Concert photos...help! :(

[gsgary]

I'm afraid if it is that dark you may as well leave your camera at home, most concerts you have to use iso1600 and iso3200 and higher if your camera will go, also timing comes into it watch the lights flashing and time your shot to them another thing i always shoot in manual and not on burst mode on burst i found i got the shot before and after the one i wanted
This shot looks like it was very light but i was using a 200mmF2.8 at ISO3200 s/s 1/30 and timed it for the light

 

[Village Idiot]

^ Lots of grain and banding in the dark areas of the photo, but the performer looks good. Perfectly acceptable in my book.

 

[bmad]

@Pariah
If you are shooting with the 50mm 1.8 at 1.8 apperture, you can use 1/10 - 1/20 exposure
1/50 is a bit too much. And don't go above 1000 ISO...you'll have a lot of noise
I also have a D80 with 50mm and I do great. It depends on the lightning of course. Seems to be you did your best with that type of light...very low and crummy light...

Cheers!

 

[ShutterSpeed]

@Pariah
If you are shooting with the 50mm 1.8 at 1.8 apperture, you can use 1/10 - 1/20 exposure
1/50 is a bit too much. And don't go above 1000 ISO...you'll have a lot of noise
I also have a D80 with 50mm and I do great. It depends on the lightning of course. Seems to be you did your best with that type of light...very low and crummy light...

Cheers!

the above image is grainy. is that because of the ISO? I'm having the same problem with poorly lit images, unless of course there is sufficient light to capture during a long exposure.

i'm still trying to learn the right combination of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. It's kind of tricky. I'm just happy I can see the result and make adjustments.

 

[Village Idiot]

@Pariah
If you are shooting with the 50mm 1.8 at 1.8 apperture, you can use 1/10 - 1/20 exposure
1/50 is a bit too much. And don't go above 1000 ISO...you'll have a lot of noise
I also have a D80 with 50mm and I do great. It depends on the lightning of course. Seems to be you did your best with that type of light...very low and crummy light...

Cheers!

You kind of have to understand that noise is more apparent in dark areas of an exposure. A properly exposed subject may have less apparent noise at 1600 ISO than an underexposed subject at 1000 ISO.

Pariah - You can test this out easily. Photograph a volunteer that is exposed dead on or maybe 1/3 of a stop over exposed at 1600 ISO. Then photograph the same subject at 1000 ISO 1-2 full stops underexposed.

Both of the shots I posted were taken at 1600 ISO. They're no where near as grainy as your photo in your original post because of the exposure of each photo.

 

[gsgary]

the above image is grainy. is that because of the ISO? I'm having the same problem with poorly lit images, unless of course there is sufficient light to capture during a long exposure.

i'm still trying to learn the right combination of ISO, shutter speed and aperture. It's kind of tricky. I'm just happy I can see the result and make adjustments.

Yes it was also with a 1Dmk1 with no noise reduction

 

[Kendo]

Is a tri or mono pod out of the question? What a hard place to capture.

 

[Village Idiot]

Is a tri or mono pod out of the question? What a hard place to capture.

Yes. The point of using a stabilizing device is so you can lower your shutter speed to let in enough light. If he does that, then he's going to be getting too much motion blur for people shots.

 

[Pariah]

Yes. The point of using a stabilizing device is so you can lower your shutter speed to let in enough light. If he does that, then he's going to be getting too much motion blur for people shots.

That, and there isn't enough room for a tripod anyway. And I'm female, haha.

 

[bmad]

You kind of have to understand that noise is more apparent in dark areas of an exposure. A properly exposed subject may have less apparent noise at 1600 ISO than an underexposed subject at 1000 ISO.
quote]

I perfectly agree with you. Noise will be noticeable in dark areas (not necesarily underexposed...remeber you are at a concert with a black background or smth). Pariah's photo was taken at 1/50 at f1.8 which leads to a underexposure, especially with the poor light he had in there.

Images tend to get grainy above 1000 ISO on my D80, although i use corect exposure...or perhaps i'm too demanding. :mrgreen: ISO 1000 is the best!

 

[Village Idiot]

That, and there isn't enough room for a tripod anyway. And I'm female, haha.

If you give me an e-mail, I can contact you next time I shoot for my friend. He does larger shows on occasion, but they're usually in Martinsburg, WV or Hagerstown. I see your location is MD, but depending on how far East or West you are, it may be a drive.

I'm trying like hell to get photo passes to see August Burns Red as I have a contact with them as well. If I ever shoot at a well lit event that I can take some one to shoot with me at and you're interested, then you can see how easy it can be.

In the mean time, it looks like the location you were shooting at there has lighting so bad that there's not much else you can do short of using a flash. I have some photos from Fletchers in Baltimore city where a friend's band played. They provide house lights and it's not a big venue, so if your friends ever play a place like that, then you should definitely try taking photos for them.