As a huge live music fan I'll be taking a lot of low-light shots, smoky bars, etc. I haven't yet searched this forum, but if anyone can point me in the direction of some useful tips, tricks or info I'd be grateful. No worries though, this site and forum I am sure will be plenty for me to handle for some time to come.
-Jamal
(Nikon D70s)
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]You may want to take a look through the following photonet article which covers concert photography in some detail (though most of it is pre digital - still relevant though).
[a href=\"http://www.photo.net/learn/concerts/mirarchi/concer_i]Photonet concert article[/url]
If you are using a digital camera then I would suggest spending some time making sure that you have an appropriate white balance setting before you start shooting (even if you are shooting raw it is worth tagging the raw files with a standard WB setting so you don't have to fiddle to much later during processing). If it is an open air concert then daylight will work at the front of the stage (mostly) though you will need to experiment a bit. Indoors a good starting point is tungten with a couple of points away from magenta and towards green tint. With the different coloured lighting it is difficult for software or the cameras automated systems to guess an appropriate WB and you will end up with some strange WB settings and results.
A good high ISO performance does help (but then most digi cameras nowadays have reasonable performance) though a good dose of Noise Ninja or Neat Image - both noise removal programmes - will help. Depending upon you position vis-a-vis the performers and the type of shots you are trying to get then you may find working at f/5.6-f/8 gives better pictures with a greater depth of field (particularly in a dynamic environment). If you read the article you will get a better understanding of why big heavy wide open (and expensive) glass is not always necessary if you are on a tight budget to start with - though obviously the more money and better the kit the easier the job becomes.
Just for fun, here are some pictures that I took at a benefit concert (for New Orleans) a couple of weeks ago. And if some of the straight lines look a little bent... I was using a fisheye lens.
Crescent City JamFinally...great to see the forums back on line and big thanks to Michael and team for the effort.
