2. Equipment
• Ear plugs. The cheap foam ones are very good
• Fast lenses and cameras with big sensors and
low noise are great
• But DX sensors are useful for extending the
range of long lenses (200mm equals 300mm)
• But you can shoot with pretty much anything
3. Get Lots of Bad Photos
• Get lots of bad photos you’ll get more good photos
• Along with sports this is the type of photography with
the highest proportion of out of focus, blurred and
just bad photographs
• If the faces are mostly in shadow or moving too fast
shoot whenever you can get a technically good
photo-you can pick the best expressions later
• Check the shots on the monitor quickly but not often
• Shot lots when something good is happening
5. Lighting is Very Important
• The amount varies from plenty to not nearly
enough.
• Generally the bigger the venue the more the light
• Heavily filtered light (all one deep colour) is
generally too low to get a good photo
• Compose with the highlights and bright midtones
• Remember separation
• The shadows are usually too dark to count on
getting much detail
6. And the Speed of the Band
• Some bands move fast almost all the time,
• And some hardly at all.
• Fast bands need high shutter speeds
• With little depth of field it is hard to follow
focus
• Take lots of pictures…oh, I already said that
7. When the Lights are Low
• If the light is low wait for them to stop or
slow
• Focus shoot, focus shoot,repeat
• There is no depth of field
8. Who do we photograph
• Mostly the lead singers
• Try shots from near the centre- you’ll be
low, so the angles will be tough
• From the side you’ll get more flattering
angles on singers, but they’ll mostly be
in profile
• Photograph rappers from the palm side
of the microphone hand
9. Some Hints
• Earplugs
• All things being equal photograph from the
guitar body side (stage right)
• If it’s crowded work your way along the side
(saying “Excuse me please”)and then in
towards the stage right along the speakers
• Balance getting the shot with being a jerk
• If you’re getting paid be a jerk if you really
have to
• Gauge the atmosphere. With some bands
you can do whatever you want
10. More Hints
• Try a few different positions
• If they do something good be ready for
them to do it again
11. Tight Head Shots
• Look for good expression, face not
blocked by the microphone, no bad
shadow on face the from microphone
• If the face is mostly blocked shoot
whenever it’s clear
16. Playing Instruments
• Guitarist on knees. Shoot from their head
level or a little lower
• Guitarist writhing on stage-hard to get a good
shot but try and get close and above
• Drummers-facial expression and drumsticks
hitting or coming down
• Keyboards-really the hands and head need to
be close to the keyboard but that doesn’t
happened much
• Bass-photograph pretty much every
recognizable expression
17. Two Heads are Better Than One
• Two band members interacting
• You probably can’t get them both in
focus
• Focus on the one facing you
• If they are both equally facing focus in
the most dynamic one
18. The Whole Band
• Hard to get let alone make good
• Position yourself to get the drummer in
the shot
• Usually near the centre standing up
• A wide lens will give a more dynamic
shot but make the drummer small
21. Flash
• Flash usually not allowed in big venues
• Use the least amount of light possible
• Flash bounced from ceiling generally doesn’t
look good(kills the stage lighting)
• Direct flash is better
• You can sometimes get a great shot with
flash and a long exposure
• Bouncing off a side wall can work
23. Back light face in darkness
• Lens wide open
• Shutter speed not too slow-1/30 or faster-
unless the light is too low
• Adjust ISO if necessary
• Just enough flash to light face
• White balance for face (warm lights are better
than blue faces but you can adjust this if you
shoot RAW)
• Also could filter flash to tungsten light balance