Advice on gig photography?

graham90

graham90

Messages
170
Name
Graham
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm considering photographing a friend's band when they play at some local gigs soon, but im not sure if my currrent setup will be able to handle the low light conditions etc...

I have a Canon 450D with the following lenses:
Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens

Are there any particular aperture settings etc which i could use and still get good qualoty shots with these, or is it a case of needing a new lens altogether?

Im kinda new to DSLR photography so apologies if these are simple things that i should know!

Cheers :)
 
You're going to have to bump the ISO with those, and probably shoot wide open if you plan on having any without shake.

It depends on where the band is playing and how well illuminated they are but you should be fine as long as you don't mind a little bit of noise
 
Get youself a Canon 50mm f/1.8----------Cheap as chips at £65-£75. Whilst you might manage to get some half decent shots with your 18-55 you are far more likely to struggle.Stage lighting is tricky and deceptive and there is generally much less of it than you think.You will need to shoot as fast as possible for the guitar player to prevent action blur.The Tamron will be far too slow and I would leave it at home.The 450D handles higher ISOs pretty well--so I would crank it up to 800 and higher if necessary.
Have fun.
Pete.
 
KNowing the types of places small bands start out you will not ba able to get nearly enough shutter speed with that setup even at ISO 1600

Yes, the 50mm F1.8 is essential for starting out.
 
I recomend a nifty fifty also. If you havnt got the cash to splash, you could try using some flash, the venue/band shouldnt mind at this level. If you have anyone you could borrow one off or they arent to expensive to rent, power the flash down and you should be able to keep some of the ambient lighting. For settings, you want to go wide open with your aperture, at least iso 800, probably 1600 though, depending on just how dark it is. Your wanting to freeze the action, so at the very minimum i would say 1/80 but i recomend 1/125 and over.

Shoot RAW also.

Best of luck.
 
Nice pics Captain and yes Ive got gig shots taken with my TZ4 that are ok.But nothing beats fast glass for gig photography--really brings out the warmth and detail .By the way who heated up the embalming fluid ?----I didnt realise Stackridge were still around !!
Cheers,
Pete.
 
david1701 said:
I have the exact same thing but a 43exII aswell
Looks like i shall have to splash for a nifty then odear
Click to expand...

Great investment ---You will be amazed at the IQ compared to the kit lenses !
Pete.
 
i took the following images at the Alhambra last year on my Sigma 18-200 OS DC





obviously Biffy Clyro have a huge lighting set up which helped but if your going to be doing alot of gig photography and are able to get in close then invest in a nifty 50, a word of warning, don't let the production team catch you with a DSLR at a gig, almost got kicked out as they thought my camera was a video camera:cuckoo:
 
TheWombat said:
Nice pics Captain and yes Ive got gig shots taken with my TZ4 that are ok.But nothing beats fast glass for gig photography--really brings out the warmth and detail .By the way who heated up the embalming fluid ?----I didnt realise Stackridge were still around !!
Cheers,
Pete.
Click to expand...

They reformed last year after a break of I think about 30 years and are touring on a regular basis now,hopefully off to see them again later this month
 
Cheers for all the replies guys :) and for the examples by chris250 and CaptainPenguin!
Think I'll have a look around for a 50mm lens, sounds like it will be a good investment. I've never taken gig photos before apart from on my camera phone whilst being pushed about in the crowd, so it'll be completely new for me!
Cheers again
 
chris250 said:
obviously Biffy Clyro have a huge lighting set up which helped but if your going to be doing alot of gig photography and are able to get in close then invest in a nifty 50, a word of warning, don't let the production team catch you with a DSLR at a gig, almost got kicked out as they thought my camera was a video camera:cuckoo:
Click to expand...

The biff have one of the toughest lighting schemes ive ever came across, unbelivably tough!

graham90 said:
Cheers for all the replies guys :) and for the examples by chris250 and CaptainPenguin!
Think I'll have a look around for a 50mm lens, sounds like it will be a good investment. I've never taken gig photos before apart from on my camera phone whilst being pushed about in the crowd, so it'll be completely new for me!
Cheers again
Click to expand...

If your a bit short for cash have a look in the for sale section here, they usually pop up there every so often.
 
has anyone shot a really dark gig, is there a different procedure, i am part of the uni radio station and tech the open mike on a rota, i wanna shot on the nights i don't tech. I can use flash (cos i say i can :D also cos i give the publicity people access to the photo's)
I would linky to some from the first (and so far only) time i had a go, i used photosoc's flash on camera, but atm i can't remember what my photobucket password is so i shall do that tomorrow night
 
david1701 said:
has anyone shot a really dark gig, is there a different procedure, i am part of the uni radio station and tech the open mike on a rota, i wanna shot on the nights i don't tech. I can use flash (cos i say i can :D also cos i give the publicity people access to the photo's)
I would linky to some from the first (and so far only) time i had a go, i used photosoc's flash on camera, but atm i can't remember what my photobucket password is so i shall do that tomorrow night
Click to expand...

Yeh, dark gigs are really tough, up the iso and/or use flash (preferably off-camera but bounced will do).
 
david1701 said:
has anyone shot a really dark gig, is there a different procedure, i am part of the uni radio station and tech the open mike on a rota, i wanna shot on the nights i don't tech. I can use flash (cos i say i can :D also cos i give the publicity people access to the photo's)
I would linky to some from the first (and so far only) time i had a go, i used photosoc's flash on camera, but atm i can't remember what my photobucket password is so i shall do that tomorrow night
Click to expand...

I have shot a couple of really low light gigs - the 'so little light that I'm lucky to get 1/30th at F1.4 ISO 1600.
Yes, flash is needed, but as soon as you flash you can loose atmosphere - this can be resolved by getting creative and opening the shutter for a bit longer to still expose the lights (And get some blur)
The flash will then freeze the musician a bit more. Can work, can look terrible - always worth a go if the other option is no decent shots.
 
If your going to use flash, make sure it's powered down, that way you won't lose the atmosphere too much.
 
I mainly shoot low light gigs and i shoot with: Canon 40d, Sigma 24-70 f2.8

Get yourself a 24-70/28-70/28-75 f2.8 (Depending on Brand) as i think you might find that the 50mm prime is a big restricted.

Get the ISO up to 1600 and shoot in RAW. This will enable you to get better control of your post processing.

Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top