Gig photography

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RobHollingworth

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Hi All

I am due to photography a gig for the first time in a few weeks, I have i few ideas on how to light up the band but just wanted advice from anyone with experience?

I have a 50mm 1.4 lens and was just thinking of opening that up fully to get a decent shutter speed in the low light, Since the place has stage lighting would this work out alright?

I also have a 10-20mm lens (4.5-5.6) could this be used without a flashgun in the venue?

Please help...I can't really experiment when i get there as there isn't time so need an idea of what/how to use.

Thanks

Rob
(nikon D90)
 
RobHollingworth said:
I have a 50mm 1.4 lens and was just thinking of opening that up fully to get a decent shutter speed in the low light, Since the place has stage lighting would this work out alright?
Click to expand...

In a nutshell yes.. there has to be enough light for a 1.4 :)

RobHollingworth said:
I also have a 10-20mm lens (4.5-5.6) could this be used without a flashgun in the venue?
Click to expand...

Take it and see but it's very doubtfull
 
You'll be very lucky to get anything with the 10-20, unless the band happens to stop moving during a slow bit and the light is good.

I have used the 10-20 at gigs with flash ok

4157047541_b0961816c0.jpg



Other gigs, the light has been good enough for f2.8

4167355262_e948012974.jpg



But a lot of the time I find the light is so bad I have to use the 50mm

4157049597_687c281797.jpg



Enjoy yourself :)
 
RobHollingworth said:
Hi All

I am due to photography a gig for the first time in a few weeks, I have i few ideas on how to light up the band but just wanted advice from anyone with experience?

I have a 50mm 1.4 lens and was just thinking of opening that up fully to get a decent shutter speed in the low light, Since the place has stage lighting would this work out alright?

I also have a 10-20mm lens (4.5-5.6) could this be used without a flashgun in the venue?

Please help...I can't really experiment when i get there as there isn't time so need an idea of what/how to use.

Thanks

Rob
(nikon D90)
Click to expand...

The 1.4 should be fine - may be a problem for close ups if you cant get near to the band.

The 4.5 -5.6 may be okay - if the lights ocassionally throw out some white or are pretty bright - but as said - you will need to up the ISO to around 1200-1600. This will give a bit of noise esp in the shadow areas. But you can convert to B7W and it looks atmospheric

Flash (if allowed - some gigs dont) will generally work - but unless you have time to play around with power settings etc you can light it up that much it takes the atmosphere of a gig away and can overide any lights etc.

There have been a number of good threads on the subject.

My main tips - shoot as much as possible ( I have done 300 shots to get 4/5 worth keepong!!) - shoot RAW - and try and keep your shutter speed as high as you can get away with. These flaming singers NEVER stand still!!

Good luck.
 
And shoot in manual mode.

I use the flash in eTTL (or I do now that I have flash that has eTTL :) ) at gigs that are poorly light and allow flash (I've found that gigs where the lighting is poor don't care about flash).
 
I wouldn't use a flash as it can look like they're gigging in the day... play with the lighting thats already there.

I'd try out shots of the supporting bands first just to get an idea of the scene.
 
I do a lot of gig photography and a lot depends on the light at the venue as has been discussed above. Also time, if you can spend an hour shooting away then you have time to experiment. If on the other hand you can only have the first 3 songs then yo have no time at all!!
My view would be to leave the 10-20 at home for the first gig, the 1.4 is the kiddy and even with that you will need to crank the ISO up to 1600. sometimes. Be prepared to move 'actively' to get the shots and angles, ie don't hope the performer will end up just where you want while you are stationary. This is more important using a 50mm prime as you have no zoom....so also be prepared to move backwards and forwards to frame shots. Remember that you can crop but you can't replace missing bits afterwards!
Have a practice with the kit you are going to use on the night and see what sort of range you have, [guitars stick out a long way and it spoils a good shot if a chunk is missing IMHO.
Focussing is really difficult sometimes, I use spot metering and focus on the face, its likely that at 1.4 you will have shallow DOF so bang off plenty of shots and hope you get good light.....

Good luck and enjoy!

Dunc
 
I'd still bring the 10-20mm and use a Speedlite with off shoe cord, gigs and create some tight shooting conditions and a wide angle can become essential.
I use a 17-35mm f/2.8L for the majority of shots I take, in situations where flash isn't advised I attach strobist gels to the inside of my flash diffuser to minimise the impact.
A 70-200mm f/2.8L is handy too for shots taken further back, as some bands only allow shots in the pit for the first 2 songs!

Have fun!
 
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