first bar shoot

[AntZ]

Also I can already see where this is heading.. “I am going to need faster lens’s” You can shoot concerts on a budget, as I said I did this for more than 20 years, and I have never owned a lens that cost $1000.00. Learn to shoot with the slower glass first, get really good at it, then if you ever get faster glass it will be just that much easier to shoot.

Jellotranz, are these f/5.6 shots in a small dark club? I can tell from the reflections in the 3rd one it is day time. Being limited to f/5.6 makes for tough shooting in low light.
By all means you do need to learn to make do with the gear you have, but if you are setting yourself up for a particular type of shooting you need to get the right gear. For me I bought a cheap 50mm f/1.8 and that gets me out of trouble in most situations.

[jellotranz]

For me I bought a cheap 50mm f/1.8 and that gets me out of trouble in most situations.

Actually this thread moved away from the original critique, I'll start a new concert photography thread tomorrow and write up how I shoot shows in smaller clubs.

[Marko]

Actually this thread moved away from the original critique, I'll start a new concert photography thread tomorrow and write up how I shoot shows in smaller clubs.

Cool - looking forward to it.

[jellotranz]

Jellotranz, are these f/5.6 shots in a small dark club? I can tell from the reflections in the 3rd one it is day time. Being limited to f/5.6 makes for tough shooting in low light.
By all means you do need to learn to make do with the gear you have, but if you are setting yourself up for a particular type of shooting you need to get the right gear. For me I bought a cheap 50mm f/1.8 and that gets me out of trouble in most situations.

The sum41 shot was shot in a large venue using a 50mm f1.8 Clint Black was shot at a large outdoor venue at dusk and Dragonfly was in full daylight once again in an outdoor venue. At the moment I am out of town on assignment and also in the middle of redoing my site so I had to grab whatever I had easily assessable to show as an example as I wasn't home to grab some from our smaller shoots.

My main point was that before you go and spend bucks on ultra fast lens’s which are great, don't get me wrong, learn to do it with what you have. It can be done, and you never know, you may find that you don’t need to spend the extra money on the ultra fast lens’s.

MERMAN seriously... Anyone who really shoots concerts for a living will tell you they are a Bitc* to shoot! They really are, the lighting can go from Bitch Black to Blinding in seconds, even in the time between when you are in AElock and when your shutter actually fires. After 20+ years of doing it, 3 out of 10 shots of mine are total junk almost every time and sometimes my ratio is more like 7 out of 10 suck. The trick is to just keep doing it and don't let it get to you. There are a lot of really cool images to be taken at concerts, it just takes some practice.

[AcadieLibre]

I am really curious to see this thread about shooting in clubs, I shoot small clubs all the time and did 5 Bands at the Hard Rock Cafe last night and even with f/2.8 was a struggle. I love my primes and bring them but nothing for concert equals a fast zoom. So I am curious about this. Shooting bands in the day is like shooting anything else in the day, easy. First time at the Hard Rock since it was called the Nickleodeon and that was more than 20 years ago, one hell hole to shoot in.

[AcadieLibre]

Merman, this is what I was referring to. this is low light, horrible low light, I used the available light which increased the shutter speed so I could catch the musician in motion. The best way, is practice, all there is too it. This was shot last night, f/2.8 Shutter Speed 125

[Marko]

I too really want to see jello's thread. Great shot A.L.!

[merman]

I freaking love this site, thanks again to everyone!

I said before i need some fast glass, only because i am shooting with a d70, its highest iso is 1600

Perhaps i will crack out the film so i have a little more leway with iso values?
but the good news is i have a friend that might have some equipment i can borrow, so ill give that a try!

are fixed lenses good in small clubs? or are they just a pain in the ass? ive never really used one.

[jellotranz]

are fixed lenses good in small clubs? or are they just a pain in the ass? ive never really used one.

Well.... Certainly zooms are easier to work with, but.. I have to say that a 50mm f1.8 is an excellent addition, in fact I think everyone should own one, as you never know when that extra stop or two will make the difference. As with any prime lens, yep.. You have to move your self around as you can't zoom, but considering that a 50 1.8 will generally cost you under $100.00 I guess complaining about it would just make you sound silly.

Another thing.. I can't speak to some of the latest cameras, but pretty much in most cameras ISO 1600 is the absolute max you can use and get a reasonable image, and some can't get a good image at 800. So, a higher ISO, which would be nice, is going to cause you additional problems just as it would with film. (Although I perfer the look of ISO 3200 film much better than the digital noise I get from my Canon at ISO 3200!!!!)

At the higher ISO ranges I personall find that noise reduction software will clean the image up alot. Normally I like NIK software for PS filters, but in this case personally I didn't like define for noise reduction, I found noise ninja to work much better. I have used neat image, but I settled on Noise Ninja instead.

[kat]

Is it the lens that determines what the highest ISO can be before it's rediculous or the camera base? For some reason I thought it was the camera base....

Also another quick question..how do you deal with other camera flashes if they are in use?