gig shoot

Pointblank said:
kit lens 17-55mm is the only other lens i have at present, only been togging 5 months and not loaded like most toggers on here.
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Your kit lens will be fine too, if you can you should take them both. Iv been togging about a month and I'm far from loaded, but iv learned to make do with what you have.
 
duttytd said:
Your kit lens will be fine too, if you can you should take them both. Iv been togging about a month and I'm far from loaded, but iv learned to make do with what you have.
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I did use my kit for a few.
 
lensflair said:
I'm not going to offer any advice because gig photography isn't something I am experienced with, but I know it is very difficult to do well. Have you seen these sites before?

Check out critique 11 it has a couple of gig photography critiques in it.
http://zackarias.com/category/for-photographers/critique_for_photographers/


also this place has quite a bit of information

http://www.artistxposure.com/


good luck
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Yep, i found out just how hard it is last night, my old 20D isn't up to the job really, not happy with with this set at all. Thanks for the links though man, i'll have a look after I'v taken the hound for his morning walk.
 
Pointblank said:
Yep, i found out just how hard it is last night, my old 20D isn't up to the job really, not happy with with this set at all. Thanks for the links though man, i'll have a look after I'v taken the hound for his morning walk.
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Its not the camera - later on i'll post some gig shots I did a few years ago with my 20D. (yes a camera able to handle noise better would do better - but the 20D is adequate with the right glass in the right hands)

your biggest restriction (apart from lack of experience which will only improve with time) is the lens (as discussed) I apreciate that you arent loaded but if you are going to do this a lot you need something like a 28-135 or a 24-105 (at big gigs you'd be further from the action so you'd need more like 300mm) - check out places like mpb or even ebay for second hand deals.

that aside gigs in pubs are a bitch to shoot because there isnt room to move arround and generally if you are at the front you are too close and further away you have people between you and the action - at the actual gig this wont be such a problem (though there'd be different problems like being tofar away)
 
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Looks like a crappy venue for photography - messy backgrounds - dull lighting etc. Direct flash is never good - if at all possible use the ambient light - you'll get more atmosphere in the shots that way. Flash won't be allowed at bigger gigs anyway. Some of these flash shots look under exposed - they shouldn't be - being that close you should have got good exposures with the flash. Not a bad start though - just keep at it.
 
big soft moose said:
Its not the camera - later on i'll post some gig shots I did a few years ago with my 20D. (yes a camera able to handle noise better would do better - but the 20D is adequate with the right glass in the right hands)

your biggest restriction (apart from lack of experience which will only improve with time) is the lens (as discussed) I apreciate that you arent loaded but if you are going to do this a lot you need something like a 28-135 or a 24-105 (at big gigs you'd be further from the action so you'd need more like 300mm) - check out places like mpb or even ebay for second hand deals.

that aside gigs in pubs are a bitch to shoot because there isnt room to move arround and generally if you are at the front you are too close and further away you have people between you and the action - at the actual gig this wont be such a problem (though there'd be different problems like being tofar away)
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Thanks for commenting, yeah had real trouble with composition and as you quite rightly say, my lack of experience played a big part in making a boo boo of it. I will just keep practising and save for some better glass and hopefully things will improve. It's only been 5 months since i picked up a camera, but that's no excuse really, perhaps I'm a slow learner. I really ought to practise in full manual mode, was using shutter speed priority. Anyway, I enjoyed the music and it's all part of the BIG learning curve, thank you.
 
also comments on your latter 3 shots - the first ones just a mess, with the ladies head behind him etc - also theres no sense of what he's doing, personally I'd leave the guy on the desk out of it and focus most of the attention on singer, lead guitar , and drummer

2nd one nice idea but your focus was off the hands arent sharp, plus framing a bit further to the left would have given more context and less out of focus background

and the 3rd (of the drummer) its okay but again theres no sense of action it looks like he's just sitting there - with drummers you need to get them with the sticks in view and either freeze with flash if allowed) or some motion blur in the sticks to convey the action
 
awp said:
Looks like a crappy venue for photography - messy backgrounds - dull lighting etc. Direct flash is never good - if at all possible use the ambient light - you'll get more atmosphere in the shots that way. Flash won't be allowed at bigger gigs anyway. Some of these flash shots look under exposed - they shouldn't be - being that close you should have got good exposures with the flash. Not a bad start though - just keep at it.
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Thank you, I have the bug, so there's no stopping me now, i want to improve which i hope will come if i keep clicking and taking good advice from the guys on here and looking at how and what settings are used for particular types of photography.
 
Pointblank said:
I really ought to practise in full manual mode, was using shutter speed priority. .
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IMO you wont have time to be faffing with full manual at a gig,you'll miss shots while looking at the settings, and the lighting will change rapidly depending on where the spots are pointing, my suggestion woud be to stick the camera in AV set the apperture fairly wide and turn the iso up to 800

Also try to get used to altering your apperture setting with the thumb wheel without taking your eye off the view finder

and finally on setting expect the WB to be all screwed up - there'll be more than one sort of lighting , my suggestion would be to shoot raw and sort the WB etc out in PP
 
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big soft moose said:
IMO you wont have time to be faffing with full manual at a gig,you'll miss shots while looking at the settings, and the lighting will change rapidly depending on where the spots are pointing, my suggestion woud be to stick the camera in AV set the apperture fairly wide and turn the iso up to 800

Also try to get used to altering your apperture setting with the thumb wheel without taking your eye off the view finder

and finally on setting expect the WB to be all screwed up - there'll be more than one sort of lighting , my suggestion would be to shoot raw and sort the WB etc out in PP
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sound advice, thanks :thumbs:
 
big soft moose said:
IMO you wont have time to be faffing with full manual at a gig,you'll miss shots while looking at the settings, and the lighting will change rapidly depending on where the spots are pointing, my suggestion woud be to stick the camera in AV set the apperture fairly wide and turn the iso up to 800

Also try to get used to altering your apperture setting with the thumb wheel without taking your eye off the view finder

and finally on setting expect the WB to be all screwed up - there'll be more than one sort of lighting , my suggestion would be to shoot raw and sort the WB etc out in PP
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I always shoot manual at gigs - but generally small to medium gigs don't have massive changes in the lighting compared to larger venues.

In these situations the peformer is either in the light or they are not, and if they are not you don't take the shot until they are. After a couple of minutes during the first song I have a handle on how the lighting is per performer and can quickly change as I change focus.

The last gig I shot the entire show on my GF1 at 1/125 ISO 800 F1.8 - there were changes in the lighting but not drastic - and it turned out very well.
 
Pointblank said:
Yep, i found out just how hard it is last night, my old 20D isn't up to the job really, not happy with with this set at all. Thanks for the links though man, i'll have a look after I'v taken the hound for his morning walk.
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The 20D isn't that bad - I used one for a while and while noisey, ISO1600 was very usable at gigs. It takes noise reduction very well.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I always shoot manual at gigs - but generally small to medium gigs don't have massive changes in the lighting compared to larger venues.
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+1, even with actively changing lighting rigs the light on the lead is usually fairly constant in my experience.

Having tried both ways at small venues, I missed more shots with Av/Tv than I did on Manual. If you subject is in the dark, you've probably missed the shot anyway as the lights probably shifted to some nasty background detail you didn't want to see in the first place.

Pub venues are nasty, generally the lighting is poor with insufficient differene in the lighting on the act and the background, so any attempt to drop the background into darkness is doomed. You need to spot the least offensive bits of background and work with those as best you can.
 
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