# Concert Photography



## amarine88 (Aug 11, 2008)

I finally managed to get passes backstage to Warped Tour so I'm going to be able to shoot it. I have shot concerts before, but with a point and shoot camera because I wasn't able to bring in my DSLR. I cam going to be able to bring it and a lense or two to Warped Tour this Sunday and am wondering if you guys have any advice. What lenses should i bring? What f stop and shutter do u recommend? Any other advice you have for shooting live shows would be great!

I have some shots from a couple of the things i have shot on my flickr.


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## im_trying11 (Aug 11, 2008)

dont go in a mosh pit


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## amarine88 (Aug 11, 2008)

im_trying11 said:


> dont go in a mosh pit


haha i am actually bringing a ton of padding and multiple cases. I want to get some shots WHILE crowd surfing


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## im_trying11 (Aug 11, 2008)

good luck with that


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## flipsidestudio (Aug 12, 2008)

amarine88 said:


> haha i am actually bringing a ton of padding and multiple cases. I want to get some shots WHILE crowd surfing


I hope you have insurance on your equipment.

Seriously, that's a good way for things to get broken.  I don't know how late you're going to be there or be shooting but you may want to bring a good external flash.


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## JHF Photography (Aug 12, 2008)

amarine88 said:


> What lenses should i bring? What f stop and shutter do u recommend? Any other advice you have for shooting live shows would be great!


 
What lenses do you have? Is it an indoor concert, outdoor concert, daytime or night time? How close/far away from the stage will you be? Where will you be shooting from? This info would really help answer your questions.

I'm going to assume for now that it's an indoor show, which means it will be dark in there except for stage lights. If that's the case, you're going to want a fast lens, the wider the aperture the better. I shoot any indoor shows with a 50mm 1.8, and I try keeping around 2.2 to allow a bit more depth of field. That should give you a reasonable shutter speed for handholding the shot and freezing the action, depending on the lighting.

If you have a fast zoom, that would be handy, but zooms less than 2.8 probably won't be much use.

I wouldn't recommend a flash..... it tends to kill the mood of the lighting. I only use my flash unit if the lighting is to dark to work with (generally very small club venues).


Hope this helps.


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## ksmattfish (Aug 12, 2008)

amarine88 said:


> What lenses should i bring?



My favorites are a wide zoom, and a fast, normal prime.  I only shoot in bars and small venues so I'm usually within 10' of my subjects.  When I'm shooting bands I carry a Canon 5D with a Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 and a Canon 50mm f/1.4.  



amarine88 said:


> What f stop and shutter do u recommend?



Whatever you can get away with.  I'm often shooting at 1/15th, and with the aperture wide open or stopped down 1/3rd.



amarine88 said:


> Any other advice you have for shooting live shows would be great!



I like raw for easy color noise reduction and white balance adjustment.  

I find (with Canon DSLRs) I get less noise increasing the ISO and making sure the exposure is good than using a slower ISO and underexposing.  That said don't be afraid to crank the ISO all the way up and under expose if you have to.  Sometimes it's just dark, and it's either under expose or skip the shot.  If you get excellent emotion, action, and angle of view most folks won't complain about the noise.  

Check out my live music photography from this year at http://www.henrypeach.com/gallery/index.php?cat=4


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## amarine88 (Aug 12, 2008)

luckily its an outdoor day show. I'm not sure how close I will be getting. I have a backstage pass but because I dont work for any official press I can't get a press pass. I am going to try to get into the photo pit.

Thanks for all the advice so far and keep it coming if you have any more tips on composition and such.


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## JerryPH (Aug 13, 2008)

Outdoor or indoor it will not make a difference. Last Saturday (Aug 9), I was talked into going to get some pics for my niece at an outdoor concert/fair/air balloon event... man, I tell you, I almost had fun (ok certain things aside, it was fun!).

