Tip on night shooting

[Simmons12358]

Hi! My name is Simmons, and I hope someone can help me.

I went to a concert, actually it was the Urban Nights festival in Dayton, and I saw a band play. There was little light except for a few nearby streetlights, and a floodlight that the band used for their lights. I had no idea how to photograph this and I had my Nikon D40 and its stock lens. I was hoping I could get some tips, should this kind of setting ever happen again..

Also, I'm new to posting on the forums (hence the introduction) so, if I do something wrong I apologize in advance!

[OsmosisStudios]

You actually got a good shot, despite the terrible lighting.

One thing you may want to consider is a fast prime lens. They're usually pretty cheap and can really help you in low-light situations like these. For the D40, I'd suggest the 35mm f/1.8: it'll autofocus on your camera and is "normal". If you dont mind losing the AF, then I'd be tempted to recommend the 50mm f/1.8

Can you post the EXIF data for this photo?

[wulf]

On the kit lens, you can open up to a wider aperture if you use a shorter focal length. You still won't get as much light as using a fast prime but it may help when you are struggling to get a usable shutter speed.

A tripod or other stable platform also helps - that way you can afford a slower shutter speed - you will get motion blur from the movement of the people but this can depict the action while camera shake (when the speed is too slow to hold the camera still) normally looks bad unless you deliberately exploit and exaggerate it.

Wulf