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I went to a show last night and spent most of it messing around with exposure lock and what not. When it worked, it worked very well and the camera got some awesome exposures of the musicians against backlights instead of underexposing the musicians or overexposing when they were spotlit against dark backgrounds. Anyways, I could go over the lessons learned, but Canon thoughtfully wrote up an article on the matter: http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2547 The article is great in that it explains a lot of the small details that may trip people up. For instance, one key detail for me that I found out here is that in the default setting, AE lock with the shutter button only happens when metering in evaluative mode. The meter stays live unless you specifically press the AE lock button. I got tripped up on that because I switched to spot metering and kept wondering why the meter wouldn't hold like it usually did. The only downside is that on my camera (40D), it only meters on the center point and not the active AF point so AE lock involves a lot of metering and recomposing. This isn't so bad but it can be tough when you're trying to meter off the face of a moving subject with a wider lens where the subject is much smaller in the viewfinder. It's also tough because if you're using another AF point, it's hard to see exactly where the center point is when metering dark subjects because it won't illuminate with the AF button so you're guessing and hoping a bit trying to place a dark square on darkness. I've been doing this for landscapes and still life for ages, but this is the first time I've really experimented with it for concert shots. HPL fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Jul 31, 2009 |
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Jul 31, 2009 17:37
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HPL posted:I went to a show last night and spent most of it messing around with exposure lock and what not. When it worked, it worked very well and the camera got some awesome exposures of the musicians against backlights instead of underexposing the musicians or overexposing when they were spotlit against dark backgrounds. Anyways, I could go over the lessons learned, but Canon thoughtfully wrote up an article on the matter: Yeah, even with the AE lock, I just don't like trusting the camera to make my decisions for me at a show. There's just too much variation in the light sources between direction, power and position for me to let the camera figure it out. I'd rather just shoot manual and trust my gut on it. For the most part I end up with far better results, especially if the light is mildly consistent in power. I also hate having it meter in the middle for the same reason I detest shutter button focusing, my subject, or at least where I want it to focus is not always in the middle. I'd rather manually set the exposure and set my focus button to one of the buttons on the rear so I can tell it exactly what I want a lot easier.
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Jul 31, 2009 18:13
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rockcity posted:Yeah, even with the AE lock, I just don't like trusting the camera to make my decisions for me at a show. There's just too much variation in the light sources between direction, power and position for me to let the camera figure it out. I'd rather just shoot manual and trust my gut on it. For the most part I end up with far better results, especially if the light is mildly consistent in power. I usually run manual mode when I'm using a flash. Otherwise I find that the lights change too rapidly to fiddle around with settings. If it's total blinky-flashy situation as often happens at metal shows, I'll go manual mode because there's just no helping otherwise. I did find myself falling back to manual occasionally because the meter was giving me strange readings like 1/1000 at f/2.8 which as anyone here knows is pretty much impossible at a small venue concert.
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Jul 31, 2009 18:20
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HPL posted:I usually run manual mode when I'm using a flash. Otherwise I find that the lights change too rapidly to fiddle around with settings. If it's total blinky-flashy situation as often happens at metal shows, I'll go manual mode because there's just no helping otherwise. I did find myself falling back to manual occasionally because the meter was giving me strange readings like 1/1000 at f/2.8 which as anyone here knows is pretty much impossible at a small venue concert. Yeah, I shoot a lot of shows where the light jumps too much and I get a lot of misreads where the shutter is up as fast as you said, just due to the angle of some light. I find I'm better off sticking with a somewhat consistent shutter speed most of the time. It usually requires a lot of chimping if you want to stay on top of it, but I still prefer it to aperture priority.
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Jul 31, 2009 19:45
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I was at a show last week in a smallish club and I had a hell of a time because they used a fog machine. The fog would refract the light all weird and I couldn't figure out how to meter for it. A lot of it was either blown out, or no definition of the performer amidst the fog.
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Jul 31, 2009 19:50
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AIIAZNSK8ER posted:I was at a show last week in a smallish club and I had a hell of a time because they used a fog machine. The fog would refract the light all weird and I couldn't figure out how to meter for it. A lot of it was either blown out, or no definition of the performer amidst the fog. The important thing about foggy photos is how you post-process them. The fog removes a lot of contrast so you have to bring it back so that your photos don't look washed-out. One quick fix is to try an auto-contrast in Photoshop and then do a level adjustment to bring up the blacks and darks (left side and middle markers on the level adjustment histogram). If there are lights behind the performer, position yourself so the performer acts as a gobo with the lights which works best if the performer likes to hit crazy poses. If all else fails, learn to time the bulk of your shots during the period when the fog has dissapated the most before the fog machines launches a new volley. If you're using flash at a foggy gig, I would recommend that you get a radio remote so you can position the flash to hit the subject from a different angle from your camera. The closer the flash is to the axis of the lens, the more light will bounce off the fog and come right back at you and look like crap, sort of along the lines of why you don't use your high beams when driving in fog. Using flash diffusers like a whale tail or lightsphere may help too but basically get the flash as far away from the lens as you can.