Besides the pick-pocket attempt, and later the teen's hand that I caught trying to get into my backpack (almost broke his hand then and there, he was hauled off by his friends crying like a baby), the constant pushing and shoving and finally the 200 decible screams of wildly excited girls that usually end up being 3 inches from your ears, you can have a good time... maybe.

Right now, I can guarantee you that a P&S is going to get you MAYBE a 1 in 200 chance of a clear picture. From all the pictures that I saw of people beside and around me, thats a fair estimate. These events are just either too far, too dark and too fast for an average P&S to get anything meaningful.

I had the D200 and 70-200 lens, and to be honest, I thought I would have trouble, but I found people unusually respectful of my equipment and the biggest issue I had was to stop getting tired from carrying it around and being pushed just as I took the pic, over and over. 

If you want half reasonable pics, nothing short of a dSLR and a long lens is going to cut it. The event that I was at was on the South Shore or Montreal in a town called St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu and the bands there were Creature, Hedley and Tokio Hotel:

From the group Creature:



 

From the group Hedley:





 
Bill, lead singer of Tokio Hotel:





 
Wear comfortable shoes, be rested before as I felt like I ran a marathon after standing there for 4-5 hours!

 Edit:  I wondered what a mosh pit was... but it became apparent as soon as I saw it... hilarious.   


As for settings... you are going to need a camera that has low noise at higher ISO and a fast lens (F/2.8 or numerically lower). Average settings for the pics I have above are ISO between 800-1250 (I should have gone to ISO 1600!), aperture at F/2.8.  There is no "one good" setting.  Your dSLR will tell you what you need to get the proper exposure.  Flashes during the concert are normally NOT allowed, but since one is normally over 50 feet away from the subjects, they are all but useless anyways (I do not know what they will allow backstage, though!).

Bring plenty of storage (enough for several hundred pictures) and extra batteries if you have them.  In one very long day, I went through two 8GB cards and three batteries.  Finally... get there EARLY and find a good spot to shoot from.


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## amarine88 (Aug 13, 2008)

THANK YOU! That last long post was very helpful! 

I am shooting with a low-end pentax dslr. Its a great camera for a starting one, but i never get anything below f/4 and with my only decent zoom lense dont get below f/5 but you work with what you got  The concert is this sunday so wish me luck! I'll post pics after. 

(i hope the backstage pass i got is real)


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## epatsellis (Aug 14, 2008)

If you have a longer, fastish lens, bring it. My typical concert shooting outfit is:

300 f4 EDIF-AF on F4
180 f2.8 on F3
135 f2 on F3 (alternating with a 35-105 at times)

While a 300 sounds longish, it lets you get shots like this from a reasonable distance:


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## JerryPH (Aug 14, 2008)

That300mm at F/4 is definitely good enough for day shots, but it's going to be hard to get down to a shutter speed that is fast enough at those zoom levels to avoid motion blur at a fast moving concerts, unless you can really jack up the ISO to at least 1600 or more at night... of course by then most dSLRs have some pretty serious noise issues to contend with.  You could always try cropping to get in closer...

Like this, perhaps?:







Though these shots display the character of the performers, I think I prefer shots that are a little wider that let me display the dynamics of what is happening on the stage.  This is something hard to do at 300mm without a nice tripod or monopod... or some really fantastic hand-holding technique (thats just beyond me... lol).







I don't know, maybe I am off.  This was after all, my first time in this kind of an event with a camera, and I was more blown away by being there than concentrating on doing my best with my equipment.
​


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## John_Olexa (Aug 14, 2008)

I have never shot a concert where flash was allowed.
So I use the highest ISO & shoot Wide open. I carry a few lenses but use mostly by 70-200 2.8

Lee Ann Wolmack






Keith Urban


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## RyanLilly (Aug 14, 2008)

Warped tour, sweet! I haven't been to warped tour in years, but For anyone that's wondering, its big. At least 3 stages, usually 2 main stages that alternate between bands, and one ore two side stages for smaller acts, this thing is  probably always outdoors, and goes on starting around noon(I think), and goes into the night till 11 or 12, 

The main stages are pretty big, so a longer lens will be useful, during the day slower glass will be fine, at night with stage lighting a monopod or bracing yourself/camera against things will probably be nessisary, but you should be able to get some nice shots. Pretty much just set you ISO to its highest, you will get more keepers, even though they have noise. 

