concert photography

[veruca]

So my husband and i are taking a drive this weekend to go see Colin Hay (yes, we’re 80’s geeks but he has some amazing recent acoustic stuff). It will be in a county fair/grandstand type environment but I want to try and get a few shots. I don’t know if there will be room for a tripod – anyone have any good tips and tricks to share?

[staplermofo]

Use a remote shutter trigger and a monopod you can half-bury in dirt?

[veruca]

what i’m hoping for is that space of no man’s land in front of the bleachers or whatever and close enough to just stand and snap them off. but yeah, i should look into acquiring a monopod at some point…

[neonstz]

I haven’t taken many concert pictures, but I’ll try to give some advice. There is no need for a tripod or a monopod unless you’re standing way back with a long tele. To freeze the action you need short shutter speeds, so handholding is fine.

The light will be tricky. The light meter will be fooled by the stage lighting since it can’t adjust the exposure fast enough. Be prepared to get some over/underexposured shots. Fast glass is nice, but if the light is good you may get away with slower zooms (f/4 etc). You’ll need to use high iso (1600 and faster).

I have some concert pics at
http://www.darkside.no/gallery/cloroform_and_shining_at_kongsberg_jazz_festival_2005/
http://www.darkside.no/gallery/hopalong_knut_at_kongsberg_jazz_festival_2005/
http://www.darkside.no/gallery/asbury_park_a_tribute_to_bruce_springsteen/
http://www.darkside.no/gallery/low_frequency_in_stereo_at_kongsberg_jazz_festival_2006/
http://www.darkside.no/gallery/wibutee_at_kongsberg_jazz_festival_2006/

The lenses I used were 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye, 50 mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2 and 85 mm f/1.4.

[schnee]

The lenses I used were 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye, 50 mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2 and 85 mm f/1.4.

Dude, that seems like some pricey glass. And that T/S you used in cityscapes couldn’t have been cheap. Me = envious.

[veruca]

Thanks to all and especially neonstz – I took your advice and kicked the ISO way up. I should have probably gine with 3200 but I stayed at 1600 most of the evening. This outing made for great practice playing with the lighting and such. Results are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yelley/sets/72157594226574554/

I set the manual camera stuff and then my husband and I passed the it back and forth most of the night. He got the shot of Colin and his wife Cecilia, and I got the ones of his hand in motion and his arm uplifted. Perhaps another farktographer was born last night 😀

[Saldo1981]

Perhaps another farktographer was born last night 😀

That means another camera will have to be added to the household. There’s nothing worse than fighting over a camera. So get yourself a new one and since he’s new to it all he gets the hand me down. 🙂

[veruca]

Perhaps another farktographer was born last night 😀

That means another camera will have to be added to the household. There’s nothing worse than fighting over a camera. So get yourself a new one and since he’s new to it all he gets the hand me down. 🙂

I gave him my old Nikon Coolpix 5400. I don’t know that he’ll actually show up for our Wednesday nights or not but I was happy the old cam has a new owner. It’s been looking lonely sitting on my shelf.

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