Shooting a band benefit...

GadgetRick

Ok, so I'm shooting a band benefit this weekend. It's a charity event so it's a non-paying event (unfortunately), however, there will be a bunch of bands there who are coming up and hoping to maybe pick up some work from them. Shooting with a friend of mine who's shot (at least) one concert before. Me, on the other hand, I've not shot a concert. I have basic ideas on how to shoot it but looking for ideas from others who've shot them before as to what kinds of cool things we can do.

We've both got fast lenses (to capture any interesting lighting on stage) and we'll both do some flash work as well (at times). We'll have access backstage, etc as well to capture interesting moments all over. I'm thinking I also don't want to miss out on crowd shots as well. Anything else I should remember?

Thanks.

GadgetRick

Buehler....Buehler....

GadgetRick

Nothing? Wow, figured a few people would jump in and set me straight... :cry

gratefulsugaree

Well Number one...Find out where you can shoot. And this may just change from what they said in an email to what they tell you to do once you get there.
Number Two...DON'T use flash....unless you know for sure if it is okay by the artist.
Most artist do not like flash...it's rude and distracting.
Make nice with the workers of the venue...that is ALWAYS key.
Get there early, to test shots. More than likely since you've never done this...your gonna have problems...so you need to try to start early with testing.
Crowd shots are always pleasing...

Other than all that, I am not really sure what your asking. Also most rules follow as this first 15 minutes,or First 3 songs...whichever come first.

PhotoLasVegas

It sounds like you pretty much have the gist of it... the only thing I may add is CHALLENGE yourself... really look and try to do something DIFFERENT than what you see all the time. But, also get the "standards"... Be 'everywhere' and try to anticipate things before they happen.

You shouldn't need to use flash during the show, if you have fast lenses. Matter of fact, concert photos are MUCH better without, IMO.

R. Scott

My two cents . . . shoot manual, and shoot RAW.

I don't shoot many bands, but I shoot theater in somewhat similar lighting conditions. I have never had any luck trying to expose in any auto mode. I generally crank up the ISO to 800-1600, set the aperture to f2.8 or f4, and play with shutter speed until I reach the point that highlights start to get blown out. Then I back off by 1/3 or 2/3 stop. I have been shooting manual long enough that I can ballpark exposure for changing light situations, but shooting RAW will help me rescue any shots that are underexposed. No matter what, you don't want to overexpose because you aren't going to be able to bring back any blown highlights. White balance is generally tricky to nail down in-camera . . . another reason to go RAW. But if you do shoot JPEG, tungsten white balance is probably your best bet.

I try to use the fastest shutter speed possible to avoid camera shake and motion/blur in performers' hands, etc., but you can get some pretty neat shots by really slowing down the shutter, zooming, etc. to get some artful blur (well, I tried to be artful), such as this (saturation is intentionally cranked up):






Shooting from onstage and backstage can result with some very cool shots. Whenever I shoot a play I roam around onstage during dress rehearsal and post a "Behind The Scenes" gallery on my site. People seem to really enjoy looking at those.

And I wholeheartedly agree with the other posters that you shouldn't use flash, except maybe for your audience shots because they will only be lit by light reflecting from the stage (you might want to throw on a colored gel to make those shots interesting). If you hit your performers with flash, you'll be mixing daylight-balanced flash with colored tungsten lighting, and it is very difficult to pull that off. And as gratefulsugaree points out, it is distracting to the performers.

Have fun, and be sure to post some shots when you're done!

GadgetRick

Thanks for all of the advice!

We are getting there early to get the situation under control if you know what I mean. I am also the kind of guy who gets to know everyone, I enjoy meeting people (been in sales for 17+ years) and it certainly makes what I'm doing much easier.

I will have my flash but I don't plan to use it during the performance (unless it's crowd shots). I do plan to get backstage shots if I can and I'll probably use flash for some of that. I love candid shots when I can get them.

Basically, I'm looking to have fun and try some new stuff. I'm volunteering for this so it's not a paying gig. In a best-case scenario, I'll get some work (later) from some of the bands but I don't care if I do. I'm using it as a learning experience.

gratefulsugaree

So how did the shoot go??

GadgetRick

Well...it didn't go. Sort of a long story but I wound up going down to the Hudson river and shooting down there.

gratefulsugaree

I had to cancel the Hangout festival (which is going on this weekend)

And I am probably gonna have cancel Bonnaroo too....

I hate it when Long stories happen.

GadgetRick

gratefulsugaree wrote: »

I hate it when Long stories happen.

Especially when they cost you money....