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Jul 31, 2009 20:00
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I bit the bullet and bought a 24mm f/1.4 with concerts in mind... still haven't had a chance to take it to a show yet but it's working great for everything else so far. 
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Jul 31, 2009 20:18
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AIIAZNSK8ER posted:I was at a show last week in a smallish club and I had a hell of a time because they used a fog machine. The fog would refract the light all weird and I couldn't figure out how to meter for it. A lot of it was either blown out, or no definition of the performer amidst the fog. Yep, fog machines are pretty much a thorn in the photographers side. It's not so bad if it's a low lying fog machine, but if it's not (most aren't) it sucks, especially if the fog is between you and the performer. I don't mind it so much if it's for like one song, but if it's for the first three it gets really annoying. Avenged Sevenfold is notorious for this poo poo.
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Jul 31, 2009 20:43
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rockcity posted:I also hate having it meter in the middle for the same reason I detest shutter button focusing, my subject, or at least where I want it to focus is not always in the middle. I'd rather manually set the exposure and set my focus button to one of the buttons on the rear so I can tell it exactly what I want a lot easier.
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Jul 31, 2009 21:25
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jackpot posted:I played around with this when I first got my 40D but quickly lost interest and switched it back. Can someone give me the 30 second explanation on why and in what situations I'd want to set my focus button to something other than the shutter? I know there are benefits, I just can't remember what they are. Well I can tell you the reasons I use it. The main one is that it stays focused where I want it to. If you set your focus to another button you can point your camera to what you want in focus and then move the frame anywhere you want and that object stays in focus, which makes positioning things not near the center of the frame a lot easier than trying to half press a button before moving. It also prevents it from re-focusing when I don't want it to which becomes a huge problem when people are moving or there are a lot of contrasting objects around, like in concerts or even more importantly sports. Try to shoot a sporting event with it on shutter focus, then try it on an external button. You will notice how many more of your shots are actually in focus. I always had shutter as the focus on my first SLR, but then when I started working at the newspaper I worked for in college they had us always use the focus as a button on the rear. I hated it at first, but now I could never go back. Seriously, try using it for a few weeks and see if you really don't like it better.
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Jul 31, 2009 21:38
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As I posted earlier I have been given a chance to shoot the WNFX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll tomorrow afternoon/evening. My XTi decided to break, but thankfully my neighbor was kind enough to lend me her 20D. The lens that I ended up renting (the 16-35L f/2.8 II) came in today and holy poo poo that thing is loving sweet. Even on a crop body it is still pretty drat wide. I just need to figure out how to pick up my photo pass tomorrow. First real show here I come...
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Jul 31, 2009 23:07
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pr0digal posted:As I posted earlier I have been given a chance to shoot the WNFX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll tomorrow afternoon/evening. My XTi decided to break, but thankfully my neighbor was kind enough to lend me her 20D. The lens that I ended up renting (the 16-35L f/2.8 II) came in today and holy poo poo that thing is loving sweet. Even on a crop body it is still pretty drat wide. Most shows you just go to will call and show them your ID. If that's not that case, they should be able to direct you to where you need to be, sometimes there is a separate media gate or desk you have to go to.
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Aug 1, 2009 01:43
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rockcity posted:Most shows you just go to will call and show them your ID. If that's not that case, they should be able to direct you to where you need to be, sometimes there is a separate media gate or desk you have to go to. It's a free show so there isn't a box office, but I am planning on getting there wicked early (with the printed out e-mail) to find my photo pass. I am wicked loving nervous. I've never really shot a major show before but I've got a fair amount of local show experience under my belt so I should be okay. If I get any decent shots I'll post them up (and maybe try to sell some to magazines/newspapers etc).
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Aug 1, 2009 02:32
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pr0digal posted:It's a free show so there isn't a box office, but I am planning on getting there wicked early (with the printed out e-mail) to find my photo pass. I am wicked loving nervous. I've never really shot a major show before but I've got a fair amount of local show experience under my belt so I should be okay. Boy, you were kidding about being in Boston. Most newspapers don't really run many concert photos and if they do they send someone to shoot it. Magazines you might have more luck with, but for the most part, it's pretty tough to sell normal concert photos. Most of the time it's for ad usage, or they have a contributing photographer list that they email to request shots. This is the deal I have with Alternative Press at least.
