Shooting live gigs in clubs is a real passion of mine, there is something real about the passion that you can capture from the crowd and the band members that makes the photo that much more special. However, shooting in these clubs can be a real test of your abilities as a photographer and so I thought I would throw out a few tips and tricks that I have picked up along the way and share them around. Now keep in mind that I am in no way an expert of concert photography, so don’t take my tips as gospel.
1. Crank up the ISO
With iso the higher you go, the more image quality you lose and the greater the noise levels, we all know this, the question is finding the balance between a acceptable amount of noise and a fast enough shutter to capture the image. Remember it is better to have a sharp noisy image then it is to have a clean blurry one. In most cases the noise looks like film grain and adds mood to a good shot.
2. Get wide.
Capturing a nice wide shot can tell a story. Sure, a tight shot of a singers face lost in a moment can look amazing, but capture that same moment showing the crowd caught up with the band and you are now capturing the essence of why these people are here. I use a 17-35mm or a 15mm fisheye a lot when shooting gigs… Don’t get me wrong, there are moments when you want to get in close on a band member and a nice zoom will nail the shot for you, but those golden shots in my experience have usually been a little wider.
3. Auto WB
With the light temps switching around like mad I find leaving it in auto WB is a real time saver, you can always fix it in post!
4. Shoot in RAW
Shooting in RAW will give you the ability to recover things in shots that will make or break the image, some of my favorite shots have been junk in camera, but have exploded when tweaked in lightroom or photoshop.
5. Travel lite
Clubs are not designed for photography, they are full of drunk and excited people who tend to care less about how precious your camera is to you, I carry one camera and two lenses to smaller clubs. Sure if it is a bigger venue with a camera pit, then take a slightly larger arsenal, but trust me when you are in a small live house, travel light and keep aware of the crowd!
Well that is it, short and sweet, I am off to shoot 9 bands tonight in a tight little club, will be taking a 24-70 2.8 and 15mm 2.8 fisheye loaded onto a D3s, hope this helps…happy shooting
ADAM L