Need lens suggestion

[MrJulius]

Right now I have a D80 with a Nikkor
18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens.

Recently I have been asked to photograph live shows at a local venue and the lighting is not very bright and whenever I use a flash my pictures come out with a dull lifeless shade, instead of a warm fuzzy feeling :-). I haven't had a chance.

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=170461661 = the results I want

Thanks guys,

Jay

[JoeMc]

Hello, How are you?

There are a couple options for you.

#1. Invest in some fast glass like the 50 1.4, or the 85 1.4,

#2 shoot at a high ISO. the tops for the D80 is about 800.

#3 bounce flash off the ceiling if you have a speedlight and if the ceiling is not over 15 ft tall.

#4 play with flash compensation. turn it doun to minus -2 or -3 to capture some ambient lighting too.

I hope this helps?
Cheers, Joe

[Wetfun]

You can find some interesting solutions at strobist.com. Battery powered strobes off camera fired by radio triggers, softened with umbrellas.