I was thinking about experimenting with a couple of flashes next time I go out club shooting. I do a lot of shooting at Club Neutral here in Toronto, and I thought I ‘d start my experiments there, since I know the layout of the place.

Above the dance floor, there is a frame that is attached to the ceiling which holds all the lights. I can easily reach this frame (ceiling is low at Neutral) I am going to attach 2 flash units to the frame. One at the front pointing away from the stage (towards the DJ booth at the back), and one at 90deg to the first strobe. And point them to illuminate the crowds.

Both flashes will always go off together, and what I’m hoping to accomplish is to always have light available when photographing crowd members dancing. Having 2 light sources at 90deg to each other should (emphasis on should) ensure that my subjects will always at least have side lighting.

Now this will light up the entire club, so all the people will be lit up. To try to isolate just one person dancing, I will shoot from down low. This should ensure that I only capture the person dancing with minimal heads in the background.

I’ve made some clamps (and will also buy a proper one) to clamp the flash to the existing structure at the club.

Will add to this once this experiment is complete.