Sorry guys.. Gig photography help needed :p

louise-knight

louise-knight

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Louise Knight
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Hey,

I know this sort of question gets asked all the time, but after going through around 10 pages and finding nothing, I figured I'd ask myself :)

My boyfriends band is playing at the wedgewood rooms, Portsmouth this Wednesday & I was going to take my camera along & just wondered if anyone had any pointers as I've only really shot them at pubs with bad lighting, wheras this is a proper music venue :p

kit:
canon 30D
canon 450D
17-85 f4-5.6 IS
50 1.4
& the possibility of a 70-200 L f4

is there any point on taking the 70-200?

Any help or tips will be hugely appreciated :)

lou
 
I don't know the venue but "proper" might not mean there's any real amount of light available so f/4 just might not be possible. One of the best venues for light in my area has the smallest budget whereas the places with a much better budget couldn't care at all about light.

Any chance you can get along beforehand and check, or have a quick word with the lighting guy on the night and see what he can do?
 
I did a quick search on flickr and the lighting looks pretty good, as far as my lighting knowledge goes, I'll have another look tomorrow to see what exif comes up :)

still, any advice still appreciated :)
 
I know I love my 50 but I'm worried it won't be enough as I'm not sure how close I'll be able to get.. It's a metal gig and from past experience, I'd like to stay as far back from the stage as possible so as not to get knocked out :p
 
louise-knight said:
I know I love my 50 but I'm worried it won't be enough as I'm not sure how close I'll be able to get.. It's a metal gig and from past experience, I'd like to stay as far back from the stage as possible so as not to get knocked out :p
Click to expand...

If it's a small place a big camera can often get you in front of the barrier, assuming there is one. Just blag it, I do :D
 
with those lenses, bash the zoom on the body with better high iso performance, and the 50mm prime on the other - you'll probably use the prime most, by far, and just use the other at 17mm for wider shots.

Depending on the venue / cameras, iso 400 or 800, or if it's really lame, 1600, aperture priority, and go wide open on each lens. Spot metering.

Oh, and asking the lighting guy won't help. If it's a big venue, they'll already have their cues set, and if it's a small venue, they'll have a limited amount of lights that they'll have already positioned. That and, too much light tends to make it look really bad for the audience, which is who the lighting guy is lighting for, not the photographer ;)
 
Do you know if there's a pit or are you just shooting from the crowd? If there's a pit the 50mm 1.4 will bring the joy (I used to have one and then I dropped it :( )

Dave's spot on above.

Also lighting guys are all evil. And they all like red and blue lights, which are the worst.
 
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