# Concert Photography (photo intensive)



## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

Alright guys, so this was my 6th year going to the Kingdombound Christian Music festival that takes place every year in Buffalo, NY. However it was my first time going since I've had a 70-200, so I spent ALOT more time taking photos at the concerts. I'm going to be on their photography staff next year, so I'll get better access. I think these photos came out pretty well considering I was in the crowd, or shooting over/around/between it. Let me know what you think:

*Skillet:
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*Disciple:
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The Classic Crime:
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More to come. Hope you enjoy them!


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

*RED: *
lighting here SUCKED so the photos aren't so great..


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*The Letter Black:

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*


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## dolphinstreet (Aug 4, 2011)

Cool, some good ones. What gear did you use? The Classic Crime 1) is awesome.


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

dolphinstreet said:


> Cool, some good ones. What gear did you use? The Classic Crime 1) is awesome.



Thanks man! All shots were taken with a Nikon D80 and Sigma 70-200 2.8. I can't wait to get a D7000 for better low light performance. Would have helped ALOT.


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## Omofo (Aug 4, 2011)

Lighting always sucks at shows. I usually have to use a flash, and then shot in B&W so it doesn't look like crap.


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 4, 2011)

Destin, nice series of images.  Some looked a little flat, I would have added a touch more contrast just to give them some punch.  You worked the light well.


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

Omofo said:


> Lighting always sucks at shows. I usually have to use a flash, and then shot in B&W so it doesn't look like crap.



I've NEVER seen a pro at a concert use a flash. It makes the photos look messed up, and pisses the artists off.


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> Destin, nice series of images.  Some looked a little flat, I would have added a touch more contrast just to give them some punch.  You worked the light well.



Thanks. I'm noticing that too. Maybe I'll go back and re-edit a few when I get bored. For now, I don't wanna see lightroom again for a few days haha


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 4, 2011)

It was only a few that could use a little contrast.  I agree about the flash, I don't think too many bands would be open to the idea. The biggest problem using a flash is that the image that you see is completely changed with a flash.  It is the avaliable light that created the image that the photographer sees, as soon as a flash is used that image is gone.  This is a common mistake with amateur photographers.  They look at something and go "wow that's amazing" a big blast of flash and they don't understand why it doesn't look "wow that's amazing" anymore.


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:
			
		

> It was only a few that could use a little contrast.  I agree about the flash, I don't think too many bands would be open to the idea. The biggest problem using a flash is that the image that you see is completely changed with a flash.  It is the avaliable light that created the image that the photographer sees, as soon as a flash is used that image is gone.  This is a common mistake with amateur photographers.  They look at something and go "wow that's amazing" a big blast of flash and they don't understand why it doesn't look "wow that's amazing" anymore.



Right. I tried flash at my first concert like 3 years ago. Took 1 shot with it, and haven't used flash at a concert since. It flattens the lighting too much and overpowers the mood of the stage lights. 

I guess you could make it work with an off camera flash, and a gel to make it look like a stage light. But concerts are too fast paced for that in my experience


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## Derrel (Aug 4, 2011)

Pretty decent. A few of them, like five images, seem quite solid. I'd agree with imagemaker46, that the contrast on these could be "goosed" a bit. Good shootin!


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## Destin (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks Derrel. It's nice to finally be reaching a point where I can get semi good feedback on this site. It took me long enough lol.


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## e.rose (Aug 4, 2011)

Destin said:


> Omofo said:
> 
> 
> > Lighting always sucks at shows. I usually have to use a flash, and then shot in B&W so it doesn't look like crap.
> ...


 


imagemaker46 said:


> It was only a few that could use a little contrast.  I agree about the flash, I don't think too many bands would be open to the idea. The biggest problem using a flash is that the image that you see is completely changed with a flash.  It is the avaliable light that created the image that the photographer sees, as soon as a flash is used that image is gone.  This is a common mistake with amateur photographers.  They look at something and go "wow that's amazing" a big blast of flash and they don't understand why it doesn't look "wow that's amazing" anymore.



Nice job dude!

In regards to flash... I agree.  I neeeeeeeeeeever ever ever ever use flash... except sometimes.  

