Photographing a music gig tonight - are these settings ok???

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DGN1984

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Hi everyone,

I am photographing at a gig in London tonight. it is not the biggest of venues and it will be very low light. I am planning to shoot with my 450d and 50mm f1.8.

I am thinking about shooting in manual with the aperture wide open at f1.8 ISO 800-1600 and shutter speed of around 1/60, 1/80, 1/100 (not sure which shutter speed as I want to let enough light in but I don't want all my pictures to have motion blur)

I've taken some photos of a mates band before but it was when I first used the camera and I ended up using auto. Now that I've used the camera more and am a few weeks into my evening class I want to give it a go in manual.

I will take a few test shots when I get there as there is no flash allowed. What do you guys think about my suggested settings? any suggestions would be really welcome also any tips or pre warning on problems that might crop up.

Thanks in advance your advice, feedback and suggestions are really appreciated. If I get anything decent I will post a pic or two for critique (be gentle they will be the first pictures I have ever posted)

Thanks

Dan
 
Its hard to say if you'll be ok or not as obviously nobody knows how much light you'll have to play with. I think my approach would be to set the aperture wide open at 1.8 in aperture priority mode and just keep upping the ISO until shutter speed is acceptable. There is not really much else you can do.
 
Yes, go for AV @1.8 and keep upping ISO. It depends a lot on how much the band move, unless the light is really good you will get some blur. Shutter speed needs to at least 1/160 to avoid the worst but you will be doing well to get up around there. Make sure you use the centre focus point and spot metering.

Good luck!

Dunc
 
I found shooting at 1/15 was useable, just, and as you say go wide open of close, 1.8-2.8.

I needed to go to ISO 3200 :(

I ended up using my flash a bit and that helped alot, you might not have that option.
 
I've done quite a few gigs and the best advice I can give is shaprness > grain.

Your images will still look good at very high ISO is they're sharp, so don't be afraid to up the ISO to get that extra stop :)
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your replies, really appreciate it

James - To ensure the images are sharp is this just down to focus? if so would I be best to go with autofocus locked on the centre spot or manual focus?

Thanks

Dan
 
Given your equipment, I'd say those settings are pretty much spot on and I'd stick with manual, but it goes without saying that it's subject to the light conditions you find when you're at the venue.

Go much slower than 1/40s and you'll start to notice motion blur. It won't be obvious on your camera's display but you'll see it when you go to your computer.

I've set the custom function on my camera to use the rear thumb button for focusing, use the centre focus point as it's the most sensitive and recompose the shot once you've achieved focus.
 
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How did you get on last night? Happy with your results? I'd have started with a fixed aperture (probably as wide as possible) and kept an eye on the shutter speeds.
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't get on too bad considering it was the first time I've ever shot a gig and i've only just started using the camera. I ended up using the 50mm on my Canon 450d. I shot in Manual and kept the aperture at F1.8 all night, shutter speed varied from anywhere between 1/60 - 1/100 but usually 1/80 or 1/100 as the singers were moving around a lot.

I shot in RAW and used ISO 800 or 1600. I haven't uploaded the images to my PC yet but looking on the LCD screen I prefer the shots at 800 ISO although they do look a tad underexposed however, once I start using Photoshop I will be able to make some adjustments.

Over the weekend I will upload a couple of shots for critique as I can imagine there is probably a lot of things wrong but I'd be glad of the critical feedback.

Three things I found last night that I need to look at are as follows:

1) The 50mm meant that I had to get very close and as the band was on a raised stage this was pretty difficult. I'm looking at buying the 17-55 F2.8 zoom lens over the next few months as I think this will allow me to get a better range of shots in this situation, I also like the look of a 10-22 wide angle lens but I'm concerned that at f3.5 I will struggle with it in low light?

2) I suppose it's just practice but nearly everytime the lead singer did something that I wanted to shoot I always missed it by a second or two. My pictures lack any real interaction, I haven't got any where the singer is looking at the camera ( I missed the opportunity everytime he did, I just didn't aticipate it enough) they are more just shots of the singer singing into the mic, guitar in hand no real emotion captured.

3) when looking back through the pictures on the LCD and pressing display to view picture details the bright parts of the picture (especially lights) are displaying symbols that blink! what is this feature, how does it work and can i use it to help me????

Thanks, and like I said I will post a couple of shots over the weekend as I am out at another gig Friday night

Cheers

Dan
 
Sounds like you did OK and you can only improve with practice :)

The "blinky" symbols are showing you where the highlights are blown but tbh you're going to do very little to counter that when shooting a gig with flashing lights ;)

Looking forward to seeing some of the shots you got.

