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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Shooting Music/Inside Of A Bar
Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 5:13 PM on 10.30.10 |
->> Just looking for tips on shooting bands in bar environments, where space is cramped, light is low and shooting positions are few.
Does anyone shoot in these conditions and what set-ups do you use? If you shoot with an on camera flash (in my case a speedlight) do you shoot auto or lock in a manual setting? And do you bounce the flash, use a reflector or use a diffuser? |
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Shelley Cryan, Photographer
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New England | CT | USA | Posted: 6:13 PM on 10.30.10 |
| ->> In live concert situations, I avoid flash. It completely changes the look. I prefer to get close with a wide angle lens; with a bar band, that's possible. I like the DOF of a wide, plus I can handhold at slower shutter speeds. In a bar-band situation, as with most theatrical performances, I always shoot in manual. The wacky changing lights play games with a camera's meter. My preferred settings: the widest aperture my lens will allow, the highest ISO I can live with, then adjust the shutter speed to get the right exposure. If that's too slow to handhold, I up the ISO until it works. If it's light enough to get a fast shutter speed, I drop the ISO to avoid noise until I get a good balance of shutter/ISO. |
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Brian Jenkins, Photographer
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Burlington | VT | United States | Posted: 6:30 PM on 10.30.10 |
| ->> Crank up the ISO, put it on manual, shoot wide open and take a ton of photos. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 6:32 PM on 10.30.10 |
| ->> Shelley, I'm guessing that you don't mind a little blur in your shots then? I shot something last night and switched between flash and no flash ... and in both cases I had blur. With the flash it was intentional (was trying to convey "motion" and set flash to rear curtain) and with the manual it just sort of happened (although in some cases it "added" to the look). |
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Kelvin Ma, Photographer, Assistant
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Boston | MA | | Posted: 6:32 PM on 10.30.10 |
->> Hipstamatic with an iPhone!
;) |
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Scott Serio, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Colora | MD | USA | Posted: 8:22 PM on 10.30.10 |
->> The other thing works well if you are trying to mix up the looks is off camera flash. If you have someone helping you, throw the flash on a monopod, keep them at like a 45-degree angle to you, trigger however you normally would (Wizards/Nikon Commander), and you have instantly nice light. Maybe just a tad on camera to fill in, but make the external stronger. You can even shoot right back into your own strobe and get the U2 Rattle and Hum silhouette effect.
And that is old school right there. I will pay homage to Mizzou Alum Andre Vospette who did that in 1990 to shoot the infamous Bid Day Bash that ended in a riot. Technique has served me well since. |
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Cooper Neill, Student/Intern
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Nashville | Tn | USA | Posted: 12:17 AM on 10.31.10 |
| ->> Use your primes, crank up the ISO, and don't use flash! |
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Ian L. Sitren, Photographer
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Palm Springs | CA | USA | Posted: 12:39 AM on 10.31.10 |
->> "In a minute, I'll put down the guitar and pick up a camera. Sting and Stewart are already out there somewhere. I can hear Stewart whacking away at his banjo. My cameras are in that black bag down there...two Nikon FEs and three lenses with 20 rolls of Tri-X. Music - photography? The path through
the centre of this experience? Another way of dreaming through the electric bubble of fame - the moth's wing that flames out leaving only the trace of
notes, chords, rhythms. Paint with light - trap it in a cluster of silver halide and put it away in a drawer. I stick the end of my guitar out above the crowd and shoot." - Andy Summers
I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-1983
a photographic exhibition by Andy Summers
http://www.andysummers.com/taschen_new.php |
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Doug Holleman, Photographer
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Temple | TX | USA | Posted: 1:54 AM on 10.31.10 |
->> Every club is different, but almost all of them have horrible lighting. Not just dim, but poor placement that doesn't make much sense, goofy colors all blended together with hardly any white light.
I use fast primes, because my zooms are usually too slow to use, even at 2.8. Most often I'm using a 24/2 up close, and occasionally a 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8 or 105/2.5, depending on the size of the stage and how close I can get to the action.
Recently, I've experimented some with setting up flash units with snoots (or you could use a narrow grid), serving as spotlights on the main players, with a CTO filter on each to blend better with the hot lights on the stage. I put the flash on it's lowest setting so the available light from the PAR cans provides color. It's hit and miss, and it takes some work to set up, but it's better than trying to get a decent shot with a muddy-colored yucky barely-lit stage with lights not pointed at anyone in particular.
Every stage is different, so knowing the venue and what to expect really helps. |
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Guy Rhodes, Photographer
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East Chicago | IN | USA | Posted: 7:45 PM on 10.31.10 |
->> Another vote for off camera flash, BUT, please don't blast the place away with light that overpowers what is often interesting (but too dark) ambient light that might already be there.
Instead, (and to echo what Doug suggested) dial down your flashes to just add a little kiss of "nice" light to the scene. Experiment with your white balance, let your flashes go blue, or gel them to add a splashes of interesting color to the stage. |
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Sam Santilli, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Philippi | WV | USA | Posted: 8:54 PM on 10.31.10 |
| ->> Paul, what kind of band? Jazz, rock, punk? |
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David Manning, Photographer
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Athens | GA | | Posted: 12:40 AM on 11.01.10 |
| ->> Paul, i generally rock a 24/2.8 and an 85/1.8. No flash at all. Wide open. ISO 6400. |
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