D-Lighting on or off for Concert shoot.

Davor · Feb 21, 2011

Ok so i got 2 concert shoots this week, one on Thursday and one on Friday which im getting paid for.

All i got to work with is my D90 , 50mm 1.8, Tamron 90mm 2.8 and an Sb800

I personally don't want to use the flash as im sure it bothers the band members but i will if i have to.

I was thinking to use the 50mm mostly and keep it at 1.8, ISO at 800 (High NR at high ISO)
1/60 - 1/80 shutter speed and custom color profile, since ill most likely be at the front of the stage i hope i wont have many problems with the 50mm.

Question is , should i keep d-lighting on or off? i noticed it gives me better lighting in dark areas but increases noise no? and if i do turn it on should i set it on Auto or something else?

And any tips for the Concert shoot is appreciated, oh before i forget; should i use a tripod or handhold it?

Thanks in advance. :mrgreen:

gsgary · Feb 21, 2011

I shoot bands and i have never been as low as iso800 it would have to be the best lit venue going

Davor · Feb 21, 2011

well im afraid of the noise if i use anything higher. What lens do you use? because i can get away with the settings i use and ISO 800

xjoewhitex · Feb 21, 2011

I shot a show over the weekend, used flash and D lighting thru the whole bit. You gotta think, there's stage lights going everywhere I really doubt your flash it going to be much concern. But I wasn't directly shooting either, I got lucky enough to be able to bounce off the ceiling with good results.

Davor · Feb 21, 2011

Well depends how high tech their lights are going to be, last gig i went to had the worst lights i have ever witnessed. Im hoping i won't need a flash but just in case ill bring it anyways. How do you use the flash, on camera or off camera? and what settings to do use on the flash?

xjoewhitex · Feb 21, 2011

Yea these lights were not so great either thats why I started bouncing to over power them and for the most part it did besides the red spotlights. I did everything on camera, using the Sb-400 which is a camera controlled flash (no settings).

Davor · Feb 21, 2011

do you mind posting some of your results?

Twisted_Pixel · Feb 21, 2011

I've done a couple of gig shoots and definitely no expert, but I think tripod would probably be a hindrance. Went with my 35mm 1.8, with shutter about the same range as you mentioned and don't think I went over ISO640, but probably could have used a little more on mine. I prefer shooting without flash at gigs, as the white coating generally kills the atmosphere of the stage lighting. I've a couple of shoots up on my FB page if you are curious.

xjoewhitex · Feb 21, 2011

Davor said:
do you mind posting some of your results?

No not at all. There hosted on tinypic so disregard the quality. It was very dark in this room only being lit by the stage lights.

Davor · Feb 21, 2011

They look good without a flash that's for sure, but ill bring mine worst case scenario if they don't have sufficient lighting. And to be honest i haven't had enough practice with my new flash to know all the settings and which ones are good.

Any recommendations with the Sb800? should i use TTL or AA?

xjoewhitex · Feb 21, 2011

Davor said:
They look good without a flash that's for sure, but ill bring mine worst case scenario if they don't have sufficient lighting. And to be honest i haven't had enough practice with my new flash to know all the settings and which ones are good.

Any recommendations with the Sb800? should i use TTL or AA?

These are all using flash, it was far too dark in the room to go without it. I had the camera set in TTL, which seemed to work pretty well. Only problem I really had was focusing on band members, one second id be in another out and you could easily tell since I was at such a large aperture.

fsquare · Feb 21, 2011

xjoewhitex said:
Davor said:

They look good without a flash that's for sure, but ill bring mine worst case scenario if they don't have sufficient lighting. And to be honest i haven't had enough practice with my new flash to know all the settings and which ones are good.

Any recommendations with the Sb800? should i use TTL or AA?

Click to expand...

These are all using flash, it was far too dark in the room to go without it. I had the camera set in TTL, which seemed to work pretty well. Only problem I really had was focusing on band members, one second id be in another out and you could easily tell since I was at such a large aperture.

I swear, looks like an outdoor concert lol

PhillyPhoton · Feb 21, 2011

another thing you can add the dlighting after the fact, or you can set up the bracketing for just the raw image and then one for d-lighting normal and high if so desired

x joe the shots are nice, did you use anything on the flash to soften?

xjoewhitex · Feb 21, 2011

PhillyPhoton said:
another thing you can add the dlighting after the fact, or you can set up the bracketing for just the raw image and then one for d-lighting normal and high if so desired

x joe the shots are nice, did you use anything on the flash to soften?

At first I was shooting forward with a soft box attachment over the flash head, but as I figured it was giving me some bad shadows and really wasn't lighting the way I wanted. So I ended up shooting at bouncing at 90° bare.

I was pretty happy with the performance of my flash, she held out the entire show only a few misfires. Heres one I thought I would share just to show how dark it really was in the room. This was an accident but I kept it. =P