Gig photography advice needed please.

_belial

_belial

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Hi all,

I'm going to be taking pictures at a gig next month and was wondering if anyone here had any advice ,as I've never done any gig photography before.

I've shot a fashion show before, which I imagine is a little similar, but the lighting will be much lower at the gig. I was thinking of hiring a faster lens from lensesforhire, I've got a D300 and fastest lens I have is the 50mm f/1.8 but think 50mm a bit too narrow perhaps, I reckon a 35mm f/1.4 or something should do, what do you think?

At the gig I do have VIP access though, so should be able to get pretty close and probably back stage as well which should make things easier, especially as i shouldn't have to fight the crowds.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

// Carl
 
Hey,

Any idea how far you will be from the stage?

Is it a big gig? or local music venue gig?

The 50mm 1.8 should do you proud, and the distance should be fine.

Maybe also something between 50-85mm (For Close Up's), but depends on how far you are from the stage.

I was shooting at a local music festival last year (all bands were in tents) and the lens i had were 50mm f1.8, and a 28-75mm f2.8.

I shoot gig's with apperture priority, or sometimes manual (1/125 shutter, f2.8 aperture) depending on how dark it is, and an average ISO of 800-1000, sometimes up to 1600 depending on light.

Although you dont really want to shoot below f2.8, i found with shooting at 1.8, some of the pictures werent great, i.e hand would be in focus, whilst the rest of the artist would start to blur because of the low DoF.

But most important of all! Just shoot loads, experiment and enjoy the experience! :banana:

Regards,

Scott
 
Thanks Scott.

The venue itself is pretty small I think, i've never been there but from the website it looks like an "intimite" venue :) So I shouldn't be that far away from the stage, and i'm assuming my VIP access will let me get right up front or even on to the side of the stage.

I'll have a look at what lensesforhire have there, as I don't have any really fast zoom's (my fastest zoom is f/3.5) but have a couple of primes (50mm@f1/8 and 28mm @ f/2) which, if i can't find anything else will do the trick.

Good point on shooting below 2.8 though, although at a fashion show i shot recently, i did it all using manual focus so hopefully that'll put an end to any problems with it focusing on people's hands etc.

Thanks again for the advice

// Carl
 
id seriously recommend renting a 17-55 f2.8 (if you're thinking of renting)
when i did gig photography it was the best by far to use. perfect range for getting full lengths and closeups even at close ranges. to be honest you wont really want to be restricted to just a 50mm and i agree you wouldnt want to be shooting fully wide with it. its annoying changing lenses at a gig, especially if there isnt a dividing barrier.

from what ive seen the d300 has excellent iso performance, so you should be fine
 
Focal length depends on what shots you want to take.
I recently worked as official snapper at a smallish music festival and found that 200mm (full frame sensor) wasn't quite long enough to get full head shots.

Agree with the comment about changing lenses - don't count on it.
I kept the 70-200 on the 5DII all weekend and used the trusty LX3 for the wide shots.
I carried other lenses with me but next time I don't think I'll bother.

Finally, if it's an intimate venue then be considerate and try not to spoil the enjoyment of the audience. The venue manager will tell you whet they think is acceptable behaviour.
 
around the places i shot at it was polite to only shoot for the first few songs of each band (assuming they're doing a normal length set) - which was normally plenty of time to get enough shots. plus it means you get to actually watch the band for a bit as well.


in gig photography the easiest thing is photographying bands you like. you'll know their songs (when theres likely to be action and movement, when they're going to be standing still, when they might interact with the crowd etc) and the type of performance they put on which gives you a huge advantage to predict the movements and envisage when you can get certain shots.
 
Oh I'll make sure i'm totally considerate to the audience, I got annoyed at a recent fashion show that i shot when a photographer with some stupid hat on got in the way every time I wanted to take a shot. I like what you mean about getting in for the first few songs, then i can go get a drink at the bar and mosh away :)

I may ask for a set list actually, then I can get a few at the start, and again at the end of the gig which will be good.

Thanks again everyone, really appreciate it.
 
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