The Phoblographer

Lead Singer on Stage

Concert photography can be very rewarding (both personally and monetarily). If you really stick at it, you can make some pretty good money. However, there is a reason why you end up making good money; concert photography isn’t a walk in the park. There are many factors that go into the machine that is great live concert shots.

A typical concert can be 2-3 hours, of which you’ll be shooting the entire time (unless a photo release prohibits you only to a set amount of songs); not to mention the several hours spent finishing the images on the computer. You have to be very knowledgeable with your equipment as you don’t have time to monkey around with it when the lights are on and the mics are hot. You need to know how to capture the emotion and mood of the show by using many different photographic techniques. I wouldn’t say it’s quite as stressful as wedding photography but you still generally only have one chance to get the shot (and unlike a wedding, you have no idea when that shot is going to happen).

Here are some general tips to follow to take your music photography to that next level.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest blog posting by Travis Lawton, the Lawtographer

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Concerts are where you go to see some artists truly just be themselves, and capture it on camera if you’re allowed to. I’ve shot concerts before, mostly with Canon gear. However, I’ve also used the Nikon D300s and D3s: but this was a while ago. To keep my knowledge of the other system fresh, I borrowed a co-worker’s D700and 24-70mm F/2.8 ED for a week. Here are some of the experiences I had while shooting the Presidents of the United States promote their new song for the Pokemon Black and White release.

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So far in the Olympus EPL-2 review we tested the Art Filters, shot an awkward moment on video, talked about using it on dates and as a street photography camera. Our first impressions are holding together very well and we’re still positively impressed. I felt that the camera needed a real test though. As stated earlier on, I’m reviewing this camera as an option for professionals not shooting paid work and instead just for fun. With this said, I journeyed out to another Chiptunes concert.

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Mara Levi of The Pushovers

On December 21^st of last year, I had the good fortune of being invited to a coworker’s concert at Union Hall in Brooklyn. I work with Chris Takita at Starbucks, and he plays lead guitar in the four-piece Melissa Li & the Barely Theirs. I offered to shoot the concert as both a favor to him and more practice on the a580. All shots shown were taken with Minolta glass. Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you that have read this blog for a while know that I’m a fan of Chiptunes and that shooting these concerts is often a joy due to the challenges presented. If you haven’t been to a chiptunes concert, most artists usually just stand in the middle of the stage with little to no movement just DJing via their gameboy, macbook or keyboard. Because of this, it is essential to capture emotions and interactions that happen and as I learned, never review your images while shooting because you will miss some of the best moments. I’ve shot a chiptunes concert with the Nikon D300sbefore and now that I’ve finally been able to do one with the 7D, the two can be compared toe to toe. This is a specific add-on to the 7D vs D300s battle that I previously wrote about.

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I recently shot a chiptunes concert with the Canon 7D and 35mm F/1.4L and tonight I was invited by Canon to shoot the Postelles. As part of their, “Your Second Shot” campaign, they also provided myself and fellow staffer Will Greenwald with SD4500ISs as gifts. By far, this was some of the best lighting I’ve ever shot with at a concert in a long time. Though the 7D’s images blow the little point and shoots out of the water, I wasn’t properly holding the camera. Most of the shots taken with the SD4500IS were with one hand and perhaps on the move as I needed to keep moving in order to get great angles of the band. Expect a review of the SD4500. Comments and the gallery after the jump.

Note: Please respect my copyright. If you’d like to use the images, please ask by shooting me an email at chrisgampat[at]thephoblographer[dot]com

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