Live rock photography tips from preparation through to camera settings
This article is intended to be a list of simple live rock photography tips and things to remember.
A simple list of things to remember. I hope these help you take your shots to the next level through better preparation and having the right gear.
The intention is to work in a more efective manner and will be closer to how you will eventually work while having more fun and more satisfaction from your concert pictures.
There is a lo of information in cyberspace regarding this. And there are already a lot of VERY good rock photographers. this is why I decided to document my own journey through the learning process.
Unlike these articles, this one is meant to be a reference list of rock photography basics for the first timer. Its the tips and tricks I picked up and it also means I can update this list easily.
Like many other authors for Park Cameras I am happy to hear feedback from all and spread the rock photography love. The content in this article is unlikely to change greatly unless I discover a huge mistake..
This rock photography article is an appendix to a series of articles on the subject.. You may wish to also visit these
Rock Photography and Concert Pictures: Part 1
Rock Photography and Concert Pictures: Part 2
Rock Photography and Concert Pictures: Part 3
Rock Photography and Concert Pictures: Part 4
Rock Photography Tips
Rock Photography Equipment
This rock photography tips list will be a moving feast of checkpoints to get you started. From how to research, useful settings and what to do mid gig.
Why Rock Photography is different
three songs, no flash, in low light, shooting fast action.
Any stage based work (particularly rock photography) is by its' nature different others. You are trying to photograph a performance where anything may occur and you the performers are going to be being just about as dynamic as they ever will.
Kind of like documentary photography. What's going to happen may only happen once and it is this unpredictability makes rock photography both fun and difficult.
Outlined below is my own take on this and how I feel it was best for me to proceed. I will cover matters from how to prepare yourself, what you should expect, how to get passes and of course what camera shooting modes to try with particular attention paid to manualshooting mode which is my favourite. I never shoot in anything else.
Rock photography is purely low light work and this will also effect the equipment you buy.
Rock Photography Photo Passes. My personal outlook.
The difference beween just taking concert pictures and HAVING to take concert pictures
The ratio between when I shoot on a pass or not is roughtly 85/15. If without then the band will always know I'm there. For the venues this happens in this is always enough, especialy while I'm gaining experience. There is no is gaining photo press passed or photo accreditation for large gigs if you donthave the the large stage experience.
I have shot on larger stages and the experience is VERY different. You have more scope for better shots but have to work much quicker. be subtle and calm yet creative. I loved it actually and these days im doing more and more of it and hope to be able to justify approaching larger promotors and publications, although I would relish the experience now.
I promote myself as a rock photographer doing free work to local online music outlets and offer myself for unpaid while picking up my own expenses. I consider this part of the ground work of becoming a rock photographer and almost a sort of apprenticeship before approaching larger media outlets.
Once working for those outlets I will still only gain access when there is a reason and benefit to the promoter. Sometimes they only have a set number to give out and a promoter will need your shots to be part of the promotion process so they must feel sure that your concert pictures will be used where potential fans are likely to buy tickets for subsequent nights.
The opportunities for freelancers no connected to publications are becoming less and less likely unless they are particularly well known.
Preparing to shoot concert pictures
Pre - gig setup.
It is a nightmare of mine to arrive unprepared asin my view you may as well not bother. Taking concert pictures without preparation is like turning up to a meeting without your input ready. Its a job and should be considered as such.
Sounds obvious but charge you battery and take a spare. Can you imagine your camera turning off at the wrong moment? I use a Canon EOS 5D MK II Body I use the originalCanon LP-E6 (LP E6) Battery for EOS 5D MkII/ 7D) and they are both charged the day before.
Next - Memory Cards. The 5D Mark II uses Compact Flash Memory Cards. I opted to use the four gig Extreme III's (now known as Extremem Pro's) a good card, fast and not too big. If my main card died mid gig I'd be able to recover this and use a different card. I'd hate to loose 16 gigs worth of shots just because of a manufacturing fault or some other issue. I would rather change cards peridically than risk that. A way of seeing they last is to make sure they are clean cards, formatted with no images from other concerts sitting on them. This means I HAVE to injest the images between gigs and get them into my workflow and this in itself is good discipline.
