Lens Help

wamguy89 · Apr 2, 2009

Hi, everyone. This is my first post on this forum, but anyways... I am really into live concert/band photography. Recently, some bands have been asking me to do promo photo shoots with them, but I really don't feel like I have the best equipment. I was wondering what the best lens would be for just regular (portrait-like) shots of individual band members and full bands together... I have a canon rebel... I don't have a specific price range, but probably less than $1,500 USD... Thanks for your help!

Big Mike · Apr 2, 2009

Welcome to the forum.

Whatever lens you have will more than likely be just fine. What you should be asking is about lighting.

wamguy89 · Apr 2, 2009

Well... I prefer natural lighting, but I want to get results like this:

I realize that these are probably green-screened, but the clarity/sharpness of the pictures is much greater than what I can achieve with my stock 18-55 lens... Any suggestions on how to get results like these? Thanks.

Big Mike · Apr 2, 2009

The key to that shot, is the dramatic lighting on the band.

but the clarity/sharpness of the picture is much greater than what I can achieve with my stock 18-55 lens

I've got that lens, and while I don't use it much anymore...it's certainly capable of giving you acceptable sharpness. Especially if you shoot at F8 or F11 rather that F5.6.

wamguy89 · Apr 2, 2009

So do you have any suggestions as to how I can achieve that look with the lighting? I guess I'll have to use umbrellas or something, right? Because those are all artificially lit and then photoshopped onto the backgrounds, right?

Big Mike · Apr 2, 2009

Yes, they do appear to be artificially lit. Probably with flash. Maybe something like an umbrella was used...but maybe not. I'd guess probably not in this case.

You don't need to use a green screen for something like this. It can be shot on location with no need to swap out the background in photoshop. The key is balancing your flash exposure with the ambient exposure.

This is getting to be pretty advanced photography. Not something the average GWC (guy with camera) will be able to do. But if you are willing to get the right equipment and more importantly, learn how to do it...then it's certainly possible.

I'd suggest reading THIS, to get you started toward shots like these.