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Aug 1, 2009 02:38
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rockcity posted:Boy, you were kidding about being in Boston. Yeah, I'm a Boston Area goon through and through. It's great I got two messages from the Boston Phoenix one telling me better luck next year and the other one telling me where I can go pick up my pass. Both within a minute of each other. I'm going to see if the outcome is decent before I start contacting bands and magazines. *edit* to any boston area goons thinking of going the lineup is: Ra Ra Riot, The Bravery, The Gaslight Anthem, Airborne Toxic Event, Metric and Passion Pit just not in that order. If I get some decent photos of Gaslight Anthem I will be wicked happy. Also, anybody have advice on metering? I know partial is for strongly backlit subjects so I can just switch on the fly if necessary. pr0digal fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Aug 1, 2009 |
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Aug 1, 2009 02:53
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Heres some from a show a while ago, where I got nervous when everyone had a DSLR and a huge flash in the crowd. I didn't think they were any good, but I gave them another chance tonight. What do you guys think?  
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Aug 1, 2009 03:42
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AIIAZNSK8ER posted:Heres some from a show a while ago, where I got nervous when everyone had a DSLR and a huge flash in the crowd. I didn't think they were any good, but I gave them another chance tonight. What do you guys think? While some might bitch about the mic eating, I thoroughly enjoy this image. A great capture that some of those people with big honking flashes might have missed.
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Aug 1, 2009 03:47
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pr0digal posted:Metric don't miss them, Emily Haines is one of the most photogenic front-persons I've ever shot. I've probably shot them 3 times now and every time I end up loving the results.
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Aug 1, 2009 06:10
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Some photos from Thursday night. Temporarily back on the digital wagon because it's too damned hot to sit around and develop and scan film.  A shot of fellow goon Awesomesauce's band Kill Matilda. No, that's not him in the photo:  Rest of set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31391300@N04/sets/72157621907666542/
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Aug 1, 2009 08:55
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rockcity posted:Yep, fog machines are pretty much a thorn in the photographers side.
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Aug 1, 2009 12:24
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evil_bunnY posted:It really depends. Well controlled fog can look amazing if they have some lights on it, it makes for very "full" pictures of performers. Certainly, but most of what I shot is a fog machine behind a fan, so you don't get dense controlled fog, you get a hazy and ugly mess.
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Aug 1, 2009 13:29
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rockcity posted:Certainly, but most of what I shot is a fog machine behind a fan, so you don't get dense controlled fog, you get a hazy and ugly mess. 
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Aug 1, 2009 14:56
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The show I just shot (Best Music Poll 2009) had some of the most godawful restrictions I have ever heard of...mostly thanks to the city of Boston. As far as the city was concerned if you weren't a newspaper photographer or worked with the radio station putting the concert on you had no right to be there at all. I, in fact, did have a right to be there as I had been reserved the mythical "photo pass" by one of the bands. Of course this meant that I only got to shoot that one band (Gaslight Anthem) and "I had better not see you around the press area even though you have a press pass" mentality. So I waited around until 7:30 when the band I was shooting for went on, took photos for my three songs, then shot the poo poo with the other photographers who were also wondering why everything was so goddamn restrictive. Then figuring since I have two passes that mark me as press and all access I'll shoot the next band as a well! No such luck there. One song in and I was unceremoniously booted because I didn't shoot for a newspaper. Mah well at least I got shots of the band I came to see (and met the lead singer!) *edit* and all the photographers had to crouch down and shoot upwards with all the monitors in the way, it was a fun time. pr0digal fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Aug 2, 2009 |
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Aug 2, 2009 04:48
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And that is why I shoot mostly indie shows these days.
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Aug 2, 2009 09:06
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Here's a few I took from my favorite local/regional band, Paria, taken tonight at the Omaha Entertainment Awards Showcase.  
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Aug 2, 2009 09:39
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pr0digal posted:The show I just shot (Best Music Poll 2009) had some of the most godawful restrictions I have ever heard of...mostly thanks to the city of Boston. As far as the city was concerned if you weren't a newspaper photographer or worked with the radio station putting the concert on you had no right to be there at all. Nahhh, that's just radio shows. Most radio shows suck for photos, for some reason they're completely restrictive. I have no reason why. I've had more problems with them than any other show. Though I credit that mostly to the assclown that was in charge of PR at the local rock station at the time. He had no idea what he was doing. As for the going through a band thing. That tends to vary venue by venue. Sometimes if you get the headliner you're pretty much set for the rest of the bands. Sometimes all you need is an opening band and you're all set. Sometimes they won't let you shoot all the bands unless you got approved by all the bands, though that's usually pretty rare when it's not a radio show. The best thing you can do at large shows is to get to know the media relations people at the venues. They can't get you approved for shows or anything, but it will make things so much easier when they know who you are.
