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Anybody want to help me out? Suggestions,Advice?

Ok, I have MANY,MANY questions?
Fill free to help me out
I photo mainly rock concerts big arenas to very small bars shows.

Of course, at the big arena shows most of the time nobody can use a flash and the lightning is a lot better too.

My problem is small bars and VERY long lightning clubs.

I was wondering what some of you would suggest for the situations I have?

I'm trying to get more of a natural look of the lights and stage and skin tones when I shoot in these places.

Here's the Equipment I am currently using for small clubs:


Canon EOS Digital Rebel
TAMRON 28-75MM F/2.8 XR Di Canon Lens
Canon EF 50mm F/1.4
CANON 550EX SPEEDLITE FLASH 550 EX


I usually switch back and forth between to 28-75mm and the 50mm fixed lens.


I just recently bought a CANON Off-Camera Shoe Cord 2 for the EOS Speedlite. To try some experiment some ideas with to make the lightning look better (a lot more natural like I'm seeing it live)?

Which one of these would you suggest trying first to diffuse the flash and try to get the look I'm looking for?


STO-FEN-GREEN AND GOLD OMNI
STO-FEN-Omni-Bounce
STO-FEN-TWO-WAY BOUNCE:


I was thinking the Gold would be a great idea and help to Skin tones.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions other than these? Make my own diffuser maybe?

How about for shooting promo pictures for bands (black and white glossies) also , what do you suggest?


Is the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM really worth that much extra the money?

The results really that much better than say a TAMRON 28-75MM I'm using or a Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 EX? What do you suggest? And what would be your second suggestion?

Also, here's what I use for long shots (shooting from the sound board at arena shows )

Sigma 70-200mm f/ 2.8 HSM
Sigma 1.4x EX APO Extender



BTW, I could probably post photos of the lightining in these main clubs/bars I mainly photo at if needed.

Thanks for the help,
Joey

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Long post with quite a few questions so I'll see if I can help. Basically for concerts you have two situations, the big auditoriums where you are too far to even think about using a flash and the small clubs where you have to have a descent flash but you are close enough to make it work. It sounds like you are in the clubs. You can either use a high ISO and available light or your flash. Ig you use the high ISO, you are going to have to deal with noise to some extent but you will get completely natural lighting. Using a flash will give you the best exposure but may make for unflattering lighting.
You mentioned some light modifiers. They work pretty well but will decrease the output of your flash tremendously, so you will need to be fairly close to get a descent pic. I have used many of those light modifiers and found the Lumiquest ones to be the best balance of softness without losing too much light.
If you have a bit of money to spend and the permission of the club, try using a radio slave and setting one or more flash units close to the stage. This allows for better lighting and still allows you to move around easily.
Good luck,
Colin

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Thanks for the advice, here I thought I'd show a example of one of the places . Here's a shot right from my camera, I just resized it.
THis is the place I have the MOST problem with.
They only have one set of lights and they are in front of the stage it's pretty dim no back lights and the place is VERY small!
The set of lights on the front of the stage has only about 5 or 6 lamps and it's like 4 reds and 2 blues or something.
Photos always look really red or orange without a flash.
(I usually make them Black & White and they look a lot better)

This photo was take with no flash at all.
Lens used was a Canon 50mm 1.4f

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