Band photography

I've been asked to take photographs of a mate's band at the weekend,
whilst they're doing a gig. It'll be in a small pub, which has
traditional old (dark) decor. I've no idea what kind of lighting they
will have setup, though I can certainly find out, if it makes any
difference.

Having never done anything like this before, anyone got any tips?

I've got a remote flash that I can use, which will slave off the one on
the camera. I also have a small "shield" if I want "scatter" much of the
front flash.

 

I've no idea what kind of lighting they

It'll be dark!

Won't that annoy everyone?

Would a high ISO and a nice fast prime lens (at least f1.8) and no flash
work? Can you pop to the venue before to see how it might be like on the
night.

 

You definitely want to go scope out the venue first if you can and ask
the landlord where the band are to set up etc.

You're better not using the on camera flash at all if you can as it'll
create quite harsh shots, on saying that you don't seem to be saying
you have a remote trigger for the off camera flash so the best solution
will be to use the "off camera" flash mounted to the hot shoe and with
a proper diffuser / mini softbox attached.

When you scope the venue take a few shots in the dark (ie how the
lighting will be when they are playing) and try some bounce flash, but
I suspect the results may not be so great depending on the height of
the ceiling/ colour etc but its worth checking out.

Fairly wide angle lens will be invaluable 18-80ish if you have it as
it'll allow you the flexibility to take wider shots of the band as a
whole but also zoom in to single out particular members of the band
too. You'll also be shooting at fairly wide apetures I should imagine
too if you don't want any blur.

Then I'd try to ensure you'll be able to get a few shots at various
angles too, ie from the floor upwards, from the ceiling down, I'd also
see what the chances of a couple of shots from behind the band getting
some of the audience into the shot too?

--
Donnie
"**** the world, it's time to fight back"

Lambretta Series 2 186cc "The Shitter"
Lambretta LD 175cc "The Chopper"
Honda CB500R "Look out, Donnie's about!"

 

Geee, ya think?

I don't know, which is why I ask. If the musicians here say it pisses
them off, then I'll forget the flash and go with something like you say.

I've been to the pub before, but it's a fair trek just to pop in and take
another look.

 

I've a 16-80 and a 10-20. Neither are particularly fast lenses. I do
have a 60mm f/1.8 though.

heh, it's a small village pub... the audience will be Betty and her
whippet, plus the old bloke from the Post Office. Besides, there won't be
any room behind the band. Unless I go outside and shoot through the
window.

 

Probably worth taking some shots of them not playing as well - especially
if you get better lighting outside and there's something interesting you
can sit them on. Often much better for promo purposes than a generic
darkened stage.

 

It makes a huge difference. Unfortunately it's a difference you have
absolutely no control over.

Do you have a separate camera mounted flash that does TTL metering? If
you do this makes life a lot, lot easier.

This is one of those questions where the answer can be a whole book or a
couple of lines. I'll try and keep it as short as possible.

First off, light. The chances are there'll actually be too much ambient
light but not enough specific spot lighting on the musicians for any
really dramatic shots. Then there'll be the remarkably unphotogenic
background that will be light enough to be easily seen in the pictures.

The other question is what sort of band are they? Obviously a folk band
will be after slightly different images to a rock band.

Then there's the question of colour or black and white. If the lighting
is quite harsh then B&W could be the way to go - however, if there's
lots of red lighting then B&W should probably be avoided as red light
produces absolutely flat images. I'm assuming you're shooting on digi,
so you can make this decision later.

Regarding exposure, this is where the fun starts. With live photography
exposure is both a lot more forgiving and also a lot harder. Cock it up
and you'll end up with nothing usable but you can get the exposure for a
specific instant a couple of stops out and end with a perfect image.

This is a good example of the exposure being technically 'wrong' but
getting it right would've produced a far less striking image:
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live09.jpg (200mm, 2.8f, ISO 800)

Exposure for non-flash: set your camera to spot meter and meter off
something mid grey that's being lit by the whitest light on the stage.
Generally you can use the singer's skin for this. If the artist is black
then either find something mid grey or meter then open a stop to a stop
and a half - and hope to god he's not wearing white... Once you have
your exposure (for example 2.8f@1/90) set your camera to this and leave
it there.

