Concert Lighting blowing out photos

[J-Cal]

Hi everyone,

So once in a while I take my camera out to a job and shoot some photos. Sometimes I do ok, however every once in a while there is a lighting situation that destroys photos by over saturating them. I've included one here. This is one of the extreme ones, most were not quite like this.

Now, i've shot enough outdoors to know that I can't always go by my camera's meter. I look at the shot, and I can usually tell what it needs (or what I want), but in intense stage lighting it's not that easy. It also doesn't help that i'm rushed most of the time when i'm shooting on the job so I don't get to tinker as much as I would like. In fact, maybe that's most the problem.

So i'm wondering what you guys do in these situations. I did make some exposure adjustments, trying to underexpose a little to try to get less blow out, but it didn't help that much. Again, I was rushed so I didn't get to really start experimenting.

This was shot on a D7100 with a Nikon 17-55 2.8 lens. Im not sure if I had my (Nissan Di600) flash on or not. I did experiment with that a little as well. The purple was dominating the photos with it on and off to saying degrees....and flash is new to me so there's that...

Thanks in advance.

 

[benhasajeep]

It's probably caused by multi-color LED stage lighting at the venue. Did you shoot in Raw? Have raw files to adjust white balance?

Do you know about white balance? You keep mentioning metering. But you also have to deal with white balance as well.

 

[J-Cal]

It's probably caused by multi-color LED stage lighting at the venue. Did you shoot in Raw? Have raw files to adjust white balance?

Do you know about white balance? You keep mentioning metering. But you also have to deal with white balance as well.

I am familiar with white balance. I had auto white balance on for this as I find it to be the easiest option and I shoot raw so I can manipulate it later if need be as well.


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[Braineack]

if this was matrix metering im not shocked.

 

[J-Cal]

if this was matrix metering im not shocked.

You know what, I think it was.


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[BananaRepublic]

if this was matrix metering im not shocked.

Are you saying one should switch to another metering mode in this scenario.

 

[KmH]

Absolutely! Use Center-weighted or Spot depending on your artistic goals for the shot.

White balance has no effect on a Raw file, so it doesn't matter what it is set to in the camera.
Until the Raw file is run through a Raw converter. Then which Raw converter application is being used will set a White Balance to render the image from the Raw data file. That is, if the Raw converter is set to the As Shot white balance option.
Each Raw converter application uses unique rendering algorithms. Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements all use the same Raw converter - Adobe Camera Raw - also known as ACR.

 

[TCampbell]

Concerts frequently create a special problem with lighting. Often the venue is designed so that the room is mostly dark/black and the only lights are those on the performers.

The problem this creates for a camera is that the metering system is designed to presume average "middle gray" lighting. The camera then tries to boost the "black" areas to bring them up to "middle gray" and this results in the light areas being completely blown out.

There a few solutions...

One is to use spot metering on a critical aspect of the image... such as the performers face... and ignore everything else. Another strategy is to just deliberate under-expose the shot. This will vary based on venue lighting but that's often somewhere between -1 and possibly as much as -2 stops.

If the lighting is changing rapidly (not unusual at a concert performance venue) then you may want to avoid straight manual exposure mode because by the time you meter and dial in the exposure... the light may already have changed again.

 

[J-Cal]

Concerts frequently create a special problem with lighting. Often the venue is designed so that the room is mostly dark/black and the only lights are those on the performers.

The problem this creates for a camera is that the metering system is designed to presume average "middle gray" lighting. The camera then tries to boost the "black" areas to bring them up to "middle gray" and this results in the light areas being completely blown out.

There a few solutions...

One is to use spot metering on a critical aspect of the image... such as the performers face... and ignore everything else. Another strategy is to just deliberate under-expose the shot. This will vary based on venue lighting but that's often somewhere between -1 and possibly as much as -2 stops.

If the lighting is changing rapidly (not unusual at a concert performance venue) then you may want to avoid straight manual exposure mode because by the time you meter and dial in the exposure... the light may already have changed again.

