Concert photography - in a barn...

[Manfred M]

I'm not a great music fan, so I rarely get the chance to do concert photography, but on the weekend I was at a friend's "farm" for a combination get together and Blues event, so I thought I would take a crack at some concert photography to see what I might come up with.

The lighting was fixed (and terrible; high pressue sodium lights, I suspect), but it was fun. High ISO, wide open and low shutter speeds. I got some decent, but not great shots; shooting in a barn does have some interesting compositional considerations. Now I know what to expect next year.

[Kodiak]

Hey Manfred,

The drummer is perfect! you nailed that one… and his awareness of the camera
served the shot even more!

The other two, IMO, are quite too bright… live shows pictures have a very
"stage like" hard lighting and are better when you meter for the high keys!

[Mike Buckley]

The first one is really terrific!

[Donald]

I am going for 1 AND 2 as being 'on the button' with the head of the man in #3 just being a bit soft.

The other things about 1 & 2, I feel, is that they're packed full of the mood and atmosphere of the event.

[Manfred M]

Thanks Kodiak - the drummer was taken while he was setting up, mid-afternoon using daylight, so the lighting was mostly coming in from the window just behind and off to the side, and through the doors on either side of the barn. The other two were night time shots and the only light source was a single industrial (not concert) type light hung from the ceiling of the barn, so the light was overhead and in front of the band.



You can sort of make out the lighting in this image; the window faces west, so caused all kinds of back-light issues in the late afternoon, as the sun was setting. The large industrial light is in front of the stage and burning straight down; you can see the hot spot on one of the people sitting in the front row. The two barn doors are stage left and stage right and were wide open, so no reflections or light coming in after sunset.

Any thoughts on how to handle this (other than bringing in some of my own lighting)?

I was shooting at ISO 5000 to 6400 at f/2.8. Shutter speed around 1/50; all shot on manual.

Theface of the performers have all been dodged and burned to try to reduce the impact of the harsh lights.

[nimitzbenedicto]

Any thoughts on how to handle this (other than bringing in some of my own lighting)?

I was shooting at ISO 5000 to 6400 at f/2.8. Shutter speed around 1/50; all shot on manual.

Theface of the performers have all been dodged and burned to try to reduce the impact of the harsh lights.

Your images are terrific. Most of the fotogs I met at concerts advised me to time shots when the performers are in action and/or with expressive/passionate faces, dynamic body movements.

Bring your own lights to a concert? A novelty. But realistically not so applicable. Most concerts do not even allow flash. Best is to work with available light.

I envy your lens. If I only had f/2.8.

Surely, you are to be emulated in your skill in dodging/burning to alleviate harsh lights.

If I recall, Shadowman and DanK had interesting points of views on whether ( in a concert ) to change the WB or retain existing light. I asked some concert fotogs here about that and they said generally, mag/vid editors /creative directors prefer existing light to convey to the viewer the excitement/dynamism of the concert. However, there are times when they do alter it if it will add impact to their marketing/ads.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, where's the light coming from, overhead or through door?

[John 2]

The first two in particular are on the nail for me Manfred. Nice set.

[Manfred M]

Nicely captured, where's the light coming from, overhead or through door?

Thank you, John.

First one, from the window behind the performers and the doors to the left and right of the stage and no artificial light at all. The subsequent two, mostly from the light in front of the stage (you can see where it is located, just above the top of the image) with a bit more coming from other lights in the barn; no natural light contribution at all.

[bnnrcn]

I like #1 and #2

[IzzieK]

My vote goes to #1 and 3...

[smcrews]

I am going for 1 AND 2 as being 'on the button' with the head of the man in #3 just being a bit soft.

Agreed.