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G'day, well i'm thinking of helping a mate out tonight by taking some shots of their band. Never done this before so i need some tips

-what metering is best
-continuous focus?
-70-200 too long?

Things like that would help, cheers...

James.

I've never shot a band, (not properly anyway,) but hopefully my tips will still be useful.

The 70-200 will be good for the purpose but make sure you also have something wide and fast too. A 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 is good.

I would be tempted to focus manually if it's an energetic band, but if it's like Rod Stewart on valium, then single focus should be fine. Just use what is best after you have assessed the situation.

Spotlighting may require spot metering. Perhaps centre-weighted would be best. But it depends on what you are shooting, whether it's close-ups or full band shots. Just trust your instinct. I'd be tempted to shoot manually and off-the-cuff anyway.

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the music.

use the 12-24 and 18-70. Shoot high ISO maybe about 800 or 1000 or 1250 if you wish to...heck even 1600 then convert to b&w

if you're going for single member shots, make sure no arms or instruments are cropped out. observe the lighting and make use of front, side and backlighting to compose your shots.

thanks mate. well i'm pretty sure it's going to be dark and energetic..

my 12-24 is f/4, and my 18-70 is f3.5, which are a bit slow i'd think for band lighting. 70-200 is f2.8 but might be a bit long? not sure yet, i haven't been told anything...

thanks anyway, see how i go

^ Thanks also mate, some good advice too

I like the b&w idea. Think i'll take my whole bag of gear just incase. It's a good chance to test my abilities i think..

What do you think my minimum shutter speed should be? If their moving around i guess 1/100s wouldn't cut it?

spray and pray... chuck it into burst mode, and shoot away.
bring a laptop if you feel you might need to take a dump during the night.

not good for the shutter nor the workflow but that way you have less excuse for missing the shots u wanted.


last band i shot had really bad lighting - the usual lighting guy offloaded his duties to a bunch of monkeys who just pressed buttons all night. i ended up culling 2/3 of what i shot. but i feel it was worth it.

try rock up a little before the night starts so you can fire off some test shots and get a feel for space- that'll help you choose lens. it'll also give you some time to test out what shutter speeds to aim for, etc. if needed, shift furniture backwards to give yourself some room.

the 70-200 will be excellent for headshots and hands on instruments.
shouldnt generally need to go wider than 18mm imo.. just depends

oh and shutter speeds- 1/100 = very lucky in most lol
1/30 and a lot of culling should get you enough keepers (you could even get a fair few keepers at 1/10)

hope this helps (and makes sense)
time to hit the hay

-julz

Shoot manual else your metering will be all over the place with dark backgrounds and highlights. If you're always off by a set amount, it won't matter too much as you can bump them all in RAW which I guess brings me to the next point, shoot RAW.

Kepp your shutter speeds up, after a while you'll be resigned to the fact you'll be at >ISO1600. Unless its a more pro stage setup, keep the telephoto on so you can compose out the crap either side of the subjects. I tend to shoot the music stuff a bit tighter anyway but thats just me.

You'll probably have some leeway if its your mate playing but I've never seen anyone else whip out the laptop during their 3 songs no flash

maybe get hold of an SB800 and disable flash fire- just use the AF assist. the red isnt as annoying as a flashlight-like AF lamp.

other than that, good luck!

haha Ronza, i kinda forgot that the OP said he was shooting a band
too used to shooting concerts for the school *sighh*

-j