Low Light Question

[SJCT]

I recently connected with a local band to get some shots of them while jamming in their basement rehearsal space. The lighting wasn't great, but I was able to use an on board flash and bounce it around a bit to get some good shots. They had some coloured strobe lighting so I wanted to experiment with them being lit by those lights only. I had watched a Kelby training video a while back where they did something similar with a band on a stage (simulating a live show shot).

The photographer in the Kelby training video cranked his ISO to 12,000. My camera (Canon Rebel XS) only goes to 1,600. Needless to say, my experimental shots didn't turn out, even with the aperture opened up all the way (50 mm lens at 1.8). Any suggestions? I'm assuming that the Kelby video trainer had a full-frame, much higher end camera than mine and so was able to really open up the ISO settings. Are there any other options for me when shooting something similar? I'm thinking ahead to when I'll be shooting the band in an actual live environment. If flash is not allowed, I'm not sure what my options will be. I can't slow the shutter speed to much because then everything ends up blurry.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by SJCT

If flash is not allowed, I'm not sure what my options will be. I can't slow the shutter speed to much because then everything ends up blurry.

One of the biggest advantages of shooting local bands is you generally have more latitude in what you're allowed to do relative to setting up lights or being close the the stage. If you're serious about doing this, I'd look at getting a wider angle lens that is f/2.8 or faster and some external speedlites, even cheap manual versions.

Check out John Hatfield's Flickr Stream. He shoots a lot of hardcore bands and often puts his lighting set up info in the photo description. If you're interested in this genre of shooting, you can learn a ton by looking through his work.

This one is still my favorite. Caught a great moment. Just two speedlites, under 400 ISO which your Rebel can handle without falling to pieces:


Shai Hulud at Hot Damn by jhatphoto.com, on Flickr

[SJCT]

Thanks Rentham. John has some amazing shots there!

[Paul 92]

Look into and try experimenting with slow sync flash if you camera has that setting on it. Using your on board flash, it will allow for a longer exposure, giving you some great action blur, then pops the flash at the end of the exposure to freeze your subject amongst the blur.
Used a lot in street and sports photography to give a feeling of motion and works great for high energy bands on stage. Not to be used for every situation but certainly a fun trick to perfect. Have fun!
Paul

LifePics: Create Anything, Print Anywhere.

[SJCT]

Originally Posted by Paul 92

Look into and try experimenting with slow sync flash if you camera has that setting on it. Using your on board flash, it will allow for a longer exposure, giving you some great action blur, then pops the flash at the end of the exposure to freeze your subject amongst the blur.
Used a lot in street and sports photography to give a feeling of motion and works great for high energy bands on stage. Not to be used for every situation but certainly a fun trick to perfect. Have fun!
Paul

Cool stuff, thanks Paul! It took me a bit to figure out that my external flash didn't have the capability to acheive the 2nd curtain sync. I re-read your post and saw that the you'd mentioned the on-board flash. I found the setting to change the sync to the 2nd curtain for the on-board and have been blinding/annoying my cats while experimenting with it. Thanks again!