Concert photography tips?

[Village Idiot]

You're entering in a world of colour hassles that opens potential to go wrong. Really shoot RAW and adjust the saturation to prevent the red channel from clipping is all that's needed, and it will reduce the inevitable "Why do my images look crap in xxxxx viewer" thread. You even benefit from the fact that the camera sensor has a wider gamut than AdobeRGB so you end up with even more latitude to play with.



Depends. The blur can be used for artistic effect as you well may know. But in most cases unless the band shoot is staged then it is unlikely you'll achieve much other than royally piss off the crowd if you take in a tripod.

This could have been better but I had no tripod. Shutter wasn't slow enough.

I take it that it wasn't a crowded night? Most venues wouldn't let you setup a tripod. Pretty much all medium sized to large venues I've been to don't allow photography (unless you "sneak" in a P&S) unless you can get a photo pass. The only places I've been in in Baltimore that don't care about photography are small dive bars where very new local bands play.

 

[Garbz]

It was small and crowded but shot handheld with 50mm AI f/1.8. I would have preferred a tripod and a slightly faster shutter but as it is the picture isn't very sharp.
And this was a big gig 4-5 bands playing for a select set of fans. No large venue with photography banned.

 

[gsgary]

Tripods and monopods are a total waste of time for shooting bands you need to be able to move fast

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

You can get well lit pictures using available light. I was pleased with this at the last gig I went to. No photo pit, and reasonably tough lighting condition. I shot this at 1/125, f.28, ISO1000. At a larger venue I might go for 1/160, f3.2, ISO800 for this sort of shot.

I shot this in RAW, but actually didn't need to do any alteration. The light was very red, but if you choose tungsten WB then it will bring out any blues in the light which can set off the red quite nicely. And no, you can't bring those out via RAW afterwards very easily! (I've tried).

 

[JerryPH]

Leave the tripod and monopod at home. Same for the flash. You will be escorted out if you use a high powered flash. Anyways it is only effective if you are 50 feet or closer.

Fast lens, constant aperture and higher ISO are your friends. You can *always* clean out a good amount of the noise with the right software.

Find out in advance if you can even bring in a dSLR. Many places do not mind P&S cameras, but show you the door when they see the bigger cameras and longer lenses.

I would love to do this concert again with my D700, but these pics were with a D200 and 70-200 lens:

Headley:

Tokio Hotel:

With a little creative cropping you can get some nice close ups:

 

[Jeremyc482]

I did a photoshoot for Foreigner in October.
They wouldnt allow me to use flash during the concert.
So all these were taken with available light at ISO400

 

[thc_guy]

SO I have a nice camera and that one takes great pics at concerts already.

My issue is my point and shoot. HOW CAN I ADJUST THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS TO TAKE BETTER CONCERT PHOTOS (low light, flashing stage lights, moving artists, etc)

ISO (choices are 64 up to 3200)

WHITE BALANCE (choices are daylight, tungsten, flouresent, open shade)

EXPOSURE METERING (choices are center weight, mutli pattern, center spot)

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION (choices +3 all the way to -.3)

LONG TIME EXPOSURE (none, .5 sec. 1 sec, 2 sec, 4 sec, 8 sec)

AF CONTROL (single AF, continous AF)

AF ZONE (multi zon, center zone)

SHARPNESS (low, normal, high)

 

[JerryPH]

These are really basic questions... why ask that here?

Chances are damn good that you will NEVER get your point and shoot to do 1/2 of what a good dSLR can. Thats why they pay the big bucks to get the dSLR cameras... lol

 

[JerryPH]

I did a photoshoot for Foreigner in October.
They wouldnt allow me to use flash during the concert.
So all these were taken with available light at ISO400

If these were taken at ISO 400 (and I am not doubting that), this was a really brightly lit concert or there was not a lot of moving/jumping around going on.

The last one I was at, I was pushing ISO 800-1250 and should have gone ISO 1600 for increased shutter speeds... lol

 

[thc_guy]

I do have an dSLR - just don't always like lugging it around. Figured I would ask the experts.

Some advice on the PROGRAM OPTIONS I listed above would be really helpful instead of just saying it'll never work.

Any advice would be really, really appreciated.

 

[JerryPH]

The same settings as your dSLR... DUH!
-------------------------------------
This is a waste of time, but since I am going to bed in a few:

ISO (choices are 64 up to 3200)
Whatever it takes. It depends on the scene. Obviously some can get ISO 400 to work Other times you will need ISO 3200. The problem is that the higher it goes the more noise and crappier P&S cameras get.

WHITE BALANCE
Shoot RAW, adjust in post process. If you cannot do that, set it to daylight.

EXPOSURE METERING
center spot

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
0

LONG TIME EXPOSURE
You've GOT to be kidding me, right??? 1/125th and FASTER... not seconds!!!

AF CONTROL
continuous

AF ZONE
multizone

SHARPNESS
Adjustable in post process. If you are totally lost editing your own pics, normal will do fine.

These are questions that belong in the BEGINNERS section in the future... PLEASE????

 

[dtornabene1]

I've shot enough concerts to know you are only going to get the right shot with a fast lens. Usually with a fast lens you will get better glass and color will be more accurate.

I do not recommend upping the ISO too high because of the light variations at a concert. A faster lens will be better equipped to hand the light changes then the sensor. It's complicated, but I can explain if you require.

Remember, either IS (image stabilization), VR (vibration reduction), etc... will only help if the subject is still. Yeah, the frame will stay still, but it does not prevent your subject from moving around. Therefore, shooting at lower shutter speeds and relying on these technologies will get you a lot of blurry people.

-Nick