As this is a pub rather than a big venue with a full lighting rig, you
want to try and avoid as much background as possible - unless you think
the background adds to the image or the background is important (for
example it might show that the band are player at a prestigious venue).
In this case you want the amount of light in the image to drop off
noticeably behind the artist in the image. You may find using a slightly
smaller aperture helps a little with this, but then again you might not.
You can also use a slower ISO as this should produce a better drop off.

Framing really is your friend here. Shooting up into the darkness above
the stage can work really well, as can having a lamp in the frame so
that it flares as much of the boring background out of the image:
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live03.jpg

Your other choice is to go in tight so that the image is only the
artist. This can also be a good idea as it can appeal to that person's
ego:
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live01.jpg
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live02.jpg
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live04.jpg
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live05.jpg
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live06.jpg
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live08.jpg

If you decide to go with flash then I highly recommend you go with slow
shutter synch rather than setting the camera up at its standard synch
speed. Meter as above then leave this setting and let the TTL set the
flash output. Sadly I don't have any examples of this on this PC (I used
it a hell of a lot shooting raves back in Manchester) but this rolling
burnout from the TT shows how it can work in your favour:
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live10.jpg

What you're doing using slow synch is giving the image just a tiny bit
more light while allowing the ambient light to shine through rather than
being obliterated by the flash.

Lastly, a shot of the artist as a silhouette can look incredibly
dramatic, too. This last image I think shows the crowd in a far more
dramatic way than it would have done had I used flash (slow synch or
otherwise):
http://www.iq18films.adsl24.co.uk/live07.jpg

And now I really wish I had a couple of grand spare to buy new camera
gear and start working again as a photog...

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

The 16-80 suggests you have a Sony?

Shame, I was going to offer you a loan of a 50mm f1.4

 

Done it once. Push the ISO as high as you dare - actually, grainy rock
pix look very atmospheric. And even then open it up a stop or two.

You can good results with a tripod and a relatively long exposure, with
a hand-held flash popped off every now and then to freeze some action.

 

$:

<snip>

Bravo!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention mic stands. These can be a royal pain in the
arse - try to make sure the mic and/or stand don't get in the way of the
artist.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

@adsl24.co.uk:

it's Switters taking the photos, not TOG.

 

Nice one, thanks for all that.

I was already thinking about slow sync off the rear curtain - dunno if
it's still called that with DSLR. And yes, the on-camera flash gives me
TTL, as does the slave, although the slave I can set to manual to give me
better control over lighting balance.

It's a new rock band, so the examples you give are good. Thanks again.

 

No, it's a Nikon D90, and I actually meant the 16-85mm f3.5-5.6.

That's very kind though. Not sure I'd lend a lens to some numpty on the
internet.

 

He's lent one to me

--
Donnie
"**** the world, it's time to fight back"

Lambretta Series 2 186cc "The Shitter"
Lambretta LD 175cc "The Chopper"
Honda CB500R "Look out, Donnie's about!"

 

He's clearly more mental than I gave him credit for.

 

Ah, the cheap brand

Heh, break it and you buy it.

 

Are you getting any use out of it at all?

BTW, the 10 + lenses you sold recently? You wuz robbed!

 

Forget using a zoom lens. Your legs are your zoom. I hate photos taken
with a flash in a band environment. I used to have a F1.2 lens on an
Olympus OM2N and got some great shots. The zoom lenses are not helpful
as they are usually around F3.5 or so.

Occasionally a flash shot, but they tend to be annoying to the
audience and also don't really convey the atmosphere of the gig.

Get the fastest lens you can and move around.
http://tinyurl.com/32g22so
http://tinyurl.com/38r73ys

Especially in that second shot, it would have lost the atmosphere if I
had lit up the back of the heads of the people in front of me.

And both of those were taken with my phone camera. Get your framing
right, get your timing right and leave the flash at home.

 

I have to disagree with this. Admittedly this is a pub gig but shooting
live bands can be incredibly difficult thanks to all the possible
restrictions you can be faced with - from there being no pit at the
front of the stage to artists standing right at the back of the stage
and a millions things in between.

You need the freedom a zoom gives you, especially when shooting pro
shows where you're only allowed to shoot the first three tracks -
changing lenses in this situation is never going to happen. And 2.8f
should be fast enough for most situations.

In short, never ever assume you don't need something because you can
guarantee if you haven't got it you'll definitely need it.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine