Shoot The DJ

[Shaft]

Couldn't avoid the title.

Anyway, A friend of mine who is a DJ asked me to take some photos of him while playing, so he can use them on a website he's about the start. Now my question is, has anyone done this before? I probably need to invest in a flash, but shooting with a flash is something I almost never do, that's why I don't want to invest in it as they can be rather expensive. I recently bought a D700 to use instead of my D80, and I'm thinkin that if I crank up the ISO I might be able to get some decent shots. I'm thinking about buying the Nikon 85mm 1.4 (I can get it at half the price) , since I've become quite attached to primes lately, and I hope it's low-light capabilites will work in this case..So what's your opinion, any recommendations on what I should do?

[Camerajunkie]

You should buy the 85 mm at half price and then mail it to CameraJunkie, 000 My street Address, My Town, My State 01234. :)

[dxrocnxj]

how far away from him will you be?
i think something like a fisheye or ultra wide angle would be more suitable.
with an sb600,800,900, any of which on a ttl cable.
it really works wonders. and ive had fantastic live music shots with it.

but if you want more natrual photography in that type of scene, like in a club or whatever the case maybe i say something shorter than a 85mm, but definitely f/1.8 or better, imo.

[Rooz]

85/1.4 is an awesome lens. if you can get it for half price, jump on it.

[Cyberwlf]

Can you get it for the rest of us at 1/2 price too? :P

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

In low light 85 is pretty long to avoid camera shake since it doesn't have VR. And inside it's pretty close. At 1/2 price mad not to buy it even if not for this shoot.

[Shaft]

Thanks for all the replies,

The reason why I'm wondering if I can use the 85mm for this shoot is because It's a lens I've been wanting to buy before I got the offer to "shoot the dj". It feels kinda unnecessary to buy a Lens I don't really want just to use this one time.. Since I haven't had the time to upgrade my lenses since I bought the D700 body, I only have the 50mm 1.8 and the 18-200 VR. I guess I could try them out before the actual shoot, and see If I get any of the results I want; dark, with only the DJ equipment and the DJ illuminated.

any more recommendations or tips? Thanks again for all the replies.

EDIT: DX, I'll be pretty close to him I think. Probably I'll move around from standing on the stage just below him or I might be in the booth with him some times. Fisheye or an ultra-wide like the 14-24 2.8 could do the trick I guess, but those are both lenses I wouldn't want to buy If it wasn't for this shoot..