Rock Gig photos

JSArmour

JSArmour

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James
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my friends band has asked me to do some photos of them at their next gig and obviously i jumped at the opportunity to be infront of the barriors and posibly even on stage. but now im worried that i wont get any good photos. i have never done this kind of work before and i am unsure about how to deal witht he lighting. i also would like to know ur opinion on AF over MF (or vice versa) and any tips for getting MF photos really sharp (i wear glasses if that makes a difference)

thanks guys
 
MF will be quite hard if they are moving about. AF should cope if you have a decent lens.
You;ll want an f/2.8 zoom or a f/1.8 prime.
Most venues dont allow flash, although some smaller ones do.

My base point for any gig is ISO 1600 and f/2.8. I can then quickly adjust as needed within the first few shots.
Best advice is to pick your shots, dont just gun it. Wait for the singer to look at you, or point.. wait for the light, or get a good face gurn.
 
my fastest lens is a f/3.5 18-55mm

it is a small venue and flash is allowed.

any tips for the MF in general, i normaly do wildlife and landscapes
 
What tips can one give for mf?. Get it right or your shots will be out of focus. I think you'll find it a challenge. I wouldn't reccomend flash, unless bounced or diffused it tends to look awfull and completely ruins the ambience of the event.

Why do you want to do it manual focus anyway?
 
Don't use the flash, but if you can use the flashgun's auto assist beam, then that can be a godsend. Other than that use the fastest primes you can get your hands on, or stick a 2.8 zoom on there and HOPE the lighting is in your favour.

Good luck!
 
the first gig i shot was with a manual focus helios 58mm f/2 lens...it was a nightmare!

if you could borrow a fast lens from someone it'll make your task a lot easier. the 50mm f/1.8 is pretty cheap and will be useful in your kit bag for more than just gig photography.

tom made some good points, pick your shots-don't just spray and pray! i usually start at the same base point..iso 1600 @ f/2.8 and then work from that to get a workable shutterspeed.

i've been in situations where the venue is like a black hole, and the limits of my gear are stretched to their limits. a kit lens will struggle, even at 3.5 at the wide end. at 5.6 on the long end it will be pretty much unusable to be honest.

if you only have access to the kit lens you might have to make do with f/3.5 @ 18mm, even then it might be necessary to 'push' the exposure at the editing stage. if you don't already shoot raw you should do so because the ability to bring an extra stop of light out can be really beneficial in these situations. you will be working with a lot of noise with the combo of high iso and pushed exposure so you'll probably want to go black and white to hide this a bit.

use ai servo to track the moving band memebers, center af point because it's the most accurate and spot meter for your subject. shoot manual and set your iso to it's highest setting and aperture to it's widest setting, if you can get close to workable exposures shooting at something above 1/80(ideally more) stick with it. if there are pockets of light created by the stage lights wait till the band memebers step into them before taking your shots and hopefully you can work around your limitations.

use the first song as a 'sighting' exercise to see what the lighting is like, get an idea of what settings you'll be working with and watch what is happening on stage and if there are any 'hot-spots' that you can use to your advantage.

hopefully a little of this will be of use to you
 
Most the gigs I've photographed have been dark. Very dark.
The last one I shot I was shooting at ISO3200-6400 on a 5Dmk2, f1.4-2.8 and still most the shots were blurred (bands rarely stay still I'm afraid)
I tend to find a setting I like and use manual settings (not manual focus)

You'll most likely have to use flash with your setup, unless you're really lucky with the light
 
its a rock band... using high iso resulting in noise will look far better than crisp clean shots taken with flash... if you where photogrpahing a guy in a suit singing then maybe flash OK .. or a clean cut middle of the road band... dont be afraid of noisy images for a proper rock band..
 
a little tip i can give you if your shooting in the dark is to use spot metering mode and before you take your shot press the AF point selection button, this highlights up in red light were you will be focusing on, just makes it that little bit easier as sometimes you cant see the focus point very well try one shot/AI servo and see how you get on, myself i prefer one shot but if the bands are very energetic you might be better with servo

i usually shoot using my nifty at 1.8 and just concentrate on single people the only problem i have is larger bands were the drummer is shoved right at the back...so im saving up for a decent 2.8 zoom
 
lexie said:
the first gig i shot was with a manual focus helios 58mm f/2 lens...it was a nightmare!

if you could borrow a fast lens from someone it'll make your task a lot easier. the 50mm f/1.8 is pretty cheap and will be useful in your kit bag for more than just gig photography.

tom made some good points, pick your shots-don't just spray and pray! i usually start at the same base point..iso 1600 @ f/2.8 and then work from that to get a workable shutterspeed.

i've been in situations where the venue is like a black hole, and the limits of my gear are stretched to their limits. a kit lens will struggle, even at 3.5 at the wide end. at 5.6 on the long end it will be pretty much unusable to be honest.

if you only have access to the kit lens you might have to make do with f/3.5 @ 18mm, even then it might be necessary to 'push' the exposure at the editing stage. if you don't already shoot raw you should do so because the ability to bring an extra stop of light out can be really beneficial in these situations. you will be working with a lot of noise with the combo of high iso and pushed exposure so you'll probably want to go black and white to hide this a bit.

use ai servo to track the moving band memebers, center af point because it's the most accurate and spot meter for your subject. shoot manual and set your iso to it's highest setting and aperture to it's widest setting, if you can get close to workable exposures shooting at something above 1/80(ideally more) stick with it. if there are pockets of light created by the stage lights wait till the band memebers step into them before taking your shots and hopefully you can work around your limitations.

use the first song as a 'sighting' exercise to see what the lighting is like, get an idea of what settings you'll be working with and watch what is happening on stage and if there are any 'hot-spots' that you can use to your advantage.

hopefully a little of this will be of use to you
Click to expand...

Good advice. If there is a support band on before, use these as a sighting exercise too. Make your mistakes with the people who aren't relying on you!
 
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