If you are accredited to shoot the gig, make sure you take your contacts details with you. So often security are uninformed or someone didnt update the guest list. Especially when dealing with smaller operations. You can do without this problem from a mere breakdown in communication. Asking a security guard who is trained to see people off if difficult enough especialy as they WILL be busy at tht time and may not be able to even check your story. Check you are on the list before you leave.
I always wear black. I'm not an emo or goth, its because I wish to blend in. not be noticed. I don't like the idea of standing out. Its not fair on the audience if they have me in view, especially if I'm on the stage with the band. I'm not there to be seen, so I try not to be. And its not just me. Look at the stage crews and roadies.
Rock Photography Equipment
Gear for shooting live events in low light
If you get a pass or if you're meant to be there for the band then the gear you can use can be larger and the places you'll be able to get to will give you a great view.
But if you're not there to photograph the event then you are also unlikely to be in a location of advantage and the equipment you can use will be limited to nothing more than a compact camera.
Security guards rarely bother taking these off people due to the number of people with cameras on thier phones. So a compact is going to be OK or at least impossible for them to police. But do not expect to leave with award winning concert pictures. If its a problem then maybe dont take a camera and just enjoy the concert. After all you will have paid to be there.
If you're using a Digital SLR then don't bother opting for anything outside of the well trodden ranges of either a Canon Digital SLR and available lenses or the similarly excellent offerings from Nikon.
Auto Focus in Servo Mode
Shooting concert pictures with a DSLR
I use the Canon EOS 5D MK II Body and I make a point of linking the auto focus and metering to the same point and shooting in AI Servo Mode.
The reason band frontmen often move quickly in and out of the short plane of focus that you get at wider apertures. If you work in other modes such as half press focussing and recomposing this means you may get the point of interest slightly out of focus.
A point worth noting is these are low light environments and your AF system will not work too well. Personally I make a point of working at as wider aperture as possible to combat this and this emphasises the requirement to have a faster tracking auto focus system as depth of field is so limited. Wider aperture not only means faster shutter speed but also assists in auto focus.
Using spot metering for rock
Choose your subject and allow the background
Rock photography opportunities have widely varying lighting. It is impossible for the software in your camera to accurately determine correct lighting in each situation because they are programmed for the main, generalised and thin range of types of photography, capturing probably 80% of all eventualities. Rock photography is not captured in this properly.
An example scenario is a bright light behind a guitarist may be exactly what you are seeing, and may be what you want to capture. But if your camera is set to evaluative metering it may well decide to expose for the performer who should be in sillouette by over-exposing the background.
If you were working in anything other than manual mode it will start to make decisions for you not knowing whether you are at a gig or out on the beach and over expose comparative to what effect you want..
I only shoot manually, expecting to under expose because of the darker nature of a rock photography and music performances in general. This is useful because i also use this extra lattitude to gain faster shutter speeds.
Shoot concert pictures in 'manual' mode.
The camera cannot make decisions for you
There's a great deal of good that can come from aperture or shutter priority modes.
For rock photography I once tried to shoot in aperture priority mode set to f/2.8, letting the shutter adjust accordingly. Having spent fortunes on f/2.8 lenses I was sure I wasl going to use them. In retrospect this was a mistake.
I then tried shutter priority modes but to be honest didn't get on with it, but thats probably down to me than anything with that mode. technically it should have worked but didnt suit me.
Either of these modes meant the camera is was evaluating available light and then after seeing exposure compensation settings, controlling shutter/aperture to correctly expose.
This is why I shoot in manual mode only due tot he flexibility this affords me. If im in poor light I can open the aperture and shutter, expecting to under expose. This is unless im using sport metering in which case I will still under expose but not by as much.unless I'm using the spot metering in which case not so much. This is because the the performers face (you spot metering and focus point) is rarely the brightest area inthe frame.
Some performers I can shoot as slowly as 1/80th of a second. Others however seem to need shutter speeds as fast as 1/200 or more.