Concert Photography

ab2012

ab2012

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alan
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Next weekend hope to be at a London concert.100-200 yrds away from stage.Any tips on lenses, ISO etc?Thanks.:)
 
If you are going to be that far back, I would say forget the photography on this occasion and just enjoy the concert.

Unless you have a long lens, you are only going to be able to capture general shots of the stage rather than close ups of the actual performers. If you do have a long enough lens to capture close ups, you may have problems getting it in to the venue if they conduct searches on the gates, as 'professional' looking equipment is frowned upon at such events.
 
ab2012 said:
Next weekend hope to be at a London concert.100-200 yrds away from stage.Any tips on lenses, ISO etc?Thanks.:)
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What lenses would you be using?
 
Are you there as a photographer??? Where is it? Will you be allowed to take a "big" camera and lens in there. If you're that far back, I'd question how good the pictures would be.
 
as a paying member of the audience.Hammersmith Apollo
 
You won't get a DSLR in, or very unlikely too. I'd just enjoy the show, let the photographers in the pit take the photos.

Being that far back, you'll have loads of people in the way too, so you won't get much of a shot even if you have a long fast lens
 
and I'd probably annoy people !
But it is a special one and I wanted to try, but not a long enough lens.
 
Hi Alan

Not a pro but I shoot quite a lot of gigs from all angles including the pit and I think you can get really nice "environmental" shots - capturing the atmosphere, light show etc with pretty much any lens.

For example, I use a fisheye more than you might imagine at gigs.

Anyway, any FAST lens will do a job, I shoot a lot at f2 ish and at iso 1600 plus so lighting conditions CAN be very demanding.

OOI, from about 50m away I get nice images with a siggy 120-300 os on a crop body with a decent shutter speed and ok detail.

However, seriously, if you are looking to capture the singers etc.. in any detail from 100m+ you are going to need a 500f4 ! Best of luck getting such a beast in to such a show !

I'd have thought a 70-200f2.8 would be perfect for such a scenario though if you accept that you are not going to resolve the eyelashes on the singers etc..

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the show.

Regards.
 
Many thanks,Gary!At work so can't anser at length :)
ps How do you get in the pit?That's right below the stage..great shots from there.
 
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ab2012 said:
Many thanks,Gary!At work so can't anser at length :)
ps How do you get in the pit?That's right below the stage..great shots from there.
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Need to be press, with the band or be the venue tog.

I went direct to the band, but it rarely works that way.

It's a tough, hectic, noisy and sometimes violent job. The pit is small and there are up to 20 photographers trying to get their shots in 3 songs.

You need to know your camera inside out. Be able to change any setting with just your fingers feeling the way, keeping your eye to the viewfinder. You need to be able confidently judge exposure, and get it right. You only have 5 minutes or so to get the shots, if you don't, then that's it.
You need to be able to do all this, whilst jostling for position with others, and having music blasting in your ears, bottles of beer, water and god knows what else being thrown over you.

Most importantly you need earplugs!
 
I;m going to see the genius who is Bob Dylan.
 
Not too bad,Martin. Nick Cave. Like the silhouette one too.
 
arad85 said:
If you have to explain it, it's just not funny any more... ;) :D
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Yeah, can't believe I missed that. Ah well.

For the OP, smoke can be a bit of an issue when shooting from further back. That said, I don't get the impression that Bob Dylan is the type to have a gig with the machines going overtime.
 
ding76uk said:
Forget shooting and enjoy the show, take a photo on your phone maybe. You will have better memories by watching the show than trying to get a shot. You won't be allowed in with a DSLR and the chances of getting a good shot are little. Try getty the next day and buy one for a print.
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Didn't know you could buy prints from getty.
I've seen Dylan many times.I just want a good photo.He may not be back.
But you are all right : if I was fiddling about with the camera( which would almost certainly not be allowed in)( as with Van Morrison), I wouldn't enjoy the show.
 
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You can get a compact / point and shoot in without a problem... a SLR might well be an issue...they are quite strict at Hammersmith....
 
