Concert photography tips?

Kittyy · Dec 10, 2008

Just got back from the Trans Siberian Orchestra in Ottawa with my girlfriend and I decided to bring along my Nikon D40 and my 55-200mm VR lens. Well... my pictures didn't turn out so great. A lot of the were blury and jagged. I didn't have much time to play with my settings because I was enjoying the concert.

So, anyone have any good tips for future concerts? Going to see Sam Roberts soon.

Edit:

Picture down below.

chrisburke · Dec 10, 2008

man, i was gonna go see that, but my wife didnt think it would be smart to leave our newborn with a sitter this early in the game.. especially since we live 2 hours from ottawa... how was the show??? man i wish i was able to be there.. I love the TSO

prodigy2k7 · Dec 11, 2008

Tripod/Monopod, High ISO, VR (if no monopod), Fast Lens (Big aperture), flash, stage lights...

chrisburke · Dec 11, 2008

it would be a lot easier to tell you how to improve if we saw some of the shots, so we can tell you what was wrong

Garbz · Dec 11, 2008

prodigy2k7 said:
Tripod/Monopod, High ISO, VR (if no monopod), Fast Lens (Big aperture), flash, stage lights...

God I was about to say spot on till I saw the second last word. Nothing ruins stage photos more than blasting a big flash. The photo can only see the performance, so effectively blasting the show with a flash you kill the only remaining interest.

Use fill flash at the most, use sparingly, and use artistically. Do not use as a primary light source as the result is rarely interesting. Embrace the noise. Interesting noisy pictures are better than pristine boring white ones.

epp_b · Dec 11, 2008

The most important thing for good exposures with night or indoor concert photography is a fast lens. Anything slower than f/2.8 will be hopeless, unless you like craploads of noise or grain in your photos.

lockwood81 · Dec 11, 2008

I use spot metering....to expose the subject I want the photo of properly.

Example of a play in very low light.
1/30
f/3.5
iso 800
at 200mm IS

Village Idiot · Dec 11, 2008

Garbz said:
God I was about to say spot on till I saw the second last word. Nothing ruins stage photos more than blasting a big flash. The photo can only see the performance, so effectively blasting the show with a flash you kill the only remaining interest.

Use fill flash at the most, use sparingly, and use artistically. Do not use as a primary light source as the result is rarely interesting. Embrace the noise. Interesting noisy pictures are better than pristine boring white ones.

But you would recommend a tripod?

You want as fast shutter speed as possible. By the time you get to where a tripod would be any use, your subjects would be just a blur. Plus most venuew don't allow them.

Kittyy · Dec 11, 2008

Concert was great! Light show was fantastic too.

I'm not really sure if I was actually allowed to bring my camera, so a tripod is out of the question. 1600 ISO, widest aperture with my 55-200mm zoom.

I'm looking at a Sigma 105mm. Hopefully that'll be a little better.

epp_b · Dec 11, 2008

I retract my previous statement, because those aren't too bad!

In fact, the second one looks like something I'd expect to see on an advertising poster! Very nice.

1600 ISO, f/3.5. That's with my 55-200mm zoom.

Um... that can't be. The 55-200 is only f/4-5.6.

lockwood81 · Dec 11, 2008

Looking at the EXIF data...they vary from f/4.5 to 5

FlyingFly · Dec 12, 2008

DO NOT use any flash at a classic concert. This would definitely anger the player and you may be driven away from the concert.

DO NOT produce any noise at classic concert. The shutter noise may disturb those who sit by you.

At a rock concert the shutter noise might be out of question. You need high ISO, faster VR lens. Monopod/tripod is not a good idea as it takes up too much space and may annoy other audience.

BTW: Next time you shoot a concert with mainly red light, you'd better set your D40's color profile as Mode II (AdobeRGB). This helps reduce overflow in red channel. Thus you may no longer see red mess up. However you'd better later convert it to sRGB color space to produce correct saturation before you upload it to web, as most image viewers including Internet Explorer don't support AdobeRGB.

Kittyy · Dec 12, 2008

epp_b said:
I retract my previous statement, because those aren't too bad!

In fact, the second one looks like something I'd expect to see on an advertising poster! Very nice.

Um... that can't be. The 55-200 is only f/4-5.6.

Ooops, sorry. Thanks for pointing that out. Little mistake on my part.

Fiendish Astronaut · Dec 13, 2008

No flash (unless the venue is like a cave - in which case turn it right down and bounce off the ceiling), spot meter, if it's a large venue you might be able to get away with 1/125, f3.2, 800 or less ISO. But you might have to push to 1600ISO if it's a dark one. Remember to expose for and meter your subject's face - the rest will fall into place from there.

Garbz · Dec 15, 2008

FlyingFly said:
BTW: Next time you shoot a concert with mainly red light, you'd better set your D40's color profile as Mode II (AdobeRGB). This helps reduce overflow in red channel.

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.

Village Idiot said:
But you would recommend a tripod?

You want as fast shutter speed as possible. By the time you get to where a tripod would be any use, your subjects would be just a blur. Plus most venuew don't allow them.

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.