Help! I need advice on photographing concerts.

[ChristineLane]

I'm in Hanson's fan club (huge fan, huge fan) and I was just chosen to be their photographer at one of their shows next month! Photography is still fairly new to me and I've only shot a couple concerts so far. With a little photoshopping magic, my past concert pictures have turned out pretty okay.

However... this time around, I'm not allowed to photoshop the pictures. I need to send them into the fan club as-is, so I need to make sure they're as good as they can be straight out of the camera.

Any suggestions? What settings should I use?

[wulf]

What camera and lenses do you have at your disposal (and do you get all-area access or do you have to stay down in the audience?).

Wulf

[ChristineLane]

I have a Canon S5 IS. (I'm not allowed to use attachable lenses, and probably will not be allowed to use flash at all.) As far as I know, I'll be able to stay up by the stage. Though if it gets crowded, I'll be moving to the back. I've been to this venue before, though, and it's very small. So if I'm in the back, the S5 IS has a 12X zoom, so that should help me out a lot.

[mar529]

does the s5 have manual controls, and what kind of lighting are you shooting in? if it is relatively low lighting as most concerts are, then you are going to want to use a large aperture (small f-number) and a higher iso.

[Nobie]

I'm afraid you not likely to get much with a point & shoot unless they leave every light on. You need to contact the venue or tour manager, explain that you're with the official fan club and that you've been asked to take photos of the show. Then, with a lot of luck, you may be granted a photography pass and get your DSLR in the door.

[ChristineLane]

Originally Posted by mar529

does the s5 have manual controls, and what kind of lighting are you shooting in? if it is relatively low lighting as most concerts are, then you are going to want to use a large aperture (small f-number) and a higher iso.

It does have manual controls, many of which are the same you would get on an SLR. I usually do keep the flash off during concerts, just because I find those come out brighter than with the flash on. (Strange, eh?) The only down side is that the camera obviously needs to be held perfectly still.

I will find out in a couple days if I will able to use flash or not for sure, but I'd like to be prepared for both.

[wulf]

Flash is generally no good because it illuminates the area near to you but doesn't produce enough light to get to the stage; compounding the problem, the camera expects more light and so anything far away comes out very underexposed.

Wulf

[sandrophoto]

why wouldn't they want u to retouch / fix photos? photoshop for digital photography is like a lightroom processing for a film. They are basically asking for a negative not the printed photo

[fpm8aal]

Best option for good result is:

The best quality lens available, meaning f:2.8 or better. Preferably with image stabilizer, as a monopod or tripod will not be allowed..

You won't be using a flash so set your ISO to 1600 or 800 to get the most light on your images.

A bit of grain won't hurt on concert images.

Good luck

[jsanders]

So the only option you have left with all you limitations is to use a monopod/tripod and to find the best balance between aperture and shuttertime. You should try to use as less iso as possible.