I took these photos, not necessarily concert photography but it's some inspiration for you if you manage to get close.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.177094185708569.46290.100002239664793&type=3

If you are quite far back, a 70-200/300 will do fine. If you are a mix of both, 18-135.

Best to keep it at around 400-800 ISO for fast shutter speeds to capture the action. 1600 is your peak though, after that.. expect to go through shots and noise reduce.

One of the things you must go careful of is the laser shows, they DO burn your sensor and the glass infront of the sensor only increases the problem.

Hope that helps.
 
You should always blag it being a photographer and just hold your camera near your head and push yourself to the front of the crowd. It works, trust me. Thanks to the massive amount of nightclub photographers around, people have just started letting togs get on with it and they think they're at work or something.

They're very good, criticisms however lay with the composition. You have captured the event perfectly, you've caught some really great smiles and poses on the performers, but here for example, I would of tried to get a portrait type shot, upright and allowing the eyes to follow the instrument.

I would PP a couple of these and bring the colour/brightness of them out a bit.

It seems you have a very quick hand when it comes to capturing the moment, but perhaps you could fine tune your execution when knowing what composition and type of shot will benefit you the most.
 
I think I thought I'd overdone the portraits by that stage and had run out of flash chances to get really close in- the band were happy for a few flash photos to be taken but not many and I'd already taken a fair few.
 
farrance said:
You should always blag it being a photographer and just hold your camera near your head and push yourself to the front of the crowd. It works, trust me. Thanks to the massive amount of nightclub photographers around, people have just started letting togs get on with it and they think they're at work or something.
.
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I'f I was at a gig as punter and a tog tried to barge pass me to the front of the crowd he'd get a swift one in the potatoes.

Pay your money and watch the gig, or get a pass and get your shots in the allotted time in the pit. Don't ruin everyone else's enjoyment of the show for your own gains.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I'f I was at a gig as punter and a tog tried to barge pass me to the front of the crowd he'd get a swift one in the potatoes.
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Mega Lol at the potato's thing.

I don't mean barge infront, I mean just blagging to the organisers or something that you're an amateur photographer and you really like the band and want to get some shots.

I don't literally mean walking around a Rihanna concert with a taser or something..
 
ashaz said:
I think I thought I'd overdone the portraits by that stage and had run out of flash chances to get really close in- the band were happy for a few flash photos to be taken but not many and I'd already taken a fair few.
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I know you haven't asked for crit, but I'll give it anyway. Stop with the flash,It takes out any hint of ambience of the night. If you must use flash, drag the shutter to at least get some ambient light in, to give a sense of the event. Gigs are dark, smokey, exciting. Your flash pictures are just some people stood around in bright light, which could have been taken anywhere. I don't get any hint of the ambiance of the event. The ones without flash are better, but you need to up the ISO a bit to get a faster shutter to stop the blurring. My base is ISO 1600 and f/2.8. I then adjust as needed. M
 
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It's a risk taking a camera in. If they say no you need to head back to the car and would you trust leaving your camera in the back of your car? Make sure it's insured for that seperately if you do!

If you get it in you are quite far back! 200 yards is a long way - even the 200 would not get you particularly close.

A few years ago I snuck in my 20D and 85mm to a Duran Duran concert and got some nice shots although I wasn't too far back - maybe 30-40m :)

Duran-Montage.jpg


SimonL_Girl_1.jpg


If you get plenty of light you might not need as high an ISO as you think.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I know you haven't asked for crit, but I'll give it anyway. Stop with the flash,It takes out any hint of ambience of the night. If you must use flash, drag the shutter to at least get some ambient light in, to give a sense of the event. Gigs are dark, smokey, exciting. Your flash pictures are just some people stood around in bright light, which could have been taken anywhere. I don't get any hint of the ambiance of the event. The ones without flash are better, but you need to up the ISO a bit to get a faster shutter to stop the blurring. My base is ISO 1600 and f/2.8. I then adjust as needed. M
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ISO 1600 and f2.8 was my max and even then was struggling with getting reliably acceptable images. But I agree, even not sharp they do give more atmospheric pics.
 
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