The ONLY time I *ever* use flash is if the gelled lights are so strong that my camera's sensor is SOOOOOO unhappy and it can't find a middle ground between blowing out highlights or over saturating the light color.  I use  *touch*... and I mean a touch... of flash to wash out the light on the band members in that case.  The only other time I've used it was when there were literally 4 lights on the stage, and they were super dimmed down to the point that my ISO was too high and my shutter speed was too slow to do anything.

I think I've used flash at shows about... I dunno... 3 times this whole year?

And those were all at clubs and bars... not concerts.  I would never use a flash at a bigger concert like that.


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## amandawu (Aug 11, 2011)

Awesome! I love music espeacially rock music!
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## Kerbouchard (Aug 11, 2011)

I often use flash for band photography.  Just like with everything else, there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way.  Flash overpowering the ambient is the wrong way.  Flash supplementing ambient could have turned some of these into great shots.  Stage lighting is weird in a few ways.  One, it's not designed for photography.  Two, it's not designed to see accurate colors.  There are a lot of wavelengths that are missing and a subject that is illuminated by a light source with missing wavelengths means that some colors won't show up at all.  You can see that happening in several of these shots.  Like Derrel said, some are solid.  Those were also brightly lit.  You were at ISO 800, f/2.8 and still getting 1/640th of a second.  That's a pretty bright performance.  The ones that suffer were the ISO 2000, 2.8, at 1/200th of a second.

In any case, there is an art to balancing flash with ambient, ensuring the direction of the light looks natural, and ensuring the color of the light blends well, but just because it's not as easy as pointing and clicking, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.

Like you said, you were just part of the crowd this year, and all things considered, I think you did a pretty nice job.  The performances that were well lit look great.  The ones that weren't, well, there are some color balance issues, some focus issues, and some contrast issues.

Overall, nicely done.


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## fokker (Aug 16, 2011)

Kerbouchard said:


> I often use flash for band photography.  Just like with everything else, there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way.  Flash overpowering the ambient is the wrong way.  Flash supplementing ambient could have turned some of these into great shots.  Stage lighting is weird in a few ways.  One, it's not designed for photography.  Two, it's not designed to see accurate colors.  There are a lot of wavelengths that are missing and a subject that is illuminated by a light source with missing wavelengths means that some colors won't show up at all.  You can see that happening in several of these shots.  Like Derrel said, some are solid.  Those were also brightly lit.  You were at ISO 800, f/2.8 and still getting 1/640th of a second.  That's a pretty bright performance.  The ones that suffer were the ISO 2000, 2.8, at 1/200th of a second.
> 
> In any case, there is an art to balancing flash with ambient, ensuring the direction of the light looks natural, and ensuring the color of the light blends well, but just because it's not as easy as pointing and clicking, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.
> 
> ...



A lot of truth in this post ^^

Personally, I always use flash for concerts if I can (if it doesn't piss off the artists too much). Like Kerbouchard said, there's a right way and a wrong way. The right way is to still crank the ISO and shoot wide open (or close to it) so you get a large portion, say 70%, of the light on the subject from ambient/stage lighting and the flash (on camera in ETTL mode) just fills in the shadows, brings the exposure up to 'normal', and prevents you blowing out any one colour channel. It's been a while since I shot a concert, but here's an example from one of the most recent ones I did:







The last concert I was at which was a mate's band had such poor lighting and I had neglected to bring my speedlight, I was shooting at 12,500 ISO, f/1.4 and 1/30s. Needless to say I didn't get many keepers from that gig!


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## FilmaTroy (Sep 3, 2011)

Using flash during a concert as a professional and being in the "photo pit" is prohibited at all times. unless its a little whole in the wall venue.


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## PatrickJamesYu (Sep 6, 2011)

The girl in the first one is soo metal. haha

Good shots, I like them.


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## pixilstudio (Sep 6, 2011)

Omofo said:


> Lighting always sucks at shows. I usually have to use a flash, and then shot in B&W so it doesn't look like crap.


if you get a press pass you can never use flash... and you only get to shoot for the first 3 songs
here are mine from concerts past.... sorry hope you like wycleff Music Photography


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