Band shoot advice

Mmarques · 1 Nov 2012

Hi everyone,
A friend of my girlfriend is having a birthday party next weekend, her husband is in a band and will be doing a gig and asked if I could get some decent pictures for the band as they only get pictures of people at their gigs from phones etc.
I was wondering if someone could tell me if the flash on my camera is sufficient or should I buy a hot shoe external flash? The venue is only a pub so not very big.
Thanks
Marco

Mmarques · 1 Nov 2012

Anyone?

Cagey75 · 1 Nov 2012

Generally, when shooting gigs, you wouldn't use flash at all. Often it's not allowed in venues, or the band may not appreciate you flashing them as they try to perform. Also, with flash, you're killing the ambient light of the venue. The shots using flash are generally bland and lack atmosphere. Best bet is to ramp up your ISO for a gig.

aethelstan927 · 1 Nov 2012

I would say your gunna wanna stick it in manual, as cagey said flash is generally a no go at gigs IMHO!

I like to meter of the band members when they are in a spot light or light hot spot then just shoot away and not really worry about a lot of it falling to black.

I also shoot with a wide aperture but try to keep my shutter speed up as much as possible to freeze the band members. .. . course i always like the blured drummer shots

One thing that annoys me about gigs is red lighting on bands, almost always comes out crud in photo so i just convert them to b&w

let us know how you get on

seriousrikk · 1 Nov 2012

Buy a hotshoe external flash with a head that can be adjusted to bounce horizontal & vertical.

If it is in a pub, you can almost 100% guarantee that there will be no ambient lighting to kill - because there will be very little ambient light.

There will likely be no spot lights, nothing. You might get a couple of little dancefloor lights if you are lucky, unless the pub regularly puts on live bands and is well set up for it. (IF they do/are, ignore this advice).

I also disagree that shots using flash are bland, not if you use flash well. I shot the below shots with flash... ISO6400 F2.8 1/60th and flash set to about -1 to -1 & bounced off the ceiling (Which, lucky for me, was white). The pub lighting was aforementioned disco lighting.

Skarlet Riot by Richard Lindley, on Flickr

Skarlet Riot by Richard Lindley, on Flickr

If the band have energy, and you manage to portray that energy in the photos, you'll be fine. Remember they are a band, so will want to see photos of them playing... so include instruments in the shots. Try not to clip the guitar neck and blur in the fingers is a good thing.

Cagey75 · 2 Nov 2012

They can be bland, when people don't know how to mix flash & ambient properly. I see people do it all the time at gigs. Power up their flash, and either completely kill the ambient lighting, or their flash isn't strong enough [from a few rows back] and they get under exposed images with nasty shadows.

I've shot gigs with both flash, and no flash. It is possible to get a good mix, and this is providing the band, and management of the venue, allow flash usage. Not all places, even bars, do.

Most of this set is no-flash:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cagey75/sets/72157626148732984/

And depending on where you are in the crowd, flash might not be much use.

Y&T by Cagey75, on Flickr

That was taken from the VIP balcony, flash wasn't doing me any good from there.

Mmarques · 3 Nov 2012

Thanks for all the comments. mixed reviews on getting one or not.
I have spoken to the band members and they have said that they wouldnt mind if i used a flash or not.
Im thinking i might get one (if i can get one by next weekend) and i might try with and with out.
I have two lenses, a kit lens 18-55 or a 70-300. Which one should i use?

Cagey75 · 4 Nov 2012

If you are allowed use flash, and can get up close to the stage, then by all means, make use of it. Especially as neither of your lenses are 2.8, they might struggle with the lighting [usually poor to ok for pub/club gigs]

I shot a gig featuring 12 musicians in a large venue Friday night. I was given freedom to move about, but flash never came into it, though I had 2 units with me.

The lighting was good enough that I got some shots at f/4 - f/5 without having to bump the ISO too much. It really depends on the lighting.

Brother Shabo & the soul rebels by Cagey75, on Flickr
Lens: 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO Speed: 1000
Focal Length: 200 mm

If you are much closer to the stage, and feel you need flash. Then do bounce it, direct flash will just kill the atmosphere. Bounce it off the ceiling, and have it set to low-ish power. You'll still bump your ISO, you just might get away with less of a hike, and still shoot manual, keep the shutter faster than 1/100, and keep the aperture as wide as you can. In the case of your lenses, with zoom, that's not going to be very wide so flash may suit your needs.