Can somebody help me avoid/minimise this problem with live music shoots!?

[Niz]

Hello, Iv'e recently changed my camera so that i can use the AE lock to control exposure like in this article and i went out the photography a mates band (my 4th live shoot) and found it was a hit or miss, i was shooting about 250th SS and 2.8 with 1000 iso and just adjusting my exposure compensation to around +3
I found some shots i was happy with like this one




But others turned out horrible like these






I think it was cause i was setting the exposure and focus on the subjects eyes?
Should i be looking to focus on a neutral color in the viewfinder then moving my camera to the subjects eyes?

Any advice or help would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Niz

 

[fjrabon]

I guess the problem you're talking about isn't a focus issue, it's that you blew out the red channel in picture two and the blue channel in picture 3. You're talking about the posterization in those two, right? The focus seems okay.

"

i was shooting about 250th SS and 2.8 with 1000 iso and just adjusting my exposure compensation to around +3"​

Also, if you're setting shutter speed, aperture and ISO manually, how are you using exposure compensation?

 

[Robin Usagani]

I guess the problem you're talking about isn't a focus issue, it's that you blew out the red channel in picture two and the blue channel in picture 3. You're talking about the posterization in those two, right? The focus seems okay.

"

i was shooting about 250th SS and 2.8 with 1000 iso and just adjusting my exposure compensation to around +3"​

Also, if you're setting shutter speed, aperture and ISO manually, how are you using exposure compensation?

Nikon does weird thing like that. I am not really sure.

 

[KmH]

What kind of lighting (carbon arc, tungsten, flourescent, etc) was the venue using? Were they using multi-colored lghts?

 

[MLeeK]

They look like stage lighting and they're correct if they band is using colored lights.

 

[amolitor]

Looks to me like colored lights are in play as well.

Exposure lock is definitely gonna be problematic a constantly changing lighting setup on stage. You meter, the light changes, you expose. I would probably use shutter priority, setting the shutter as slow as I can reliably handhold and let the aperture fall where it may, and focus lock. That way the metering is done at least close in time to the exposure, and you'll get as much aperture as the camera thinks it can give you, for depth. Adjust ISO until you're, generally, getting apertures that are small enough.

That's how I'd approach it, but that's all theoretical to me. I don't do this kind of thing. Hopefully someone who does will step up!

 

[Niz]

There was multi coloured stage lights and also a strong white light on the singer aswell.

I think i got my original post a bit muddled up, i think what i needed help was where to set my exposure when all the subject is blue so that i don't get such a blown out subject? I think im going to try shutter priority like the poster stated above.

Anymore tips would be great!

Thanks

 

[MLeeK]

Band photography is all over the place. Lighting is so inconsistent that it's nearly impossible to set one exposure and have it work for every shot. You can get exposure set for the majority of shots, but you'll have some bad ones. Blue lighting is darker and throws things, sometimes there is one light on, sometimes there are 8. Sometimes the white lights are on and are much brighter... It is the nature of the beast. You need to either shoot in a priority mode and figure out what metering works best for you to get accurate exposure or use manual mode and be able to think fast.