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A place to politely discuss the tools, technique and culture of photography.

This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers.

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Concert photographers: Tips on my first big gig (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by pluckmedia@alien.top to c/photography@viewfinder.pro

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Hey everyone

I’m shooting a pretty big gig coming up this week. I have done a bit of concert photography for some smaller bands but will be shooting a massive venue with Bloc Party & Interpol headlining.

Just wanted to ask if anyone had any tips I should keep in mind while shooting.

This will also be the first gig where the ‘3 song’ rule will be applied so I’m stressed about getting all that I need within that timeframe.

Any particular shots I should try and get? Also, is it worth trying to see if I can get on stage to shoot from behind?

This is the rules that were sent to me:

“Please note that the photo restrictions are the first three from the pit only and nothing from front of house/crowd after the first three.”

Does this mean it will only be first three and then everything else is just from the crowd?

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[–] f_14@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

You can shoot the first three songs from the pit and then you're done photographing. Nothing from the crowd. They may let you stay and watch the show, but no more photos.

Three songs lets you do a surprising amount. You're almost certainly not going to get on stage to shoot the crowd so don't worry about that.

Move around. Pay attention to the lights and try to use them as good backgrounds. If they have a giant screen behind them watch for banding. You may need to drop your shutter speed down to 1/125 or so to get the screen image without banding, but you will run into motion blur so you'll need to figure out what you want.

I assume since you've been photographing concerts that you know you'll almost certainly want to shoot in manual mode and expose for the performer. Shooting raw can be helpful. If you have two bodies it's generally easier to not switch lenses. You won't need anything longer than a 200mm most of the time from the pit. If you're ever stuck at the sound board bring the longest glass you have and a short collapsable stool.

The most important thing is to relax and have fun. It's just a concert. There will be more in the future so don't get too worked up about it. Understand that you're going to be in a tight space with other photographers trying to work and security guards who have other things to focus on. Play nice with the others and don't just camp out in one spot.