Concert photography

[photo_chick]

Raichu-- those shots are pretty good coming from a point and shoot.

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

I'm going to a concert on Friday and would love to take decent pictures. But so far, I'm having lousy luck taking concert pictures with a digital camera when its not totally light. Even pictures I take in the evening before it gets dark are blurry. I wonder if somebody here can give me some tips? I am brand new to the SLR camera and have little idea how to use it. I have a Rebel XTi and I bought two extra lenses...one is a 75-300mm 1:4-5.6. The other is a 50mm 1.8. Can anybody tell me the best lens to use? We will be sitting at tables and seated pretty close to the stage....perhaps 30-40 feet max. Which lens should I use? And what settings would be best in the dark?

I really would love to get good pictures. I always got decent pictures with my point and shoot film camera, but it died and I replaced it with this digital camera. I just wish I could get decent pictures. One of these days I want to take a photography class, but for now, I need some quick answers! I would appreciate any tips you guys can give me!

 

[JR6ooo4]

crank the iso to 1600 and use the 50mm 1.8
then use a good noise filtering program. If the light is good you might be able to use 800 iso. Which is realy not bad even compared to cameras only three years ago.

usig the zoom may work even with the higher minimum apertures because you can fill the more of the frame with a lit subject as apposed to having more dark backgound in the frame.
check if you can bring a big honkin' rig into the concert. Sometimes they will allow a point and shoot but nothing that looks llike a professional camera.

Mikeeeee

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

crank the iso to 1600 and use the 50mm 1.8
then use a good noise filtering program. If the light is good you might be able to use 800 iso. Which is realy not bad even compared to cameras only three years ago.

usig the zoom may work even with the higher minimum apertures because you can fill the more of the frame with a lit subject as apposed to having more dark backgound in the frame.
check if you can bring a big honkin' rig into the concert. Sometimes they will allow a point and shoot but nothing that looks llike a professional camera.

Mikeeeee

Thank you for the advice! Can you tell me what a good "noise filtering program" would be?

 

[Steve's Girl]

Noiseware - google it, it's free!

 

[JR6ooo4]

I use noise ninja but there are two or three pretty good free ones that I have heard of, but of course I can not remember the names.

Mikeeee

 

[ducklite]

First off, are you sure you'll be allowed to bring that camera into the show? A high percentage of venues won't allow a camera with a drtachable lens unless you've got prior approval from the artist.

You don't need to go to 1600.

Use the prime and set your camera for Aperture priority. Set your ISO to 800 (you might be able to get away with even lower depending on the act) and open your aperture to f/1.8.

Make sure that you've got your camera set to take the largest size photos you can (probably 2000x3000 pixels).

Who are you going to see?

Anne

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

First off, are you sure you'll be allowed to bring that camera into the show? A high percentage of venues won't allow a camera with a drtachable lens unless you've got prior approval from the artist.

You don't need to go to 1600.

Use the prime and set your camera for Aperture priority. Set your ISO to 800 (you might be able to get away with even lower depending on the act) and open your aperture to f/1.8.

Make sure that you've got your camera set to take the largest size photos you can (probably 2000x3000 pixels).

Who are you going to see?

Anne

Thank you for all that info! That is very helpful! I'm going to see Brandi Carlile, a new artist out of the northwest. They're still pretty lax about pictures being taken at her shows, though I suspect that as she becomes more famous and they'll start restricting things. Last time they let me video tape it! That is why I love seeing artists who aren't so well known....smaller crows, cameras and recording devices are ok and even encouraged. It's nice!

So then I should use the small lens that is only f/1.8? I want to take classes on how to use an slr camera and the classes begin next month, a few weeks too late to help me with this show! So I really appeciate your help a lot! I will be able to use a table top tripod too. So hopefully that will help. It drives me crazy how blurry my pictures tend to be. It sure isn't as easy as it looks when you professionals do it!

 

[ducklite]

Thank you for all that info! That is very helpful! I'm going to see Brandi Carlile, a new artist out of the northwest. They're still pretty lax about pictures being taken at her shows, though I suspect that as she becomes more famous and they'll start restricting things. Last time they let me video tape it! That is why I love seeing artists who aren't so well known....smaller crows, cameras and recording devices are ok and even encouraged. It's nice!

I would definitely check with the venue, their site specifically says "no professional rigs" and most of the time that means "no detachable lenses." Of course that probably varies night to night and depends on the artist.

So then I should use the small lens that is only f/1.8? I want to take classes on how to use an slr camera and the classes begin next month, a few weeks too late to help me with this show! So I really appeciate your help a lot! I will be able to use a table top tripod too. So hopefully that will help. It drives me crazy how blurry my pictures tend to be. It sure isn't as easy as it looks when you professionals do it!

You won't be able to open the aperture wide enough to allow enough light in with the other lens. The three photos in my signature were all taken with a f/2.8.

Here's one taken in so-so light with a 50 mm f/1.8 prime like yours:

and another:

The second one was taken in a small caberet style club (sounds like the one you are going to) with two lights on the stage.

