Tips for shooting first live gig

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jonneymendoza

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Hi i got the opportunity to photo a live gig tomorrow and was wondering what kind of tips you have in terms of some composition ideas and gear/settings i should use.

i have a 5d3 camera with the following lenses

canon 16-35 f2.8
canon 24-70 f2.8 mk2
canon 70-200 f2.8 mk2
sigma ART 35mm f1.4

Flash:
Canon 600RT
Canon 430ex2

I am thinking i should bring the 16-35 and 70-200 which will cover me for wide angle shots and shots from a distance.

Should i bother with a flash?

I want to shoot both the artist and the fans to give a nice overal idea of the atmosphere to the viewer looking at the images.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance
 
Aside from the photography, get some ER20 ear plugs.

As far as flash is concerned, it depends on the venue. Will you be close enough for it to be effective?


Steve.
 
Most music venues have set rules for photographers. These usually boil down to:

1. You get to shoot the first three songs.
2. No flash.

I shoot hundreds of frames in those first three and I think if I were performing at a live gig and some numpty kept letting off a flash in my face, I'd probably be pretty annoyed. With permission of the venue and the band, I've occasionally used off-camera flash (usually gelled and justin-clamped somewhere behind the musicians) but generally speaking, it's a no-no.

Every venue is different, but to start off with, I recommend:

Fast glass. I like my Nikon 35mm f/1.4 if I can get close. I usually have that on one body and either an 85mm f/1.4 or my 70-200mm on the other.
Centre-weighted or spot metering.
Auto ISO up to 3200, maybe 6400 if your camera can write a cleanish file that high.
Shutter priority somewhere above 1/250th (depending on how much the talent is jumping about)
AF-C(ontinuous) - and if you're working at big apertures, consider single point AF and moving it about with your thumb joystick.
Earplugs.
 
Lyope said:
Most music venues have set rules for photographers. These usually boil down to:

1. You get to shoot the first three songs.
2. No flash.
Click to expand...

But at the moment we don't know if the venue is a local pub, a large arena on anything in between.


Steve.
 
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