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first gig, tripod or not tripod??

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first gig, tripod or not tripod??

  • emma64
    Participant

    Hi there

    I’m shooting “fight Like Apes” at the stables tonight and have never shot a gig before. I’ll be shooting with a 40D and have a fab new lens, 24-70 f2.8. Will I need a tripod does anyone know? Any tips or hints will be greatly appreciated, I’ll post images next week toget some c&c

    Thanks
    Emma

    ben4130
    Participant

    sorry just saw this now …… no tripod, high iso, and manual mode … or aperture priority if lighting is mental.

    jb7
    Participant

    and get up close with that one-

    emma64
    Participant

    Hi thanks for tips, I only got you advise today but had got similar from photography friend before I shot on friday. despite having ISO extended to 3600 there still was a lot of camera shake in many, as the lights were very dim just red gels, also a red cast on every one and if i desaturate reds all colour is gone! I had a look at your myspace photos, nice shots… I like the angles also the light trails on Vetostate is fab, how did you get that effect?
    I’ll post some of my pics later to let you see what I mean lap top is dead at the mo, and i’m at work!

    Anonymous
    Participant

    I wouldnt bring a tripod as people would get fruity with you because of space that it takes up! Keep your ISO high around 800-1,000 (dont worry about noise as i think the gritty grainy look suits music gigs! That lens is fast so you should be able to shoot handheld but maybe perch yourself aginst a wall or something for extra support. You should experiment with flash especially in sync mode for trailing effects. Keep an eye on your white balance as strong colour casts from the venue when lighting is mixed can be hard to correct later if you only shoot j-pegs.
    Rock on
    :D Ben

    ben4130
    Participant

    I just used a slow shutter, probably 1 or 1/2 a second using rear curtain flash, when you take a photo the shutter stays open and the flash goes off that the end of the shot to get the trails.you can also use front curtain flash where by the flash goes off at the start of the shot and you will get trails in front of the person rather than behind.

    emma64
    Participant

    Here are a few of the less blurry shots from fridays gig, what do ye think?



    ben4130
    Participant

    Considering the lighting i think you done a great job, Im not into the colours except in the second last and the one before that but i can see it would have been difficult to shoot. Have you tried some black and white conversions maybe?
    It loks likr you might have been able to up the shutter speed slightly though for less motion blur, there doesseem to be alot of light in some of the shots.
    Just keep shooting and experimenting and you will be fine

    emma64
    Participant

    I couldn’t get any faster speeds than about 1/30th even with ISo expanded to 3600 and ap wide open!

    seanmcfoto
    Member

    Light looks terrible. Not a whole lot you could do really. I’d recommend going with the 50 1.8 instead for these gigs.

    Normally for smaller gigs I shoot ISO1600 1/100 sec f2.0 or so on the 50 or 85 1.8.

    randomway
    Member

    I agree, a faster lens, a 1.4 or 1.8 can be very handy when the lighting is that bad. A tripod wouldn’t help, the musicians are still moving, and you would only get the background sharp with slower shutter speeds.

    I like the one before the last… good job.

    monty
    Participant

    randomway wrote:

    I agree, a faster lens, a 1.4 or 1.8 can be very handy when the lighting is that bad. A tripod wouldn’t help, the musicians are still moving, and you would only get the background sharp with slower shutter speeds.

    I like the one before the last… good job.

    Do lenses like this not give you an extremely limited DOF?
    Is it really worth while going right down to 1.4 to get a sharp photo…out of focus?

    Pitmatic
    Member

    my two pee :)

    I use my sigma 70-300 at the 70-100mm end and at f4 (wide open for that lens) and now this is just the lens i use as its the best for the situation i own and i cant afford to buy a 2.8 or 2.0 lens so thats what i do.

    In the theatre during a music gig if i am not operationg the show I sometimes sit on the stairs at various steps for differing heights and snap away in bursts using my left knee for support rather like someone would sit in that position firing a rifle and I will generaly fill a 2GB card with shots and find that 80% are blured 15% the performers are pulling faces/straining etc and I might be left with 5 to 10 shots that are keepers.

    God help you if the audience is moshing and the floor/seating is boucing too!

    My shutter speeds vary from 1/2 a sec to a 30th but 10th of a sec exposures are common I tend to use 800 iso as above that on the D80 definition IMHO falls away and pictures look smudgy.

    Also dont forget to use tungsten white balance or shoot in raw as you get the luxury of changing the white balance on the computer without loosing anything and sometimes the wrong white balance can look quite good experiment i say.

    Also I think the lighting on the show looks appaling and they should hire me to do thier lighting for them :) (if i had a lighting rig of my own of course :( see earlier comment about having to use that sigy 70-300 :(

    Any questions do ask.

    seanmcfoto
    Member

    All that needs to be sharp are the eyes and you can get it with f1.4.

    The wider aperture lets you have a higher shutter speed which will freeze motion. Motion blur ruins far more shots than shallow focus for me.
    At bigger gigs with better lighting, you don’t need it, bur for most small gigs, you need as fast as you can get.

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