Having shot a few gigs for friends I appreciate how challenging it can be.
 
Don't forget the wide angle zoom (10-22) will not be as critical in terms of shutter speed, with care you can take shots at 1/60 of a second or even 1/30 if you practice a lot. Additionally using the continuous shooting mode of your camera to take say 5 shots in a row will probably give one sharp shot even at a slow shutter speed. Try it you'll see that it works!

Good luck with future gigs.
 
khitomer said:
Don't forget the wide angle zoom (10-22) will not be as critical in terms of shutter speed, with care you can take shots at 1/60 of a second or even 1/30 if you practice a lot. Additionally using the continuous shooting mode of your camera to take say 5 shots in a row will probably give one sharp shot even at a slow shutter speed. Try it you'll see that it works!

Good luck with future gigs.
Click to expand...

Only problem is that very few performers will not suffer with motion blur at the kind of shutter speed.
 
Can add to the effect, a flash on low or fractional output would partially freeze the image and give a great effect. A variety of shooting methods is the way to go. Experiment, it's not like when I first began photography and film and printing costs were high, digital has revolutionised the photographic process.

Practice make perfect.
 
DGN1984 said:
Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't get on too bad considering it was the first time I've ever shot a gig and i've only just started using the camera. I ended up using the 50mm on my Canon 450d. I shot in Manual and kept the aperture at F1.8 all night, shutter speed varied from anywhere between 1/60 - 1/100 but usually 1/80 or 1/100 as the singers were moving around a lot.

I shot in RAW and used ISO 800 or 1600. I haven't uploaded the images to my PC yet but looking on the LCD screen I prefer the shots at 800 ISO although they do look a tad underexposed however, once I start using Photoshop I will be able to make some adjustments.

Over the weekend I will upload a couple of shots for critique as I can imagine there is probably a lot of things wrong but I'd be glad of the critical feedback.

Three things I found last night that I need to look at are as follows:

1) The 50mm meant that I had to get very close and as the band was on a raised stage this was pretty difficult. I'm looking at buying the 17-55 F2.8 zoom lens over the next few months as I think this will allow me to get a better range of shots in this situation, I also like the look of a 10-22 wide angle lens but I'm concerned that at f3.5 I will struggle with it in low light?

2) I suppose it's just practice but nearly everytime the lead singer did something that I wanted to shoot I always missed it by a second or two. My pictures lack any real interaction, I haven't got any where the singer is looking at the camera ( I missed the opportunity everytime he did, I just didn't aticipate it enough) they are more just shots of the singer singing into the mic, guitar in hand no real emotion captured.

3) when looking back through the pictures on the LCD and pressing display to view picture details the bright parts of the picture (especially lights) are displaying symbols that blink! what is this feature, how does it work and can i use it to help me????

Thanks, and like I said I will post a couple of shots over the weekend as I am out at another gig Friday night

Cheers

Dan
Click to expand...

Were you adjusting shutter speed as you went? You say you kept on missing 'moments'....unless you are fantasticly fast or just leave the settings at 'x' alone you will miss good stuff! Next time decide what settings to use and stick with them unless the lights change dramatically. Then concentrate on your positioning and waiting for good opportunities.
 
If you were not able to get the shots you were after with your 50mm because of the distance you were and the raised stage maybe something like a 70-200 F2.8 might be better than a 17-55 F2.8.
 
I am a Nikon user - but do shoot a lot of gigs!

A lens I use a lot is my 85mm 1.8 - if you can get to the front of the Stage it brings you in close enough to get faces etc.

Not sure on a Canon but is a reasonable cost for a Nikon. 2.8 sounds good - but you will miss that extra stop!!

Dont worry about missing shots - that comes with practice. also I shoot in bursts so hopefully you will get a shot in focus! Raw is good because you can squeeze another stop out!

Ignore blinkies - hazard of the game - anyway say its artistic.

Going Black n White can save some shots as well.

Shoot LOADS. I can do 2-300 shots easy. I expect to get about 10-15 goodn's. 1 or 2 really likes and a lot of deletes. Thank you for inventing digital!

Just keep shooting and enjoy it.

my stuff here if you want a look http://johnjobling.smugmug.com/Music
 
I did my first gig last week and stayed on 800 ISO and 35mm 1.8 prime. Was in the pit so was ok with this lens plus it was the fastest I had. Took 200 shots easily, 20 good ones out of the lot.
 
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