Even very slow shutter speeds can usually freeze motion well enough for concerts and can look very cool especially if there is fog, smoke or haze, your main problem will be camera shake. Bring a lot of memory and expect your keeper rate to be lower than you normal.


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## JerryPH (Aug 14, 2008)

John_Olexa said:


> I have never shot a concert where flash was allowed.
> So I use the highest ISO & shoot Wide open. I carry a few lenses but use mostly by 70-200 2.8
> 
> Lee Ann Wolmack



I'm not into country at all, but I love  Lee Ann Womack!  Woot! Woot! 

The Nikkor 70-200 F/2.8 VR did me good too... best $1600 I ever spent.   As far as shutter speeds, maybe it was me, but I was hard-pressed to get motion-blur free pics at anything under 1/125th under the conditions that I went through last weekend.  My keeper rate was WAY lower, like Ryan said.


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## epatsellis (Aug 14, 2008)

Quite true Jerry, this time of year there's a ton of festivals around here, all free and most with decent musical entertainment, so the f4 works fine. One other thing I forgot to mention was I still shoot film for a lot of my outdoor work, especially since I'm trying to whittle down the 300 or 400 rolls of 35mm film I still have on ice. The 180 2.8 works quite well on the Fuji S2, I just never take it unless I know I want or need to shoot digital. Something about only shooting 4 or 5 rolls, make you a little more particular as to what you shoot, hence the keeper ratio is quite a bit higher. (I also have the flexibility to push 1 or 2 stops if need be, one of the advantages of processing your own film)

erie


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## amarine88 (Aug 14, 2008)

another question i have that you guys might be able to help me with, all your help so far has been great!

If you aren't a professional how do you normally get your camera into the show? I know most venues say no SLRs but do they actually enforce that? I have been told there isnt anyway into the phto pit without credentials but just want to run that buy some people who may have actually shot at shows before. 

tl;dr
How can I get my camera in without credentials and is it possible to get into the press pit?


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## JerryPH (Aug 15, 2008)

epatsellis said:


> Quite true Jerry, this time of year there's a ton of festivals around here, all free and most with decent musical entertainment, so the f4 works fine. One other thing I forgot to mention was I still shoot film for a lot of my outdoor work, especially since I'm trying to whittle down the 300 or 400 rolls of 35mm film I still have on ice.



Not to start a debate about digital vs film, but there is also the ability of film's higher dynamic ranges, and hence another small advantage in the exposure range and final results.  Digital is good, its all that I shoot now... but it has a little ways to go before it gets to true film specifications.


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## JerryPH (Aug 15, 2008)

amarine88 said:


> If you aren't a professional how do you normally get your camera into the show? I know most venues say no SLRs but do they actually enforce that? I have been told there isn't anyway into the photo pit without credentials but just want to run that buy some people who may have actually shot at shows before.
> 
> tl;dr
> How can I get my camera in without credentials and is it possible to get into the press pit?



The short answer is... you are out of luck.  Unless you have a newspaper, magazine (or some high end contact back stage helping you), and have made and been approved via application months in advance, there is zero chance to get into the photo pit area without a press pass.

There is some little good news with this, though... in the photo pit, you are shooting upward a lot and the angles are FAR from optimal, resulting in distorted looking pics.  You are closer, though.

Now, this is not always the case.  As you have seen, there are many music festivals that are not in true concert venues (auditoriums and/or closed in and controlled areas).  This was my good fortune recently, and I just walked in with a backpack full of camera equipment without so much as a 2nd look.  

