Concert Photogrpay - Help

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Foxysnapper

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Am new to photogrpay with a Nikon D3000. Sunday night I'm going to be taking some photos at local gig from close up to the stage.

The only lens I've got is the 18=50mm lens that came with the camera.

Can anyone give me any help & advice?

Thanks
Foxy
 
EARPLUGS!

and the above guide. no flash, turn it off and tape it down to be double sure.
 
As most small gigs have poor lighting conditions your probably gonna need pretty high ISO... at least 1600 or thereabouts. You don't say what the maximum aperture of your lens but you'll probably have it wide open all night.

I generally don't use flash on a gig unless I really don't have any choice, but it is often frowned upon anyway. But hey any shot is better than no shot so play it by ear. Run it in manual and off camera (with an extension cord) if you can.

Make sure you have the camera nice and steady, if you can brace yourself on something like a wall, a column or the stage. If not, again support your camera by bracing your arms against your chest.

Spot metering is often recommended, I don't use it but I often underexpose by a stop to compensate for the generally dark conditions.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the info - I've purchased a "nifty fifty" lens this morning so I can use really wide appature & that I'll be right up against the stage.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks again

Foxy
 
Couple of tips for minimising noise/maximising dynamic range:

Time toe shot so that there is some yellow or green light on. The sensor in most cameras is 24% blue, 25% red and 50% green.

Underexpose/underiso - Work out an exposure .. say iso1600 and F2.0 at 1/125th. Leave the camera settings as is and turn down ISO a stop. This will hold onto the highlights better (and smoother rolloffs) when you push the exposure up a stop in post (RAW only).

Si
 
Getting a speedlite will really help, set your camera to "Flash does not fire" and use the infa red to achieve focus in nearly dark conditions with the 50mm.

Don't worry about taping your flash down if you can't get hold of a flash, because you should be shooting in M.
 
i second the earplugs comment. i really didnt think i'd need it, until i found a good angle right next to a speaker......and........ RIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG................

you get the picture...
 
Allinthemind said:
Time toe shot so that there is some yellow or green light on. The sensor in most cameras is 24% blue, 25% red and 50% green.
Click to expand...

Most bands have a lighting scheme, so waiting for certain types of light really isn't an option, you just have to take what your given.
 
Had a really enjoyable & challenging nite snapping the bands. There was only a couple red stage lights at the back casting a any real light on the stage, this made one side of the stage in particular very dark.

Even with a appature of f1.8 & iso over1600 shutter speeds had to be slow to get anything other than a black shot.

Switched on the built in flash & got some decent shots, but still couldn't use a shutter speed quicker than 200/1.

What I found most challenging was nailing the right foucs, seeing if the lens was focused in almost dark conditions was very difficult.

It was a great learning experince, both with my camera & photography generally. Have been invited back to some other gigs & made a couple of contacts.

Below is a temporary link to some sample unedited shots & I'd really appreciate some feedback of any sort!

www.nigelaritchie.photoshop.com

Foxy
 
You used flash?
 
Kinda killed the atmosphere really... which is why most people say not to do it (apart from being distracting to the artists and annoying for the spectators)
 
I would have much prefered not to have used the flash, but without any stage lighting it seemed impossible not to? Even with f1.8 & high iso (over 1600) I still got virtually black shots :(

The bands were great - none said they found the flash distracting & there wasn't a crowd as such..
 
Foxysnapper said:
I would have much prefered not to have used the flash, but without any stage lighting it seemed impossible not to? Even with f1.8 & high iso (over 1600) I still got virtually black shots :(

The bands were great - none said they found the flash distracting & there wasn't a crowd as such..
Click to expand...

If you have to use flash,turn it down to quite a low setting so that it looks less harsh.

You did ok for your first time!
 
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