Hey guys,

My friend is holding a concert for charity in a weeks time and he wants me to be the photographer during the concert. I was wondering if you had any advice for doing photography during the gig?

I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks in advance,
Chris.

Ory wrote:Hey guys,

My friend is holding a concert for charity in a weeks time and he wants me to be the photographer during the concert. I was wondering if you had any advice for doing photography during the gig?

I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks in advance,
Chris.

Take spare batteries and make sure they're fully charged. Any idea what their lighting is going to be like?

I've done a concert event or two in my day and I think the best idea is to take along the fastest glass you can get your hands on. If the lighting is anything like what I had to deal with (low and crappy) you will find much use in lenses in the f/2.8 range, especially if there is movement on the stage and you are shooting hand-held. A 50mm f/1.8 is a cheap and easy fix to low light situations, but you will have to be relatively close to pull that off.

For nice clear shots, depending on the camera you are using, pushing the ISO up to around 1600 or so should give you shutterspeeds in the 1/60th range, 1/125 would be better if you can. A tripod if you have an area dedicated to you is not a bad idea either.

If they are using a lot of spot lighting, and a mix of colored lights, using the spot meter function on the camera instead of the average will result in better exposure in many more shots also...just remember to center your subject when you shoot and you can crop for composition and rule of thirds in post-processing. Play with the manual settings also for a few really different shots.

As Josh said...plenty of spare batteries, clean your glass before the shoot, and extra memory cards! Shoot way more photos than you think you need because you really cant tell if a shot is a tad OOF by using the LCD panel on the back of the camera.

Hope this helps a bit....and have fun!

itsmymoment about covered it. Good advice. I definitely agree with taking the fastest glass you have, at least f2.8. The one thing I might add is that you might take a monopod if you don't have a dedicated area where a tripod would work. They're great for stability in tighter areas. Good luck! Show us a couple of shots when you're done.

Somehow they forget the most important thing...

DON'T GET DRUNK!!!

robvdn wrote:Somehow they forget the most important thing...

DON'T GET DRUNK!!!

Yeppers...forgot that tip! It's actually an important point...as the lead photographer, whether paid or not, it's actually a good idea to NOT get so wrapped up in the event that you begin to act like one of the party and not a professional at all times...Drinking "on the job" is always a bad idea, even for photographers! You never know who may be watching and where your next "paid" gig is coming from. Remain a true professional and set an example and you may get more work than you bargained for!

And while I'm on the subject....one last tip

"NEVER let them see you sweat!"...meaning...whether you really know what you're doing or not...ALWAYS act like you KNOW what you're doing! LOL

robvdn wrote:Somehow they forget the most important thing...

DON'T GET DRUNK!!!

There's usually plenty of joints going around a concert anyways.

Thanks guy!! Great tips and advice! If the question still needs answered, although I think it was covered, this will be one of those, dark, inside a club, poor lighting sort of gigs.
I have a press pass and back stage passes along with permission to be on stage during the performance so I can pretty much go anywhere.

The concert is on the 27th and as soon as I edit and sort the pictures I want then I will share them with you guys.

Except the best ones, which I will reserve as contest entries....

Thanks Again, If you think of anything else, I'm always learning.