Comments on: Concert Photography How-To: Metering & Exposure, pt. 2

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:16:23 +0000

Hey Kieran, it’s great to hear that you tried out manual mode and now feel comfortable enough with it to keep at it. I’m glad to hear if anything in this tutorial helped!

By: Kieran

Kieran — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:37:33 +0000

Thanks for this Todd after reading this a while back I decided to shot my first band using completely manual I wasn’t shooting for anyone so I thought I would take myself out of my comfort zone by changing how I shoot. It has made a hell of a difference and I know feel confident enough to follow this up and keep working on shooting like this so thank you for this mate.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:02:40 +0000

Hi Avangelist,

I think high ISO noise is part of the game with concert photography. It sounds like you might be shooting in venues with a lot of warm/tungsten lighting, which is going to cause a deficit in the blue channel and can cause problems. This can be particularly true if you’re tweaking the WB in post. Part of the issue could be the sensor, too.

As for flash blowing out the ambient lighting, it sounds like it’s too strong and needs to be dialed down. You’ll need to use lower power flash and longer shutter speeds if you want more ambient mix.

Hope this helps.

By: Avangelist

Avangelist — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:39:31 +0000

I am enjoying reading through this. Amazingly we are using the same wp template.

I have a question

I use a D80, I have found if I ever bump ISO over 800 I got more and more purple in the blacks. As a result at the majority of shows I go to which are in small poor lit dungeons I have started using an SB600 flash mounted.

But the flash always blows out the lighting presumably because it is firing more light that is actually in the room.

Any suggestions, or should I stick to not using flash and being uphappy with the grainy digital effects of high ISO?

check out my site for some links to flick and camera settings if you fancy a gander.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:57:45 +0000

Hi Mike, thanks for stopping by. I often use auto WB and correct in post as necessary, since I always shoot RAW.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:03:32 +0000

Amazing shots and great blog!

How about White Balance? Do you use Auto?

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Hi Jacob, thanks for stopping by. Welcome to the pit, you get the best “seat” in the house – until they kick you out.

Exposure is all relative, and whatever achieves your vision is what you should go with. If you have enough light to stop down, go for it, though you should also consider that you can raise the shutter speed or drop the ISO as well – it’s so often about compromise in low light work.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:36:57 +0000

Great informative blog… I shoot f2.8 at all times and ISO 3200… i’ve only ever shot 2 gigs and the second was at a prominent event with pit and all… had the time of my life!!!

I am still to learn bucket loads… and am focusing on using spot metering next time (forgot all about it in the excitement lol)… when would it be in my favour to stray from f2.8 and maybe try f4 (i have only one lens at the moment 17-50 on a D80)

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:35:05 +0000

Thanks for the feedback, it’s great to hear from other shooters who use these techniques. In many ways, I think that these tricks are natural responses to the chaos that can occur when in the pit.

For f/2.8 zooms, I usually change the variables in this order:
1) Shutter speed
2) ISO
3) Aperture

By: faithdesired

faithdesired — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:53:36 +0000

Excellent blog! I agree about memorizing the exposure for various lighting. I’ve found that it works for me, even though I’m shooting small bands in clubs. In addition, the simplify step is most important! I shoot manual too, and tend to only mess with shutter speed. I can change the f-stop if I need to, but usually I keep my lens open to maximize my light!