It was changing very rapidly actually. I did attempt to under expose with little result because conditions were changing so rapidly and I wasn't totally sure that was even a possible solution to this situation...it was just what my gut told me to do because I do that in other situations. I think the spot metering might be the thing to try. Thanks!


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[astroNikon]

Matrix Metering was the first thing I thought of too.

With the projected screen in the background going with a Matrix Metering I think would blow it out as Braineack stated. You have to bring that "point" of metering down to an acceptable area, in this case as mentioned above by Tim the performers face.

Then you'll get proper exposure with SPOT Metering for the face and not everything around it included in the exposure. Below for d7100:

 

[TCampbell]

Concerts frequently create a special problem with lighting. Often the venue is designed so that the room is mostly dark/black and the only lights are those on the performers.

The problem this creates for a camera is that the metering system is designed to presume average "middle gray" lighting. The camera then tries to boost the "black" areas to bring them up to "middle gray" and this results in the light areas being completely blown out.

There a few solutions...

One is to use spot metering on a critical aspect of the image... such as the performers face... and ignore everything else. Another strategy is to just deliberate under-expose the shot. This will vary based on venue lighting but that's often somewhere between -1 and possibly as much as -2 stops.

If the lighting is changing rapidly (not unusual at a concert performance venue) then you may want to avoid straight manual exposure mode because by the time you meter and dial in the exposure... the light may already have changed again.

It was changing very rapidly actually. I did attempt to under expose with little result because conditions were changing so rapidly and I wasn't totally sure that was even a possible solution to this situation...it was just what my gut told me to do because I do that in other situations. I think the spot metering might be the thing to try. Thanks!


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Sometimes the lighting will change in a repeatable pattern and you can predict the best moment to grab the shot. Other times it's too random. BTW, I don't use any white balance (I shoot straight RAW). The lighting is often deliberately colorful and not meant to be "white"... so I don't fight it.

I usually try to find a shooting location which is slightly off to a side because if you're right in front, the microphone often blocks the performer's face. Different performers work the mic in their own way so you watch them perform to determine how they hold the mic and where the best spot to stand should be.

If you know the music, often the performer will pull the mic away a bit when there's a pause in the lyrics (when they don't actually have to sing into the mic) and you can use those opportunities to catch a clean shot.

 

[J-Cal]

Concerts frequently create a special problem with lighting. Often the venue is designed so that the room is mostly dark/black and the only lights are those on the performers.

The problem this creates for a camera is that the metering system is designed to presume average "middle gray" lighting. The camera then tries to boost the "black" areas to bring them up to "middle gray" and this results in the light areas being completely blown out.

There a few solutions...

One is to use spot metering on a critical aspect of the image... such as the performers face... and ignore everything else. Another strategy is to just deliberate under-expose the shot. This will vary based on venue lighting but that's often somewhere between -1 and possibly as much as -2 stops.

If the lighting is changing rapidly (not unusual at a concert performance venue) then you may want to avoid straight manual exposure mode because by the time you meter and dial in the exposure... the light may already have changed again.

It was changing very rapidly actually. I did attempt to under expose with little result because conditions were changing so rapidly and I wasn't totally sure that was even a possible solution to this situation...it was just what my gut told me to do because I do that in other situations. I think the spot metering might be the thing to try. Thanks!


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Sometimes the lighting will change in a repeatable pattern and you can predict the best moment to grab the shot. Other times it's too random. BTW, I don't use any white balance (I shoot straight RAW). The lighting is often deliberately colorful and not meant to be "white"... so I don't fight it.

I usually try to find a shooting location which is slightly off to a side because if you're right in front, the microphone often blocks the performer's face. Different performers work the mic in their own way so you watch them perform to determine how they hold the mic and where the best spot to stand should be.

If you know the music, often the performer will pull the mic away a bit when there's a pause in the lyrics (when they don't actually have to sing into the mic) and you can use those opportunities to catch a clean shot.

Thanks. [emoji106]


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