Advice on shooting a classical concert with my new Canon kit

[Mike Bell]

Two months ago I got my EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) and the lenses you can see in my signature. With much humbler kit I've been taking photos as an amateur for years and supplied most of the shots on the web sites for the Fair City Singers (Scotland's best childrens choir IMHO) http://www.faircitysingers.org.uk and Perth Symphony Orchestra http://www.perthsymphonyorchestra.org.uk I've also got a few of my photos into local newspapers and on publicity material. I've never made any money and don't really expect to.

My challenge now is to get better shots for the next Perth Symphony Orchestra concert in Perth Concert Hall and I'd like your ideas.

To help you visualise the venue here are 4 of the shots I took at the last concert using my humble Olympus C720UZ point and shoot camera. I will be in the same venue again and will have the option of these same viewpoints or indeed any other seat I want. I can be as close as about 12 feet from the players at the front of the stage. Flash is completely out of the question. I will have to remain still, seated and quiet - this is classical, not pop or rock. Even shutter noise could be a problem and I will only shoot during loud passages or applause.

The first two are from about 50 feet in front of the stage:
http://static.flickr.com/41/101235087_eb84603603_o.jpg
Olympus C720UZ, 1/30 sec at f 2.8 ISO 200

http://static.flickr.com/26/101235076_1d5a3c4fa2_o.jpg
Olympus C720UZ, 1/80 sec at f 3.4 ISO 200 and exp comp -1.33 stops (required massive PP to get any kind of reasonable skin tones back!).

The next 2 are from a side balcony and I was about 25 feet from the piano:
http://static.flickr.com/40/101235080_b0770b9b0e_o.jpg
Olympus C720UZ, 1/40 sec at f 2.8 ISO 200

I was about 35 feet from these players but zoomed in:
http://static.flickr.com/31/101235079_51cb5862c6_o.jpg
Olympus C720UZ, 1/15 sec at f3.4 ISO 200 (With that shutter speed I must have had the camera on the balcony shelf to get it this sharp!)

Please do not comment on the quality of these shots - I know they are poor but they show you the setup.

Now this shot (posted here by kind permission of the photographer and Goldmember of these forums CurtisN) is what I am aiming for!
http://performancephoto.us/images/Katrina/RVC04.jpg
Curtis says "This was taken with a 300D at ISO 1600, 70-200 f/2.8 lens wide-open, with monopod. I don't recall the shutter speed". Thank you Curtis for letting me post this as inspiration to my advisers!:)

[Mike Bell]

I sneaked into the hall today just after a rehearsal before the stage lights were turned off. I got my wife Carolyn to stand on the stage just where the cellist is likely to be. I sat in the front row and took some shots. This was the best:
http://static.flickr.com/25/101776272_a79e34871a_o.jpg
350D with EF-S 60mm (my fastest lens) 1/80 sec at f2.8, ISO 800. I ran it through PS digital noise reduction and sharpened it slightly.

I also tried my EF-S 17-85 but at 85 its minimum aperture is 5.6 so I needed ISO 1600 to get any reasonable shutter speeds. I couldn't get access to the balcony today.

[Curtis N]

With black dresses & tuxedos, the contrast in this type of environment is tremendous. The cellist shot above was actually taken during a brief rehearsal prior to the concert, when I could get fairly close. My shots from the concert itself were terribly overexposed.

I suppose if you have a chance to take some test shots beforehand under the same lighting as that used during the concert, that would help tremendously. So practicing on your wife as you did was a good idea, I think, but only if you're sure the lighting will be the same during the concert.

I'm open to suggestions on how to meter in these situations.

[gavintanouye]

I like the closer shots, but the wide shots look a bit dark, well at least the musicians do. Also when doing wide shots, I would try to get the shot level before snapping the shutter.



GOOD JOB!

[Mike Bell]

Thanks guys.

Curtis: the lighting on Carolyn is the same as it will be on the night so I now have a good idea of what to expect. Looking at other posts in this section the key to exposure seems to be 'expose for the skin tones'. The 350D has partial metering (central 9% of the frame) which might help but is not true spot metering. I may have to bracket exposures as you suggested elsewhere.