If you want to persue concert photography, you'll need to get a f/2.8 zoom lens of one sort or another ASAP. That will be your work horse, the prime will be almost a spare. The other lens you've already got will just stay home.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

One more thing to add--try to get there early and find the person who will be running lights--probably a house guy. Ask if you can buy him a drink in exchange for him giving you some extra light during the first few songs. Sometimes it works.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Just a bump to see how it went...

Anne

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

Oh, it definitely didn't go very well! We were totally allowed to take pictures. And the concert was fabulous! In fact, we had the coolest experience; we got to the venue very early and the artist we went to see stopped and chatted with us a while, then asked if we'd like to be in the front row! So she seated us front and center (next to her grandmother) which was amazing! It was a wonderful concert experience. I booted the show, and I got great video, but the pictures suck. I just can't get the hang of using a digital camera. I did fine with a point and shoot film camera but this digital srl thing is not working for me. Any idea what I'm doing wrong????

These are the best I managed to get and they are horrible.

Pictures I've taken with a point and shoot turned out better:

What can I do to get the digital pictures to turn out as clear as the film pictures? I even had a tripod and that didn't really help much. There are a few pictures when the artist was standing very still that turned out great, unfortunately, her face was in front of the microphone so those are no good! lol! Ugh!

 

[JR6ooo4]

I can't see the EXIF info. what was the ISO, shutter and f stop for the top two. what quality file are you saving or did you use raw?
I think that info wil help fidure things out. ALso what lens? The 50mm?

and they are not that bad. a little overexposed on the artist probab;y because of the dark background. and a tiny bit of motion blurr. So a quicker shutter speed will be better for exposure and help stop a little of the motion blurr. The top one might even be missed focus, like if you focused and then she stepped back to do the fingering on the guitar. Just another guess.
MIkeeee

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

If you want to persue concert photography, you'll need to get a f/2.8 zoom lens of one sort or another ASAP. That will be your work horse, the prime will be almost a spare. The other lens you've already got will just stay home.

Anne

Anne, you've been so helpful to me, I wonder if I could but you with one more question? I'm about to go to a ton of concerts this summer. I actually spoke with the artist the other night and she said not only is she ok with pictures being taken and shows being booted, she encourages it as it gets her material out there and her face more well known! So now I'm ready to have at it! lol! You mentioned that I need an f/2.8 lens. I found a couple of them. One is well over 1000 bucks and I'm just an amateur wanting to have some fun so that one is a bit out of the range I'm willing to pay...for now anyway! I may change my mind later. I did find one in the 500 range and I wanted to ask your opinion. Here's the link to the amazon page. Would this be a decent lens for taking concert pictures? Like I said, it doesn't need to be professional. I just want to take decent pictures in dark concert venues.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me! It is much appreciated!

 

[Master Mason]

Take a look at this lens

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/350973-REG/Sigma_548101_24_70mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html

What mode are you shooting in etc???

 

[dcg0317]

The lens you linked to is a macro lens and would be slow to auto focus in dark places like a concert. If you are looking for a prime lens take a look at these two from Canon.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-85mm-f-1.8-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2.0-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Rather than pay $1,100 for a 70-200 f/2.8 zoom, you should think about getting another prime or two. You could get the 135mm f/2.8 ($280), 200mm f/2.8 ($640), 100mm f/2 ($390), or the 85mm f/1.8 ($340).

 

[MICKEY88]

I agree 100% with Master Mason if you're doing small venue concert stu get a 28-70 2.8 lens it will work great if you are relatively close... then save up for a 70-200 2.8....you will have much better results, multiple primes might be less expensive, but a table full of lenses is a pain.. and odds are you will have the wrong lens on when you want the best shot of the night..

with very careful shopping you should be able to get both lenses for $ 1000

 

[rtphokie]

Use a cam with good high ISO. Concert and Theater settings can be the hardest to capture well. They both usually have low light and fast action which appear on opposite ends of the "good results" scale.
with low light you want a steady subject because of the longer shutter needed to expose correctly. With fast action you want good light to get a fast shutter to stop the action. Intentional motion blurr is OK for certain effects.

I'm glad I came across this thread yesterday.

I shot over 1100 at the Rush show last night in Raleigh, NC, ended up keeping 50. I was about halfway back in the house, I'm guessing about 75 yards from
the drum riser.

Policy at the venue is no professional cameras (I'm amazed they allow them at all but I guess they've given up on controlling cellphone cameras). I used my Canon G3 either in shutter speed priority or full manual, also used manual focus set on infinity to speed things up. Most shots are ISO 200 with exposure compensation set to -2 to keep the highlights from getting blown out. When the band had white lights on them, I could get away with a shutter speed of 1/500, otherwise it was in the sub 1/100 range. I basically set the camera on continuous shooting framed it up as best I could and shot as much as I could whenever the light seemed advantageous. I wont be entering any contests with these but I'm still shocked I was able to get them. Cameras used to be a hangable offense at concerts.

More shots here

And yes, those are chicken rotisserie on the stage behind the bassist/keyboardist/lead singer not amps. They replace the washing machines that occupied that space on previous tours.

 

[Cricket2]

And yes, those are chicken rotisserie on the stage behind the bassist/keyboardist/lead singer not amps. They replace the washing machines that occupied that space on previous tours.

When they were overseas, he used those spinning vending machines they sell sandwiches and fruit out of.

Here is one that shows both (not my photo):