Dance floors are a bit like a gladiatorial arena. The only way to win is to fight. You can’t fight from the sidelines and you can’t win without a sword.
I see flash as my sword of choice for dance floors.
My clients book me for a set number of hours. Many of them choose for coverage to finish 30-60 minutes after the first dance, and that means I have to nail it quickly, I don’t have all night to get the quantity or quality of shots I feel like I need to produce.
And to go against the grain of the ‘what you’re supposed to say’ I also don’t like staying too long into the party. Maybe there will be killer moments later on. I don’t feel like I’m doing anyone a disservice by not being there to capture them if my couple have chosen to end coverage earlier. Just my 2p.
So I thought I’d share with you my top 3 techniques for photographing dance floors using off camera flash.
You of course have the option of on-camera flash too, but I wouldn’t know anything about that. I haven’t put a flash on my camera for quite some time because I hate the way a camera feels with a flash mounted on it, so I just don’t do it.
So let’s get into today’s ultra-practical (for the first time). Disclaimer: I’m not saying these are “the best ways” to light dancing, I’m just telling you what’s worked for me over the years.
There’s no one size fits all approach to lighting a dance floor, but multiple off camera flashes is my favourite if it’s possible.
If the dancing is likely to be contained within a set area, and I have space to put up flash stands, I’ll set up 3-4 flashes at different points around the room.
I’ll talk about equipment at the end but I will have each flash set to a different group (A, B, C, D) and to the same power and zoom. Depending on where I’m standing I’ll switch off at least one of the flashes to give the best look from that angle.
I use manual triggers, and manual flashes. I can’t adjust power or zoom from my camera once they’re set up. I prefer a “set and forget” approach.
Usually when setting up the flashes, I’ll set them up based on what position I’m most likely to shoot from. Those positions are based on what I want in the background. I don’t like having bands, DJ’s, speakers, plain walls etc in the background of my dancing shots, and my first choice is always to shoot into the deepest part of the room.
Some dancefloors I will shoot everything in one direction because (in my opinion) it’s the only good angle, and I’ll let the moments come to my camera instead of chasing stuff around.
PROs: This lighting technique gives incredible depth to dance floor shots, as you can see in the example above, because light is getting to all the people in the foreground and background, there’s a lovely depth to the shot. You can also back off and shoot telephoto and get some gorgeous results that you’d never get using a close-up technique.
CONs: I will never put flash stands where there’s even a 1% chance of them getting knocked over and hurting someone. That often means my flashes are fairly far away, and so that can often mean shadows especially on a busy dance floor. I’m gutted when I’ve captured what I know is a good moment but someone’s head has blocked the flash from getting to the face I was photographing. With these setups it’s usually impossible to get any group shots that may be asked for on the dance floor. Yes I know these ‘grip and grin’ shots are annoying, but if I’m asked I want to be able to take a good shot. If I get the feeling this will be a grip and grin dancefloor I won’t use this technique.
Why off camera are you thinking? If it’s bounce surely it might as well be on camera so you can use two hands to use the camera?!
Well, as I said I hate the weight of a camera with a flash on it.
I also like to switch quickly between landscape and portrait, and twisting the flash head each time is a pain in the butt and it puts stress and strain onto the hot shoe of the camera. So I prefer to have it in my hand or on a pole and quickly point it where I want to point it.
If I have it on a pole I use a monopod… the only reason I do this really is so that I’m able to put the monopod in my pocket and pin it to my side with my arm/elbow which means I can still shoot two-handed. It takes some practice but it’s possible!
This technique works great when you’re getting in amongst it on the dance floor, and there’s a low ceiling. Low ceilings are rubbish for my first choice technique that I told you about above.
You can also combine this with some off camera flashes on stands if there’s space to put stands up, and shoot into those flashes for a nicer, more interesting backlit look.
PROs: Creates a nice soft look, and blends in well when there’s cool ambient lighting either from the DJ or within the room. Very quick and simple to set up with minimal thought required, and creates consistent results without really having to think too much. Means you can also easily capture those grip and grin mini group photos as they’re demanded, and switch between portrait and landscape quickly!
CONs: Bounce flash can look really boring and basic. When you first start doing it you can feel a bit like a weirdo with a monopod sticking out of your pocket. One of my videographer friends calls it ‘storm chaser mode’. I like that, so I’m not sure that’s a con!
Lately this has actually been a favourite, but mainly because I’ve had some dance floors where it’s been my only real option so I’ve had a lot of time to practice with it.
I have a flash on a pole pinned to my side, 3 or 4 feet above my head and I wave it around trying to point it as best I can at the moment I’m shooting, trying to get some angle to it so it doesn’t look like direct flash.
Simple as that.
It works well when there’s nowhere to put flash stands and nothing good to bounce off.
It’s incredibly consistent. With my flashes at minimum power, I know off the top of my head the camera settings are ISO800, 1/200th, f2.2-3.5 so I just ride the aperture up and down as I’m shooting depending on how far away the flash feels from the moment I’m shooting.
With minimum power flash I get ultra fast recycling compared to the bounce option, where the flash needs to be much higher power.
I can also capture really nice, cool looking grip and grin group photos if I’m shooting this technique. I can also run over to the bar if people start doing shots, or I can head outside into the darkness if people are doing stuff out there. This is a great technique.
And again, if you had space for a flash stand or two, you could set up some flashes that you can shoot into for backlight, like in the sample image below, so you’re sort of combining the looks of my first choice multiple OCF, with this versatile handheld ‘stormchaser’ flash on a pole. Works great as long as the dance floor is busy and you can get stuck in.
PROs: For busy dance floors this is amazing because there won’t be missed shots because of shadows being cast. The only missed shots are where I have the flash pointed off in the wrong direction BUT even then because I’m shooting relatively low ISO, those shots are often very recoverable. I can shoot portrait and landscape with consistency, capture grip and grin groups, and I think the look created is very cool, especially if I can combine it with some backlights.
CONs: Carrying round a ‘stormchaser’ flash on a pole makes you look a bit weird, and it’s quite tiring because you have to get used to using your camera one-handed. You can’t really ‘blend in’ using this technique, so it works best when the dance floor is packed and bouncing.
Right I hope that was useful, and as I said there’s no one size fits all. You just have to experiment and practice and see what you like. My first thought is always ‘can I use multiple off camera flashes with my light stands out of harms way?’ — if yes, that’s what I do. If no, I go to one of the other techniques or I shoot ambient light.
I shot Saturday’s dance floor without any flash at all, so I’m not a complete slave to flash (true strobists will get that pun).
You also have drag shutter which I will use from time to time but I don’t love that technique all that much personally. I just use it occasionally when I’m bored for a bit of variety.
Equipment I use:
— Flashes: Godox v850ii (I have 5 of these)
— Triggers: Phottix Strato ii (These are sadly discontinued)
— Stormchaser pole: a very lightweight monopod or flash stand will do
Happy clicks this weekend! Thanks for reading!
Adam
