I've got a little party shoot at a local Houston bar tomorrow night. Typical low-light fare, 20- and 30-something crowd drinking and having a good time...I'm pretty comfortable with this type of people shooting.

I'll use a D300, SB-800, flash diffuser some; 17-35/2.8 mostly. I will take my 50/1.8 and a 35/2.0 as well.

Also, there will be a band and lights and having never shot that aspect prior to this, I was wondering what I may consider when trying to capture the players, colors, etc. in a creative fashion.

Appreciate any input--thanks.

First rule of live music photography - No flash (or video lights for that matter)

If shooting bands on stage with lights, go center weighted metering. Iso 800 should be fine on the d300. Some smaller clubs and the bands might not mind flash, so if you want to drag the shutter and get some cool stuff I would.

Good Luck.

try to predict what the musicians will be doing according to the music. For example, if you know a guitar solo is coming up, get in position & concentrate on the guitarist.
Also, try not to get any shots with the mics blocking their faces.

Thanks a ton!!!

Shooting in a dark club can be intimidating. The stage lights will usually create quite a bit of light. It does change a lot with spot lights and the performers moving around. Don't be afraid to crank up the ISO. It is a band (not a fashion model) so grain (to me) is very cool. I would shoot the whole thing at 1600 or more (if needed). To me black and white grainy photos rock. Tim Halberg is the master at this and even his wedding stuff is super impressive. He says he even adds grain to some of his stuff. Just look at it from as many angles as you can and be creative. My goal is not to try to get the shot that someone else took. My goal is to get a shot that OTHER people would want to try to get. Hope this helps. GOOD LUCK.

Shaun, thanks for the perspective here. It ended up that the band was not even lit, so there was very little ambient to work from. Felt a little intimidated with that so I ended up not taking many shots of the band (the job was for the party itself). A side note: I get to the venue, start talking to the band guys and lo, I ended up knowing the bass player from high school and USTA tennis from back in the day! Too funny. The band, Southern Backtones, really have some good tunes.

Here's an example of what I was getting...I shot this one at ISO 2000.