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irisheyes

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I have been asked by my brother to do the photography for his gigs (rock tribute band so lots of movement). I have a Canon eos 1100d type and although there have been some great shots taken previously by me, I reckon they are flukes rather than by design!
Does anyone know of any good courses or photographers willing to teach one on one or ways I can improve my techniques as I would like to have those amazing wow-factor shots to present my brother with. I am based in Salford so could travel (no car tho).
Thanks in advance.
 
irisheyes said:
I have been asked by my brother to do the photography for his gigs (rock tribute band so lots of movement). I have a Canon eos 1100d type and although there have been some great shots taken previously by me, I reckon they are flukes rather than by design!
Does anyone know of any good courses or photographers willing to teach one on one or ways I can improve my techniques as I would like to have those amazing wow-factor shots to present my brother with. I am based in Salford so could travel (no car tho).
Thanks in advance.
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I dare say all you require mate is youtube and practice. Get to no your gear and lenses. Ensure you have the correct shutter speed for the conditions and the rest is practice. Shooting raw will also help as the lighting will be a pain in the ass.

Hope that helps
 
Hi have a look over at froknowsphoto he does a fair bit of gig work. You might well struggle with the kit lens look at the infamous nifty-fifty as a starter though being a prime you need to move to zoom.
 
You are, I'm afraid, likely to need a new lens for gigs. The kit lens will let just enough light in at 18mm but as soon as you zoom you loose light quite dramatically.

There are a couple out there worth looking at. The 50mm F1.8 is OK, although unless the venue is larger the framing can be very tight. I started gig photography about 18 months ago with a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 shooting in pub/small club size venues. While I was still having to push the ISO higher than I would like, I got some good shots. So IMO an F2.8 lens is important...

With regards wow factor, there is a lot more to that than just you as the photographer. The venue lighting has a lot to play in whether you can get that - although the better you get as a photographer the less venue lighting will impact your shots. I recently shot at one of the worse lit venues I have been to - but using the experience I had gained was able to pull a few out the bag. A year ago I know I would have fluffed that one up!

I'm pretty sure there are no courses for this stuff, mainly because it is not really a viable line of work/career for many people. So a combination of reading up, youtube vids and getting out there is the way to go. Having a good understanding of how to use your camera helps too.

The good news is small venues normally don't have a huge variance in the stage lighting. So you can dial in some settings in manual, and after a few tweaks use them for the whole gig. Then just practise - watch the shows to understand when to shoot - try different things and above all HAVE FUN!
 
Like Richard said, whilst the nifty might prove a trcky focal length, it's the cheapest way you're going to get anywhere near enough light to your sensor.

If you get hooked you'll want to spend more on other stuff, but the 50mm will get you a starting point. (you're almost guaranteed failure with the kit zoom).

BTW I don't think I've ever recommended buying gear to someone asking about learning before, thats how fundamental this is.

You can learn all you need from here and Youtube, remember its all about the light.
 
I'd go for a 35mm f2 rather than a 50 1.8 they are discontinued now but you should still be able to pick one up. Much better focal length for a crop sensor and the focus is much faster.
 
For pub gigs, a fast 30mm-ish is good. Push the ISO, shoot in manual exposing for the main lights on the band.. and remember that a black and white conversion can save the day if the lighting throws cheap and nasty colour casts.
 
gigs are good fun
the problem for me is that proper gigs have amazing lighting, look up a photographer called danny payne. he lives for big gigs, some great shots.
in pubs, it's horrible, ambient low lighting etc
shutter speed is key, so 1/80 absolute minimum. high ISO will eat up the quality so I use neatimage to recover as much as possible.
freezing the action is more important than quality I think for this sort of shooting.
alternatively, bounce a flash off the wall behind you or ceiling but on low lower if you want extra light, (but the light will take on the colour of the wall of course).
lens wise, I have a 1.4 50mm and a 30mm 1.4 on a cropped body, but anything at 2.8 will be a start, like the tamron 17-50mm
going to f1.2 or f1.4 is lovely if you can afford it but then your depth of field is sometimes so shallow that you get the guitarist, but not the guitar, or the microphone but not the vocalist.

p.s all cameras are cursed....the AF sensor decides that the microphone mesh is more important than the performer...I think it's built into all canon cameras! :P
 
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