Some things you should always bring to a concert pit: dancing shoes, ID, a good attitude. Other things, of course, you just shouldn’t: an $8,000 Nikon 200-400 f/4 VRII lens, for example. Jared Polin learns this the hard way, and doesn’t let himself off the hook for it, spending most of the following 18-minute-long first-person video beating himself up for bringing this behemoth super-zoom […]
You’ve only got three songs, no flash, low light, a crowd behind you, other photographers around you… and you need some really good shots! Whether you’re a pro concert photographer or you’re interested in becoming one, you’re bound to enjoy these exhilarating photos of musicians on stage in their element: If you’re just waiting for […]
The argument over whether or not to use a flash when shooting a live concert comes down to two distinct issues, one technical and the other ethical. On the one hand, using a flash in a low light setting gives you a tremendous advantage over your environment for capturing quality shots. On the other, there’s […]
While entertaining, attending concerts and sports events can get pretty expensive, especially if you want good seats for photographing. On top of the expense, many events won’t even allow you to bring a camera. Here is how you can get free tickets to big events and gain practice with event photography. This method doesn’t always […]
Jared Polin scored a paid gig photographing Macklemore in concert. Lucky for us, he filmed his experience using a GoPro mounted above a Canon 1D X, which he was using for the first time. Along with the high-end camera, use of the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens helped the photographer capture tack sharp […]
Touring with a famous band, meeting the best musicians in the world, capturing once in a lifetime shots during a mega concert – music photographers seem to have it all. But becoming a photographer in the music industry isn’t as easy as going to a concert with your camera. Music photographer Rob Shanahan is one […]
Shooting a music video in a day is already a challenge in itself even if you have a cinematographer like Joel Kesler on your team. To make matters even more complicated, Montreal-based photographer Benjamin Von Wong also had to shoot the cover artwork on the same day. See how Von Wong Kesler, and their talented team managed to […]
Where visual and audial obsessions overlap, you’ll probably find the concert photographer. This is an extremely exciting type of photography, with all the excitement and action of sports, the intimate close-up nature of portraiture, and the wild colours usually only found in a sunset. Nikon recently released this interview with concert photographer Lindsey Byrnes, in […]
The stage will always be dim so you need to compensate for that light. You should be shooting in a high ISO and a wide aperture. It’s good to stay in the ISO range of 1600 to 3200 (sometimes higher if the camera can handle it without too much noise) and not dip below an f/5-6. However, be aware that these settings will create a small depth-of-field range and higher noise levels. The key is to be flexible and quick when taking your pictures. It’s also important to increase your burst rate. The more frames you can shoot per second, the better because lights will be flashing and musicians will be moving.
Stage photography is by nature different because you’re capturing a performance where practically anything can happen if you haven’t seen the show before. And the performers are going to be as dynamic as they ever get. Its in a class of documentary photography. What happens may only happen once and it is therefore both difficult and fun. What follows is my take on how I feel about it. I will cover preparation, being ready, passes shooting modes and in particular manual mode.
