New Concert Pictures, would love some feedback

biancarose · May 11, 2009

Since starting with this forum, I am learning so much about how to use my camera settings, and I have been working with manually setting my camera. I have some new pictures and would love some critique. I am still having a hard time getting my settings right, but I am working at it. The thing that I am having the most trouble with is getting my dumb lense to focus on something so it will take a picture LOL. Does anyone know what would be the best setting to put a camera on to focus for a constantly moving object LOL

Big Mike · May 11, 2009

You need to resize (and save a copy) of your images before you upload them for viewing on the web. These are way too big.

biancarose · May 11, 2009

Big Mike said:
You need to resize (and save a copy) of your images before you upload them for viewing on the web. These are way too big.

OK. Sorry about that.

bdavis · May 11, 2009

I think they are a bit underexposed and out of focus. #3 I cant see anything beyond the hands and #4 is way overprocessed...

I know its hard shooting concert photography (I've done it...) but what gear are you using?

biancarose · May 11, 2009

I totally agree. I dont know what happend. I went and messed with all of my settings, and now I am having a hard time getting the camera to focus, and I am having to trick it to get a picture, so they are coming out blurry.

The Camera I am using is a Nikon D40 and the lense is a Nikon AF-s 55-200MM

inTempus · May 11, 2009

Time to reset things to factory default settings. I don't know what setting in a D40 would cause you to have to "trick" the camera into taking a picture.

But yes, these images are underexposed, out of focus and quite noisy when viewed at full size.

biancarose · May 11, 2009

tharmsen said:
Time to reset things to factory default settings. I don't know what setting in a D40 would cause you to have to "trick" the camera into taking a picture.

But yes, these images are underexposed, out of focus and quite noisy when viewed at full size.

Yeah, to "trick" it I would get it to focus on anything and the move it really quick to take a picture. IDK what was going on that day, but I think tonight I am going to try and reset everything. I had tried it once, but noticed all of the setting stayed the same.

:grumpy:

I personally do not even want to send them to this band. I was reading BDavis' photblog and started reading about AF focus point and realized I can move my focus point, so maybe that will help next time. Well, I am officially bummed.

Sherman Banks · May 11, 2009

biancarose said:
Yeah, to "trick" it I would get it to focus on anything and the move it really quick to take a picture. IDK what was going on that day, but I think tonight I am going to try and reset everything. I had tried it once, but noticed all of the setting stayed the same.

I personally do not even want to send them to this band. I was reading BDavis' photblog and started reading about AF focus point and realized I can move my focus point, so maybe that will help next time. Well, I am officially bummed.

You can use the AF lock if the thing you need to focus on isn't on one of the three focus points. Use whatever point you're using to focus, push and hold the AF lock, and the shutter will go when you push it.

biancarose · May 11, 2009

Sherman Banks said:
You can use the AF lock if the thing you need to focus on isn't on one of the three focus points. Use whatever point you're using to focus, push and hold the AF lock, and the shutter will go when you push it.

OK, I think tonight I am going to go home and try focusing. I know I should have read my manual, but I have ADD really bad, and it is like torture for me to sit and read something. I have been reading this one book for likr 4 years now.

I am very thankful for all of your advice thought. Thank you so much!

sburatorul · May 11, 2009

the lens you are using isn't the best for concerts. i have it and it is not that fast, neither when it comes to light or to focus. normally i would suggest a lens with a wide apperture like the 50mm 1.8 but that wont focus on the d40, not nice in a concert to focus manually huh? you could get the 50mm1.4g if you can afford it. or the 85mm 2.8

inTempus · May 11, 2009

biancarose said:
Well, I am officially bummed.

Don't get bummed! Get even.

Get your camera back to an even keel by resetting to factory. Then get out and practice in low light conditions with subjects that move around a bit.

Practice makes better... if not eventually perfect.

In2daBlue · May 11, 2009

You can work with manual focus if you anticipate the shot. Often bands don't move much when they play (like out of a 3 foot invisible box) and that will allow you to focus manually easier. The suggestion about using your AF lock is a good one. But, I hate to say it, the gear you are using is not ideal for what you are trying to shoot. Low-light concerts push the D40 out of its range, especially with the lens you are using. If you can strobe it you will solve many of your problems... But some bands don't want flash photography while they are performing.

If all else fails and you have to get some good shots to the band for commercial purposes, you might consider renting some higher end gear. That will make a big difference.

biancarose · May 11, 2009

sburatorul said:
the lens you are using isn't the best for concerts. i have it and it is not that fast, neither when it comes to light or to focus. normally i would suggest a lens with a wide apperture like the 50mm 1.8 but that wont focus on the d40, not nice in a concert to focus manually huh? you could get the 50mm1.4g if you can afford it. or the 85mm 2.8

A friend of mine suggested getting the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G.
I was planning on getting that. I found it for 484 on adorama, but I was thinking of also upgrading to a D90 and maybe getting the AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4D instead.

biancarose · May 11, 2009

In2daBlue said:
You can work with manual focus if you anticipate the shot. Often bands don't move much when they play (like out of a 3 foot invisible box) and that will allow you to focus manually easier. The suggestion about using your AF lock is a good one. But, I hate to say it, the gear you are using is not ideal for what you are trying to shoot. Low-light concerts push the D40 out of its range, especially with the lens you are using. If you can strobe it you will solve many of your problems... But some bands don't want flash photography while they are performing.

If all else fails and you have to get some good shots to the band for commercial purposes, you might consider renting some higher end gear. That will make a big difference.

Luckily I have a lot of friends in the music industry, so they let me pretty much do what I want, so I always use flash. What does it mean to strobe it?

Could the soft box i put over my flash be causing some of my problems?

DScience · May 11, 2009

biancarose said:
A friend of mine suggested getting the AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G.
I was planning on getting that. I found it for 484 on adorama, but I was thinking of also upgrading to a D90 and maybe getting the AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4D instead.

If you can afford to upgrade to the D90, I would highly recommend it. Right now I am thinking about getting the 50mm AF-S, simply because the AF won't auto focus on my D60. I thought about selling my D60 for the D90, but I decided not too mainly because I financially cannot afford it. I also like the extremely small form factor of the D60.