The key to remember when photographing concerts is that no matter how good the lighting technician on duty is, you will predominantly be trying to take photos in the dark, a feat cameras really weren't designed for in that they ideally need the most amount of light available to create the shot.
Here i will give you a few brief tips on setting up to get the best out of your gig photography. But please keep in mind that all situations vary, so use this information as a guide only as a base to adapt to your own configuration and the way you want to shoot.
The three main points you will need to modify on your camera are your F stops, ISO and shutter speed.
Here i will give you a few brief tips on setting up to get the best out of your gig photography. But please keep in mind that all situations vary, so use this information as a guide only as a base to adapt to your own configuration and the way you want to shoot.
The three main points you will need to modify on your camera are your F stops, ISO and shutter speed.
F Stops
Simply put, the lower number (the wider aperture) the better. No matter your camera body, you will need a good, fast lens, preferably F2.8 or better. Your go to settings should be F2.8 or F3.2. You want to allow the most light to hit the sensor but you may also need to increase the F stop to F3.2 or higher to get a greater depth of field and get more of the scene/person in focus.
ISO
ISO should be high enough to get the shot but as low as you possibly can in order to eliminate noise and artifacts on the final image. Usually i shoot around the 1600 ISO mark but this will vary GREATLY on your lighting technician on the night and the venue, if you have good lights, you should be fine. But in situations where lighting is poor or nonexistent, you will have to push that number up to 3200 or even 6400 and suffer with the noise issues in order to get a focused and clear image.
Shutter Speed
Finally you are going to want to use a shutter speed that will allow the most light into the camera but also capture and freeze the motion of the artist on stage. In a dark environment you could use a shutter speed of 1/30 or below to get a visible image, but you would need a tripod and a static subject, neither of which are feasible. To capture the movement you are going to want to use a shutter speed ideally greater than 1/200th of a second. This will reduce light into your sensor and as such you may have to adjust the ISO and F Stop accordingly but it should be an ideal starting point to freeze most movement. Again this depends on the artist on stage, if they are a solo artist choosing to sit then you can use an even slower shutter speed to lower the ISO and reduce the noise on the final image. However, if you're photographing a lively band running around the stage then you're going to want to push that shutter speed as high as you dare or can, even at the expense of noise if needs be or your photos will be blurry.
Hopefully these few pointers will be a good starting place and enable you to build your own settings and ideas. Again use these with a pinch of salt, as in all aspects of photography, the settings will change every time, you need to adapt on the fly to what you're faced with.
Happy Shooting.
Simply put, the lower number (the wider aperture) the better. No matter your camera body, you will need a good, fast lens, preferably F2.8 or better. Your go to settings should be F2.8 or F3.2. You want to allow the most light to hit the sensor but you may also need to increase the F stop to F3.2 or higher to get a greater depth of field and get more of the scene/person in focus.
ISO
ISO should be high enough to get the shot but as low as you possibly can in order to eliminate noise and artifacts on the final image. Usually i shoot around the 1600 ISO mark but this will vary GREATLY on your lighting technician on the night and the venue, if you have good lights, you should be fine. But in situations where lighting is poor or nonexistent, you will have to push that number up to 3200 or even 6400 and suffer with the noise issues in order to get a focused and clear image.
Shutter Speed
Finally you are going to want to use a shutter speed that will allow the most light into the camera but also capture and freeze the motion of the artist on stage. In a dark environment you could use a shutter speed of 1/30 or below to get a visible image, but you would need a tripod and a static subject, neither of which are feasible. To capture the movement you are going to want to use a shutter speed ideally greater than 1/200th of a second. This will reduce light into your sensor and as such you may have to adjust the ISO and F Stop accordingly but it should be an ideal starting point to freeze most movement. Again this depends on the artist on stage, if they are a solo artist choosing to sit then you can use an even slower shutter speed to lower the ISO and reduce the noise on the final image. However, if you're photographing a lively band running around the stage then you're going to want to push that shutter speed as high as you dare or can, even at the expense of noise if needs be or your photos will be blurry.
Hopefully these few pointers will be a good starting place and enable you to build your own settings and ideas. Again use these with a pinch of salt, as in all aspects of photography, the settings will change every time, you need to adapt on the fly to what you're faced with.
Happy Shooting.