Incidently, my resolve finally broke today and I ordered a new lens! It's the Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG macro. Macro is one of my big interests but I also might just have a use for that lens for this concert on Saturday - hence the rush to order. It comes tomorrow!

[Palladium]

Here are some ideas some of which maybe you can use.

I reset the light and dark points of the CURVES of your wife's photo using the THRESHOLD in PS as a guide (dupe the image layer and add the THRESHOLD - using the slider move it completly to the Left and slowely come back to center - your looking for the first meaningful dark points, then using your color sample tool pick the dark spot - Do this again only using the slider from the THRESHOLD all the way RIGHT and coming back to center your looking for the first meaningful light areas, again using your color sample tool pick the light spot.

OK so now we can delete the THRESHOLD Layer - you should still have the 2 sample spots marked on your image - now you'll want to add a CURVES Layer. Using the curves color pickers the left most one is DARK so sample the dark mark - you'll also do this for the Right Curves color picker. The Right one is light so match it up with the light sample mark from the threshold. Still with me.

now your shold have 3 layers - original, duped original and a curves adjusted via the dark and light points of the THRESHOLD. You can clear the marking points by unchecking the color picker selection box in the menu tool area.

The dark point I found was an area around your wife's right elbow, between the sleve and jacket. The light point was an area of her left check.

If your only doing a few photos you can adjust each one or you can use the new curve layer you just created and drop that layer onto other open images and they will all be adjusted using the same range.

(I probally havn't explained this enough but if your look through S. Kelby book CS2 for the Dig Photog he's guides you step by step.)
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/8444/101776272a79e34871ao9fh.jpg

[Mike Bell]

Thanks, Palladium! :)

Your conversion has made the shot a whole lot better although on my monitor it looks just a little over-brightened with washed-out colours. Either my monitor (or my taste) needs adjusted! :o

I'm interested - what defects do you use this conversion process for? To my eyes the original was pretty good apart from the noise caused by the high ISO and a slight orange cast I always seem to get indoorsdespite setting the WB to tungsten.

[kallousa]

All are excellent IMO , Mike. It seems you were free to move during the performance.

Wish you the best output next time

Regards

[René Damkot]

Your conversion has made the shot a whole lot better although on my monitor it looks just a little over-brightened with washed-out colours. Either my monitor (or my taste) needs adjusted! :o
Actually, the original was better in terms of brightness / contrast. All it 'needed' (depending taste) was a slight shift to the blue and a *bit* of brightening. A simple curves layer could do that. (remove a bit of red, add a bit of blue)

[Mike Bell]

Well the concert was last night and I got some shots. David was very nervous at the dress rehearsal hours before, and it become obvious that I could not take photos from the front row during the performance - it would put him off. Luckily I now have my Sigma 150 f2.8 and these two are taken with that from about 20 yards away. They are just cropped and resized for here, no PP. I shot in both RAW and jpeg.

1. 1/320sec at f3.5, ISO 1600, exp comp -0.66
http://static.flickr.com/42/104663911_eff0fc7718_o.jpg

2. 1/200sec at f2.8, ISO 800, exp comp -0.33
http://static.flickr.com/39/104663909_7932938b7c_o.jpg

How can they be improved? I have Raw shooter essentials, Photoshop2 and Paint Shop Pro X.

[René Damkot]

Apart from having taken the picture from closer up you mean ;)
I'ld add a little vignetting to 'highlight' the Chello(?) player. It's too much of an overview now: nothing to 'draw the eye'.

[Mike Bell]

Apart from having taken the picture from closer up you mean ;)
I'ld add a little vignetting to 'highlight' the Chello(?) player. It's too much of an overview now: nothing to 'draw the eye'.

Had a go!
http://static.flickr.com/41/104824153_f170c6aad8_o.jpg

Hmmm........:cry:

[René Damkot]

Hmmm indeed. Probabely used 'brightness/contrast' or 'dodge/burn' in PS? Don't. Now it looks gray.
Give 'curves' a try; make an adjustment layer, drag the curve down to darken the image, (right side of the curve or left side work differently, try it); mask the layer. You might set the layer mode too 'normal' or 'luminousity' according to taste/conditions.