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I've been trying to capture my brothers band live at several shows with mixed results. I'v recently bought a Nikon D80 with 18-200mm VR Lens. Could someone point me in the right direction when photographing at gigs where the light changes every 2 seconds!! Up to now its pretty much been a case of - Take plenty shots & hope for a few good ones. I'd really like to have more success from the start.
Thanks for any help
Robin
First thing, bang your ISO up as high as you can bear.
Obviously with a Nikon you get more noise than you would with a Canon, but that is something you chose before buying your Nikon!
I am sure others will chip in with more advice.
How are your pics coming out?
When we know what the "problem" is. more detailed help will be forthcoming, I am sure.
Can you upload something?
Pete
My pics are coming out underexposed, out of focus, a bit of everything really!! I have had some really good ones too!
I tried last weekend with the ISO up at 800 with a little more success but find it difficult to get a shutter speed low enough to freeze the action & expose correctly. I also want as little noise as possible. I use Manual normaly.
Can someone give me tips on spot metering? Would that help?
Thanks
Hi Robin
As Nik says above, aperture priority, open lens up, ISO at least 1600 and let the camera work out the shutter speed. I usually leave the camera on evaluative metering.
At the last gig I shot, I was getting shutter speeds of between 1/30 and 1/125. Out of approx 200 shots about half were acceptable, and about 30 were good.
Lin
It sounds like the main thing you need is a lens with a large aperture - at least an f2.8 maybe even faster - an f1.2 (can't tell you about Nikon lenses, I use a Canon). The light levels might be too low for autofocus so you could try manual focusing - or even focusing on something midstage then flicking the lens to manual to hold the focal distance and then shooting and hoping for the best. Whatever you'll probably need a ISO of 400 or greater. Other poosiblity is to invest in a powerful flash. Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with blurry shots of band - just more rock n roll! Good luck.
Many thanks for all your comments. I'll try to put it into practice tomorrow.
Robin
Better if you can get away without using the flash. I have found that if you can keep your camera steady with a part of the stage, a table or even speaker, you can have a slower shutter speed (around 1/10) this will keep objects sharp but the band's movements can be exciting.
I once used a bit of flash with a slow shutter - this can be effective also.
My advice would be to get your camera into the mood of the music... if it is head-banging metal - get some noisey shots of flying hair. If it is psych-a-delic - get some light trails. If it is well composed - go for some straight well composed shots.
I tried something very similar with my brothers band, i have a D50 and Sigma 18-200 lens. Is always going to be tough without an expensive fast f/2.8 lens but you have to do your best!
Try ISO 800 to start with to get good sensitivity without the cripling noise - I have Nikon and the noise isnt too much of a problem if you learn when to use sensitivity. flash is a must but not too much, attach a diffuser or turn down the output to around -2 levels. just to add some light but not illunate all the background. shutter speed will be around 1/60 second, so try to stay very still and try to move with the artist to keep some of them sharp
Ive tried pictures with a 2 second exposure nice and wide and then use Rear-Sync flash. this will record blurred lighting so make sure you move your camera little during the exposure, at the end of 2 seconds make sure your subject is in frame and the flash will flash illuminating the person. this gives a sharp bright person from the flash in front a load of blurred lights. try experimenting - around 1 in 20 come out as expected! this will give you better exposure as well without having to up the ISO.
Basically just experiment with shutter speeds, flash, angles and be creative. most of the shots will be rubbish but you normally get a couple of crackers!
Nick
I primarily shoot bands and musicians, and have shot under a multitude of lighting conditions. I shoot with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi with either a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM or a Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens. I am pretty determined to not shoot with flash, so an ISO of 1600 is more commonly used in TV mode. My shutter speed ranges from 1/15th to approximately 1/30th of a second. This gives me a good starting point.
Depending on the amount of action, I usually get a nice point of focus, with just enough motion blur to get a feel of movement. Depending on the available lighting, you will have to adjust the exposure accordingly. The final photos will be a bit grainy, but the light/dark contrast is pleasing.
The biggest problem I find is working with red stage lights. A little tweak in Photoshop can lessen the red tones. And if you find there is just too much red in your pictures, a good fix is to convert it to black and white using the channel mixer.
Hope this helps!
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