Beginner Newbie Looking for Helpful Advice & Critique

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Name
Simon
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, I am new here and this is my first post, so sorry if I ramble on a bit, but there are some questions in there (somewhere) and really just after peoples advice I guess.

I am in no way a professional photographer (my trade is website development and social media marketing), but do have a very keen interest in improving myself as a hobby.

My genre of choice is concert photography (yeah, I know, not exactly the easiest thing to shoot!) so a lot of my references will be based around that.

Up until a few months ago I made do with my iPhone 6s. It took pictures, I could share these on social media and reminisce. I was fairly satisfied with the results and had no real desire to spend money on a new camera.

Recently, this all changed and I found myself wanting to photograph more and more, especially seeing as I have been lucky enough to get to quite a few gigs this year.

As I mentioned above, primarily I will be shooting concerts, so this means we, the general public, are restricted to the type of camera that will be permitted in to a venue. Times have changed over the last 4/5 years and venues (and promoters) have come to realise that most people carry a camera phone with them these days, so there is no way to completely outlaw concert photography anymore and thus they tend to allow small, pocket style point and shoot cameras in without any fuss.

With that in mind, I spent quite a large amount of time researching cameras before settling on one that a) came highly recommended, b) was within budget and c) I felt comfortable with. I was given 3 strong recommendations; the Canon G16, Lumiz TZ60/100 and the Sony RX100 IV. I opted for the latter, largely due to the rave reviews about how well it operates in low light (again, ideal for most concerts), the fact it kept coming up as the 'go to' camera when searching for 'best concert pocket camera' and Google and, in all honesty, I liked the look and feel of it. It wasn't cheap, but I also went for a spare battery, extended warranty, case and high end memory card.

Now I've NEVER messed about with cameras before. The only cameras I've had I have just zoomed in, pressed the button and hoped for the best - and usually got the worst lol!! With this one, it is a whole new ball game. I have a purpose, a focus, a drive to learn the camera, learn photography and understand how, and what, is needed to ensure I get the best possible shots (I'm not afraid to run them through Lightroom or Photoshop if I have to!).

I spent a few days playing about with it, taking the usual shots of the kids, cats and random household objects, whilst learning the buttons and generally getting a feel for it before heading off to my first gig with my new companion last weekend.

Being a keen concert goer, I tend to usually try and get front row (which often involves days of queuing for some artists...) which is the ideal spot for the RX100 IV as it has a pretty short Optical zoom (it does have digital as well but I have kept that switched off), so was quietly confident about getting 'something' with the new toy, even if it was on par with what I shoot with the iPhone. To say I was impressed with my first few is and understatement. I didn't try anything fancy, and kept the camera on 'auto' mode - playing it safe!

Heres a few from the support band, The Marcus King Band. I'd love peoples opinions, critique etc.

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMMrmGXj5eM/


View: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMMr3qLDbir/


As I said, these were all on auto (no flash, minimum zoom), but having gotten braver I would be looking to play around more with shutter speed, ISO etc, so would love to hear what settings other people use in these situations? Any tips or tricks to capture sharp images?
 
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