However, for most "traditional" concerts, they will let in the P&S cameras and cell phone cameras and what not, because they KNOW the chances of getting a good shot are slim to none, and not permit the kinds of cameras that can get the shot.  They will always tell you that flashes are NOT permitted.  That is because a high-end flash can really temporarily blind a performer causing issues with his performance.  No one wants that (I had my Nikon SB-800 with me... but I would never dream of using it at the concert!).

I suppose the workaround to this is to find a higher end P&S camera.  I have the now discontinued Nikon E8800 and it has given me some impressive night shots (it has built-in VR, ISO up to 400 and a 80X zoom, shutter speeds from 30 seconds to 1/4000th and shoots RAW format, all in a small palm-sized camera, and there are also cameras like the Canon G9 who could come closer... but still not near the quality of a dSLR with a big lens.

Bottom line... if they say no dSLRs and are watching for them, even if you manage to somehow sneak one in, if they spot you, they may escort you out of the premises, camera and all.


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## RyanLilly (Aug 15, 2008)

BTW Nice pics Jerry, As far as shooting in a mosh pit...Good luck!

Actually the mosh pits that I have been in during warped tour were actually very civil. i.e. People would actually help you up rather than stomp your face.
The mosh pits at warped tour in Milwaukee several years ago were the largest I have ever seen, a wide angle from near the back could produce some impressive shots.

The mosh pit scene could be different now I guess, Hell I just looked up the Band list for the tour, and the only Band there I remember listening too is Reel Big Fish and that was like 10 years ago, so good luck an have fun.


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## epatsellis (Aug 15, 2008)

When I shot that, it was a "holy crap, there's the essence of Edgar Winter" kind of moment. All shot handheld, btw. I did use a 1 stop push when I processed these, just to be sure, though Fuji 400 has some serious under exposure latitude. Negs are a trifle thick but better than thin. 

My portraits tend to be full frame, or closer, as a rule. (one of those "find your style" things) Seems to be the way I see, as well as shoot.

Here's a few more, shot with either the 135 f2, 180 2.8 or 300 f4, generally at stage front or stage right, prety much leaning/bracing against the stage (I really need to get a 300 2.8 one of these days, I miss mine):


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## amarine88 (Aug 19, 2008)

Hey, so I am starting to go through the 600 pictures I took there and I am liking what I saw. Besides the encounter with security when they forced me and 6 other photographers, most with press passes, into an active mosh pit with our gear (they threatened to beak out cameras themselves if we didnt move in) it was really fun. I haven't had time to start editing but here is one of the photos I really liked before i even touched it. 
The Color Fred:


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## JerryPH (Aug 19, 2008)

Kindly resize the pictures to something smaller please. No need for me to have to need to move all around to see the pictures you took. It is also not very friendly for our 56k friends.  

General forum etiquette is that a picture should not take up more than 1/4 to 1/2 of an average 17" screen at MOST.


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## marvah (Sep 8, 2008)

I usually shoot with ISO 200-800 and smallest f that my lenses let me have  shutter's 60-320(if i'm lucky)

Check out my pic's at my site http://info.photofactory.ee/ you'll need the flash player


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## Bifurcator (Sep 8, 2008)

Kewl site!   :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

That page takes a full 25% of my 8-core 2.66Ghz Mac Pro.


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## marvah (Sep 8, 2008)

Bifurcator said:


> Kewl site!   :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
> 
> That page takes a full 25% of my 8-core 2.66Ghz Mac Pro.


Thanks for positive feedback on the site

don't worry it takes 100% of my non-core(celeron) 1,3 GHz HP Pavilion, 
i'm between buying
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac?mco=MTE3MDM and http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA
one is really fast (24", 2.8GHz) and has great screen to edit photos with but the other is compact (13,3", 2.4GHz black)


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## ByFuryAtTheHeart (Sep 9, 2008)

My First post!!! I took these at the Power To the Peaceful concert in San Francisco this week.


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