Band Shots

[Laurie]

I have been asked by my mate who is in a band to come along and take some photos. i told him my Lens (28-105 3.5-4.5) wont be "bright" enough (non-technical terms) for gig lighting.

i wont have time or money to buy a new lens (am getting the 50mm 1.4 soon, but still want to go along and take some photos, hopefull good ones that they can use or what ever.

i have never done gig shooting before and have no idea what to expect (apart from not taking a particular liking to the music) in regards to the lighting etc. i have an SB800 flash but think this will ruin the mood and feel of the show, also ruining if for people paying money to see.

if anyone has any suggestions that they can throw my way with the current set up i have.

if anyone wants to come along all i know is its on the 26th of May at the Gaelic club near Central Train Station in Sydney. Music is Rock/Metal or something like that
Bands Include:
Perish The Thought
Breaking The Broken
Irrelevanty
Painkillerjayne <- My Mates Band

Thanks to any help provided!!

Cheers
- Laurie

[Geoff]

Laurie - I haven't done any band shots before, and I SOO wish I could come and help/have a go with you, but alas we are busy that night. I'm sure you will get some other people coming to this event - good luck. I think the occasional shot (very subjective statement I know) with the SB800 wouldn't be too offensive, and will definately help get you some nice results.

A tripod would be a must, with your current setup.

Try and beg or borrow a faster lens if you can. No chance of you getting the 50mm 1.4 prior to this shoot? It would be a BIG advantage.

[beetleboy]

Crank your ISO and go for broke. I shot over 100 photos on Saturday night at ISO 500-800 and f5-5.6 (for DOF) and they look great.

Just do it. That's what the ISO is there for!

Liam =]

[MattC]

I have used the SB800 quite a lot for bands. Talking to the subjects, they tell me that they do not even notice it. However, I would not try settling into one spot and taking shot after shot, they would be bound to notice that and get pissed off.
One problem with shooting with flash is all of the (expensive) junk that they have on stage, particularly chrome plated stuff which is just great for nasty reflections.

I have always been able to get up close and it is my opinion that the 50/1.4 is a bit long. 35/2 or 28/1.4 are my choices using ambient light or 1/3 stop of fill.

Cheers

[birddog114]

Me?
No tripod, high ISO or an affordable fast lens or a SB800 is required.

[gstark]

Your exisitng kit is just fine.

Bump the ISO if you want to shoot using native lighting, or just use your built-in flash, dialed down by around 1 stop, and work with that.

And above all, have fun.

[PiroStitch]

Higher ISO, keep the aperture wide and bring the portable sun along as well if you want to, but dial the exp down to -1 in TTL mode and use the diffuser (if you wish to).

If you are using the SB800 - or onboard flash for that matter - use a lower shutter speed and set the flash to rear sync (can be done on the camera) instead of front curtain and create some funky effects

High ISO and natural lighting create sexy shots. If some of the shots don't work when you're viewing it on the computer due to noise, convert to b&w and adjust the shadows and highlights to suit.

Also shooting in Raw is a must if you plan on PP-ing afterwards.

[Laurie]

Thanks for the replies Guys. much appreciated.

Only problem is i have no idea how to use my SB800 yet
it took me this long to work out the camera functions and there are probably another million things im missing out on as it is

Thanks again and i will keep all this in mind.

Stay tuned for the pics. though they will suck haha.

Cheers
Laurie

[PiroStitch]

Laurie,

Stick the SB800 on the camera
Press Mode until you see TTL, not TTL-BL
Press the down arrow about 3 times until you see -1

Go and take a few test shots

[Laurie]

haha, ta.

PiroStitch, the "SB800 manual"

[PiroStitch]

I could have told you to RTFM but that would just be plain mean (considering how complicated it is)

[mark]

PiroStitch, the "SB800 manual"

Only easier to read and understand.

[Laurie]

I could have told you to RTFM but that would just be plain mean (considering how complicated it is)

I have tried reading it (only quickly) and i have no idea what the fudge its talking about!

oh well

[losfp]

Only problem is i have no idea how to use my SB800 yet

Yeah well, join the club

Stick it on TTL, and experiment with a few different settings. In general, shutter speed makes sod all difference to the exposure of the subject, but makes some difference to the exposure of the background. Aperture makes a BIG difference in exposure.

Otherwise, crank up the ISO, open up the aperture, and use a tripod, or try to take steady handhelds

[Hudo]

Hi,

No tripod !!! I shoots bands / performers and have been a rock drummer for 32 years. You'll have no time to look at the scenery.

Mark

[PiroStitch]

Laurie, how did you go with your pics and the shoot?

I took a few on Friday night for a friend and another band. I've added them here and here.

[moz]

(28-105 3.5-4.5) wont be "bright" enough (non-technical terms) for gig lighting.

Practice cheating a lot is all I can suggest.

At the Gaelic Club see if you can get upstairs and shoot from next to the lighting desk. You will have a somewhat easier time that way with your long lens. The names sound punk, in which case you might be able to get away with asking the lighting op to set up a 3-4 light yellow wash and hit that occasionally. If the op tells you a second or two in advance then gives them a ~1s blip you'll get a reasonable shot even at 1600ISO/4.5. Be aware that most amateur bands don't like bright lights because they suffer the delusion that it's useful for them to see the audience.

From the floor, 28/3.5 will do you ok, but you might want to boost your ISO and shoot raw - underexpose a stop or two, then correct that in 16bpp when you're working on the raw image. If you can get to ISO 6400 (two stop push from 1600) that will help a lot. The use a noise reduction program to fix the worst of it, then resize shots to less than 75% of the original megapixels to get a bit of sharpness back.

Practice propping the camera on a wall or post and taking long exposures (anything over 1/30th is long if the band members move).

Some of my shots from that venue, taken with a 300D and 18-50/2.8:
http://moz.net.nz/photo/2005/08/13-greenrock/
The background image here is from a data projector:

so there's sod all light for that shot.

You'll note that you're really at the mercy of the lighting operator, and if the bands don't do anything with the stage the wide photos will be boring.

[Laurie]

Thanks for the remembering about me Piro!!

The shoot went ok I guess.
First time ever shooting Full Manual. i started with Aperture Priority but the shutter speed wasn’t fast enough to keep the band sharp. It was a big challenge shooting in manual mode especially when the band is so fast paced, and only did 9 songs.
i smashed the ISO to 1600, especially at the start, and then toned it done toward the end to around 400 (I think). I am about 1/3 the way through processing them in RAW files.

I took a couple test shots without the SB800 and then said to my mate, that it wasn't going to be enough and whacked it on.

I have done a couple. And have put them on my Optus net member’s space.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/laurie.s ... r%20Jayne/
I won’t link to them as they are quiet large.

For anyone that is interested they are Metal Core. Needless to say I wore Ear Plugs as i was standing right next to the speakers at times and was up on stage a couple of times. I felt like a rock star , when the shots are fully PPed i will post in the image review and post a gallery link.

[Laurie]

Just found this:

http://www.photocritic.org/2006/live-ba ... otography/

Might help some people in the future. i know it will help me.