 Scott J. Chalmers |
How to shoot photos at dark music gigs Hi there - can anyone give me any tips for photographing live music gigs that are dark with stage lighting. I'm told to use 800iso film for b&w (possibly with flash) I have a Minolta Dynax/maxxum 5 with a Minolta AF 28-105mm f1.35-4.5 Zoom lens. I want to do colour shots too so any pointers will be much appreciated. Thanks
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- Craig m. Zacarelli Contact Craig m. Zacarelli Craig m. Zacarelli's Gallery |
the first thing is get a good flash, a powerfull one would be good but alot of bands / venues might not let you shoot flash.. then youll need a great lens, something that is at least F2.8.. constant.. your lens will be slow for dark indoor shoots at f4. Also, lear to shoot correct exposures at high ISo's.. youll wanna practice this with different ISO's so you can see where you get usable and totally unusable photos. does Minolta make a constant f2.8 lens like canons 70-200mm f2.8 IS L? thats a rocking lens.
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Jon Close |
See http://photo.net/learn/concerts/mirarchi/concer_i for a terrific tutorial on photographing concerts. Flash is often not necessary due to the bright spot lights on the performers, and if you're in a ticketed seat you're probably too far away to use flash any way.
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David A. Bliss |
Scott, we need a little more detail. Are you going to be able to be moving around and getting close to the stage? I don't know much about Minolta, but with you mentioning film, I am guessing this is a film camera, or do you have both a film and digital camera? While something like a 70-200 2.8 would be a great lens, it is not always practical. If you are closer to the stage, or want to get most (or all) of the band in a shot, it will not go wide enough. Also, it is an expensive lens, and not knowing your budget, could be out of your price range. Your 28-105 would be a great lens, if it was faster. Even at 28 3.5, it might be a little slow. The 800 B&W will help, and you can push it to 1600 without much issue, which then makes 3.5 a usable fstop. Remember also that the stage lights are quite bright (depending on the venue). I have shot a number of shows with a 50mm 1.8 lens (I shoot Canon). It is actually an older lens that came with one of the film cameras I bought years ago. With the 1.6 "crop" factor on my 10D, it effectively becomes an 80mm 1.8. This lens has worked very well, since the shows I have shot I have been able to go where ever I want, barring where it was too croweded of course. The other nice thing about the 50mm is that they are fairly inexpensive, usually good, and can be found used quite a bit (from the film days when SLRs were often sold with a 50mm lens). Do not, I repeat, do not use a flash. From a photographer's standpoint, it will make the image look flat, washed out, and not have any sense of drama. From a musician's standpoint (I can speak for both) it can be very annoying to have a flash going off in your face. If you are close enough for the flash to be effective, you are close enough for the flash to be blinding. http://www.blissphotoart.com/musicianslive/ This is a link to some of the images I have shot at live shows. Let us know if you have any more questions.
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Wow thanks everyone, thats great..... I'll give a bit more info:- I'm new to this so excuse my ignorance... My camera is an Autofocus film SLR....budget currently prevents digital..bugger I will probably be right at the front of the stage in most cases but will be moving around a little - in most cases the venue eill be samll so can get very close. My camera and lenses are listed below....all from Ebay!!! Budget is a problem as the moment but have just purchased a 50mm f1.7 lens. AS far as I'm aware the zoom if F 1.35-4.5 (see below) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280147129435&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=018 Scott
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David A. Bliss |
Ok, this helps ;-) You will be shooting film with one camera. I realize you want to shoot both B&W and color, but you might be better sticking with B&W, because you can get away with 800 ISO. In my experience, anything over 400 ISO with film was very grainy. I shot mostly Velvia slide before I went digital though, so there are probably people here who have more experience than me with film. At 800 ISO, you might be able to get away with shooting at 3.5, which is what the 28-105 will be at 28mm. At 105mm, it will be 4.5, which is going to prove tough. Push the film to 1600, and you *might* be able to get away with it. If you can, talk to the lighting tech. See if he will turn on a couple of lights before the show (some will, some won't, really depends on the person and the situation). This way you can get a meter reading ahead of time. If you can't do that, then take some time at the begining of the show and meter on one of the musicians while the light is on them. The light changes so quickly that the camera might have trouble metering quickly enough. You will need to shoot a lot of pictures. Some will be blurry. Some will not be framed well. Stage lights move fast, so you will get pictures that are underexposed because by the time you pressed the shutter, the light moved to someone else. The 50mm will be your best lens, simply because it is 1.7. Since it is a fixed lens, you will need to sneaker zoom. This means that you will zoom in and out by moving forward and backward. I would take some time to get to know your camera and lenses. Put a roll of 800 ISO film in, and take some meter readings in similar situations. Also, get an idea of how far away you need to be with the 50mm lens to get a frame filling shot. These are my suggestions. Really, it will come down to practice. You will learn a lot from the first experience, and can use that for the next one. Good luck! Hope to see some pics soon!
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Thats great - all makes sense to me apart from the AF 28-105mm f1.35-4.5 lens only going to 3.5? Apologies for the ignorance. I'm going to do a lot of B&W first before breaking into colour!!! Cheers
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David A. Bliss |
Scott, I believe it is actually a 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5 lens. The 1 is simply used to give the number as a ratio. The lens is *probably* f3.5-4.5. I think this is the same lens http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220146203523&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=220141755425&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget#ebayphotohosting
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Crikey I hope not - I bought it especially because of the wide apperture! I would have stuck with the standard lens that it came with.... If that is the case then I going to ask for my money back! Rrrrrrrubbish!
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Yep you are right it is f3.4-4.5 - bloody hell - someone is getting a kurt email sent in there direction. Nevermind
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David A. Bliss |
So how is it progressing, Scott? Have you had a chance to get to any gigs, yet? Something else we didn't discuss was shutter speed. While a fast shutter speed is nice, so you can stop the action, don't be afraid of a slower shutter speed. Typically, it is considered best to not have a shutter speed slower than the focal length of the lens for hand held. For example, a 50mm lens you should keep the shutter speed at 1/60th. However, if you have a steady hand, you can possibly get away with 1/30th. Slower shutter speeds at shows can have a nice effect. You can catch the drummer's hand in a downward motion, for example, which gives a sense of motion. Or, say the lead singer is not moving much, but the guitarist is jumping up and down. It can create a nice juxtaposition to have movement in the background, with a still foreground. Anyway, keep us posted!
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Thanks again DAvid thats good advice!! "Operation Fist Gig" took place last saturday at the local venue The Joiners - Southamptons finest! 1600 speed B&W with 50mm lense f2.8 - photos are off to the lab for processing so watch this space Shutter was working nice an quick and focus was behaving so hopefully should have some rasonable shots!
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David A. Bliss |
Anxiously awaiting some pictures.... ;-)
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Anxiously awaiting for the lab to hurry its sorry arse up and delver them!!! hehe Apparantly its now rare to order blak and white so its goes of in batches when they have enough!!
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Scott J. Chalmers |
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Scott J. Chalmers |
They failed to load....so either my gallery or... http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v229/mushroomheadache/Serpico/ More to follow
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Scott J. Chalmers |
Here are both sets from that night... They have been tinkered with a light in Adobe Lightroom to help reduce the graininess of the 1600 speed film.... What do you think? PS would a 2x enlarger filter still work ok in this situation? http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchalmers/
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Scott J. Chalmers |
I've got another question about using a flash (when allowed), ive seen a number of people use a flash with a plastic diffuser, some with a fabric diffuser and some with just a card reflector? Which is best?
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