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Aug 2, 2009 13:26
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MMD3 posted:don't miss them, Emily Haines is one of the most photogenic front-persons I've ever shot. I've probably shot them 3 times now and every time I end up loving the results.  Keyboard stand 
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Aug 2, 2009 13:49
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HPL posted:And that is why I shoot mostly indie shows these days.
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Aug 2, 2009 14:01
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Here's a few from the show, I'll start off with The Gaslight Anthem *side note* gently caress mic stands and monitors      And probably the one decent shot I got of Airborne Toxic Event 
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Aug 2, 2009 16:14
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Some good shots there. How was Gaslight Anthem live? I loved their new(est) album, and they're coming here next month, but I don't think I could get a press-pass and I don't think I'd really try without a DSLR.
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Aug 3, 2009 09:33
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AtomicManiac posted:Some good shots there. How was Gaslight Anthem live? I loved their new(est) album, and they're coming here next month, but I don't think I could get a press-pass and I don't think I'd really try without a DSLR. As soon as you can buy tickets, do it. They are one of my favorite bands at the moment and they put on a drat good show. I am going to defiantly see them when they come to boston next and try to get a photo pass...hopefully this time without all the godforsaken restrictions. From The Boston Phoenix: "Biggest mosh pit of Best Music Poll 2009? That's easy: the Gaslight Anthem's set, which had worried punks milling around City Hall four hours before showtime, like they were gonna miss a parole hearing." Source with some photos (taken by the "official" photographers): http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/87417-Photos-Gaslight-Anthem-at-Best-Music-Poll-2009/#TOPCONTENT *edit number 2* I was thinking about e-mail Alternative Press regarding the photos I took to see if they would be interested in some of them for their archive/website, though I am not completely sure how to do this. Rockcity, I know you said (I think) you have some experience with AP, care to help a starting music photographer out? As far as upcoming shows I might be shooting Unearth/Age of End in Haverhill, MA at Anchors Up. I know the brother of the lead singer of Age of End who asked me to come shoot the show. pr0digal fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Aug 3, 2009 |
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Aug 3, 2009 14:45
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pr0digal posted:*edit number 2* I was thinking about e-mail Alternative Press regarding the photos I took to see if they would be interested in some of them for their archive/website, though I am not completely sure how to do this. Rockcity, I know you said (I think) you have some experience with AP, care to help a starting music photographer out? I'd honestly try some smaller publications. The thing about AP is that they're pretty set on their topics for the months and limit the amount of content they run so that they can actually get some good articles and interviews in there. They've been branching out for web stuff as of late, but it's usually behind the scenes stuff and in the studio kind of things. What I'd recommend doing is when they do their annual photographer content, enter. That's how I got in with them. I placed in the contest like 4 years ago and they put me on their contributing photographers list after that. The way that works is that they send out an email to all their photographers asking for shots of about 5 or 6 specific bands, so the odds of getting things to run are low. I think I've had 4 shots run in 4 years. On a side note DEFINITELY shoot Unearth. They are sick live and make for awesome photos. Spend a lot of time shooting their guitarist Ken, the smaller one with short hair. he makes for great photos, like this.  (own host)
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Aug 3, 2009 20:50
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 Had great light for Stephen Marley yesterday. But as soon as my 3 songs were done, mother loving Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Randy, Jackie, LaToya, Janet and Marlon Marley showed up.  Slightly Stoopid was all glowy for their first three songs. I made the mistake of thinking they'll turn up the lights. Should have shooting instead of waiting.
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Aug 4, 2009 02:35
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pr0digal posted:Best Music Poll 2009 I used to work for the Phoenix and they are notoriously lovely towards anyone who isn't on their staff. Too bad BCN is gone, as FNX is now the only game in town. Or you could just come out here to Worcester--it's GREAT to shoot at w/the Palladium, Ralph's, Lucky Dog, etc.
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Aug 4, 2009 08:49
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variegated posted:I used to work for the Phoenix and they are notoriously lovely towards anyone who isn't on their staff. Too bad BCN is gone, as FNX is now the only game in town. I go to school in Fitchburg so I am planning on keeping an eye on the shows at the Palladium. I was trying to get a pass for Worcester Fest but I heard nothing back from any of the bands I contacted.
