once you've set your flash power on

the flash gun, you can increase or decrease

its strength by changing your ISO or aperture,

which is much quicker than fiddling about with

the power output settings on the flash gun.

And you may never need to do this,

but at times this can be super helpful.

Maybe when the DJ turns the lights down

mid dance or more bodies into the space

and block the ambient light.

Just open up the aperture or push the

ISO higher and the power effects of the

flash guns increases.

I'll let you mull all of that over

and just admire my drawing for just a

few seconds longer.

Next up, we're going to look at how

to assess a room and give you some

base settings from which to build your setup.

Bye bye from me and Pedro.