First Concert Photos

[mscarmelc]

This weekended I attempted to take a few pics at a concert I attended. This was sooo hard. Please let me know what you think. Also if you have any other suggestions on how to get better other than practice, those are appreciated as well. Thanks!!
C&C Please.

 

[jhermes]

Compositionally, the first and second are the best, with the second being better than the first. You'll notice that the third, fourth, and fifth all have a lot of unnecessary empty space that could be cut out when taking the photo in order to improve composition. When shooting your photos, always think about what is important to the photo. If something detracts from the point you're making with the photo, simply don't shoot it.

There are a couple more problems with focus and exposure and such, but I think that first you need to fix the composition issues. Try first shooting subjects in a less dynamic environment than a concert in order to improve compositional skills.

 

[imagemaker46]

I like the black and white one, tighter crop would look better, the others look like camera shake. The content is there, but the images being out of focus hasn't helped at all. If you can try shooting in other low light situations, even if you create some yourself using a few lamps from around the house and setting someone up will give you a little practice at holding the camera steady at slower shutter speeds.

 

[e.rose]

You need to work on your focus a bit, as they all look OOF to me. You aimed too high on #4 for my tastes... and the last one would have been better if you would have given him more room to the right of the frame (in front of his face) rather than the left side of the frame.

Keep practicing! Live shooting is hard... but it's damned fun

 

[SNBniko]

...snip... Also if you have any other suggestions on how to get better other than practice, those are appreciated as well. Thanks!!
C&C Please. ...snip...

Whut??? Practice is the only way to get better! Set up the same situation at home, and try to improve. Then practice those new techniques at the next concert you go to. Unless you want to try sleeping on a low light composition book, and give osmosis a shot. =P

That being said, I like the B&W one. I would crop it tighter though. What was your ISO set at?

 

[e.rose]

Practice is the only way to get better! Set up the same situation at home, and try to improve.

It's true, but even *that* won't give you the same effect, really. It's too "controlled" of an environment. I honestly think the best way to learn concert photography is to just do it. Seriously. You'll learn to look for and focus shots while keeping your peripheral vision open for the beer that's about to spill all over your shoulder off to the left. :lmao:

 

[SNBniko]

Very true. I experienced this recently and had to leave the vicinity of the person who almost sticky-fied my camera with some girly drink he was sipping on. RAWR hahaha. (Of course he had to drunkenly slur 'nice camera' as I'm wiping the slush off myself. I had no words for him at that moment. lol)

To the OP: If you look around your local area, there are likely tons of bars and coffee shops that do live music for a small cover. It won't be exactly the same, but it will get you practice in low-light with moving subjects. =)

 

[mscarmelc]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I can see where some are OOF, but it was so hard to keep up with him because he kept moving around. He wouldn't stay in one area of the stage. I really appreciate your input and hopefully I can give it another go soon.

That being said, I like the B&W one. I would crop it tighter though. What was your ISO set at?

I set the ISO at 3200 and shot at f/1.8, and STILL had a lot of camera shake. Spot metering really helped but being an audience member in the corner proved to be at my disadvantage. Thank you for your input.

 

[e.rose]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I can see where some are OOF, but it was so hard to keep up with him because he kept moving around.

That generally happens at shows :greenpbl:

This is why you just need to practice. None of the guys I shoot ever stop moving around either.

That being said, I like the B&W one. I would crop it tighter though. What was your ISO set at?

I set the ISO at 3200 and shot at f/1.8, and STILL had a lot of camera shake. Spot metering really helped but being an audience member in the corner proved to be at my disadvantage. Thank you for your input.

What lens were you using? What was your shutter speed? What mode were you shooting in? It helps to list all that stuff if you're looking for more helpful C&C than "just practice", although by the end of this, that statement still stands. We can tell you all we want, but you just need to practice. :sillysmi:

 

[mscarmelc]

What lens were you using? What was your shutter speed? What mode were you shooting in? It helps to list all that stuff if you're looking for more helpful C&C than "just practice", although by the end of this, that statement still stands. We can tell you all we want, but you just need to practice. :sillysmi:

I was using a 85MM 1:1.8. In AV mode, and spot metering. The shutter speeds are listed with the corresponding pics...

1. 1/60
2. 1/30
3. 1/40
4. 1/200
5. 1/100
6. 1/100

It was pretty half and half with slow vs. fast shutter speeds, but I think manually focusing is what go me. Every time I switched over to AF, the meter would read the wrong area, and the focus would be off. Should I have kept it on AF?

 

[e.rose]

I was using a 85MM 1:1.8. In AV mode,

What aperture were you shooting at?

and spot metering. The shutter speeds are listed with the corresponding pics...

1. 1/60
2. 1/30
3. 1/40
4. 1/200
5. 1/100
6. 1/100

It was pretty half and half with slow vs. fast shutter speeds, but I think manually focusing is what go me. Every time I switched over to AF, the meter would read the wrong area, and the focus would be off. Should I have kept it on AF?

I'll tell you what works for me...and people scoff at me because they think I'm just being a snob, but I'm not... it's because it's what works for me (although, I may find this to be different once my front focusing issue in my 50mm is fixed )

I use manual everything.

Manual mode... and manual focus.

Your first 3 images are an example of why I use manual mode. Having it in AV mode... metering whatever you were metering when the shutter went off, put your shutter speed WAAAAAAAY too slow. In manual mode, I can set the exposure where I need it and the meter needle can jump where ever the hell it damn well pleases, but it's not going to change my exposure until *I* tell it to.

I also manual focus, because most of the clubs I shoot in are just too dark for the AF to work properly (but again, I recently confirmed that my 50mm, which is what I shoot with 90% of the time) has a front focusing issue, so that may have been my issue the whole time). Once I learned to manual focus, I found that I was getting a lot more usable photos... however, that ALSO takes practice

If your hand holding the camera you should never drop the shutter speed below whatever number corresponds with the focal length. Since I use a 50mm I don't drop below 1/80... 1/60 if I'm REALLY desperate... You get too much blur and camera shake otherwise.

Using an 85mm, you shouldn't have ever touched 1/60 let alone 1/30.

If you're going to shoot in AV, you need to learn to change your custom settings in your camera to make the exposure lock available to you, that way when you find the right exposure, with a fast enough shutter speed, you can push down that button, move your camera as much as you want, and your exposure won't change, which means neither will your shutter speed.

Although to me, that was more of a headache than it was worth, which is why I switched to manual. Everyone works differently though. ::shrugs::

 

[mscarmelc]

Thanks! My apeture was on f /1.8 the whole night. I will try to get to some smaller spots and give it another go. Thanks again for your help!