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Aug 4, 2009 14:53
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pr0digal posted:I go to school in Fitchburg so I am planning on keeping an eye on the shows at the Palladium. I was trying to get a pass for Worcester Fest but I heard nothing back from any of the bands I contacted. How exactly are you contacting them? You're probably not going to the right people. I rarely don't hear back when I request a photo pass.
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Aug 4, 2009 15:37
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rockcity posted:How exactly are you contacting them? You're probably not going to the right people. I rarely don't hear back when I request a photo pass. For Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals I e-mailed who I thought was their manager or press contact and I heard nothing back. For the local band I e-mailed them directly and had an immediate response...saying they didn't have a guest list. Should I be calling instead of e-mailing? Or when e-mailing who should I e-mail? From what I heard from some other photographers it was immensely hard to get a pass for the show, unless you were the Return to the Pit guy (incidentally I met his wife at Best Music Poll, she shoots for the Boston Phoenix).
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Aug 4, 2009 15:41
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pr0digal posted:For Four Year Strong and Set Your Goals I e-mailed who I thought was their manager or press contact and I heard nothing back. For the local band I e-mailed them directly and had an immediate response...saying they didn't have a guest list. Stick with emailing. Typically who you want to email is the band's publicist at the record label. That's usually the best person to talk to about getting photo passes. Sometimes they give the PR work to a third party company also, there's a few pretty big ones and a lot of small ones. MSO PR for example is one of the bigger ones. They handle Warped Tour, Ozzfest, lots of other big ticket shows and tours. Most of the PR reps for labels and firms are actually really nice and pretty lenient when it comes to approving people, but every now and then you find someone who is just a total dick. The return to the pit guy was a douche when I met him a couple years ago in Worcester. Actually a lot of the bigger concert photographers you'll meet are generally really arrogant and really overrated in my opinion. Jeremy Saffer is probably the best example I can give of that. His he two styles of promo shooting (on location, parking lot style shot and a backdrop studio shot) that is it. His live stuff is also really boring, especially outdoors, his outdoor festival shots are horrible. And to top it off he has a book coming out. There are a dozen photographers who are barely out of high school who can already shoot circles around the guy both live and posed.
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Aug 4, 2009 18:21
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rockcity posted:Stick with emailing. Typically who you want to email is the band's publicist at the record label. That's usually the best person to talk to about getting photo passes. Sometimes they give the PR work to a third party company also, there's a few pretty big ones and a lot of small ones. MSO PR for example is one of the bigger ones. They handle Warped Tour, Ozzfest, lots of other big ticket shows and tours. Most of the PR reps for labels and firms are actually really nice and pretty lenient when it comes to approving people, but every now and then you find someone who is just a total dick. Thankfully I have an in with the band that is playing with Unearth so I should be able to get stage access without much issue...aside from probably getting bitched at by the return to the pit guy. In stark contrast his wife seemed pretty nice and I had actually run into her before at warped tour a couple years ago. I was in the crowd and not shooting but I noticed a photographer with two 5Ds but one had a Nikon strap. Then at BMP I'm talking to the other photographers (all really nice) and I notice that she has the exact same setup so I mention that I was at Warped Tour when the guy in the bunny suit was crowd surfing and she confirmed that she was at that stage and photographed the bunny suit dude. Small world. The other camera forum I'm on (POTN) is full of those arrogant concert photographers. The one's that disdain small time shows and light trails. You post a processed photo or something with slow-sync they will poo poo all over it saying it "ruins the picture". Guess what jackasses: not all of us have L series lenses with cameras with high ISO capabilities. Some of us actually LIKE shooting smaller shows.
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Aug 4, 2009 18:49
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pr0digal posted:Thankfully I have an in with the band that is playing with Unearth so I should be able to get stage access without much issue...aside from probably getting bitched at by the return to the pit guy. In stark contrast his wife seemed pretty nice and I had actually run into her before at warped tour a couple years ago. I was in the crowd and not shooting but I noticed a photographer with two 5Ds but one had a Nikon strap. I think the reason people don't like flash and blur photos is that a lot of them tend to look similar and a lot of photographers ride that completely as their style. I use it here and there, but for the most part I don't touch my flash at shows. To be fair to most concert photogs, most of them are awesome people and you definitely want to get to know them. Some of my best friends from back in Michigan are people I met shooting concerts. There were about 5 of us that were pretty close and hung out a lot outside of shows and did road trips hours away to go shoot something. It's fun riding in a car with 4 people and a trunk full of like 20 grand in camera gear, haha.
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Aug 4, 2009 19:10
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