Small acoustic set in a coffee house..advice?

[Eyelikedurt]

Hi everyone.

Im attending a gathering of musically minded folk who are performing in a local coffee house (starts with 'S' and ends in 'tarbucks') and i'll be there, camera in hand.

Now im completely new to music photography, and i know there is a wealth of knowledge to be tapped within this very forum, so im asking if anyone has any advice to please throw some my way ;)

Its a small venue, probably only the stage will be lit, and its an acoustic set up. I can't imagine the lighting will be too 'studio 54' which is a blessing. Im assuming my 50mm will be my best bet, but anything anyone can suggest will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Mark

[taygull]

You are correct, you need to ue the 50mm1.8. I'd adjust your ISO so your shutter speeds stay around 1/200..or at least around 1/100. So you may need to shoot at an ISO of 1600.

Not sure of the options on your 350D for metering but get the smallest amount of metering possible and then lock your focus and exposure on the eye of the performer and recompose the shot. Don't be afraid to use burst mode as it will help. The last thing you should pay attention to is your white balance. Get you a white card take a shot just before the shut and use custom white balance.

Good luck and take 10 times as many shots as you think you need. Shoot from each side and the middle, up close and then from the back. Shoot high, shoot low and look for unique angles.

Post some shots when you are done.

[Eyelikedurt]

Thanks Taygull. Sounds like sage advice. I hadn't considered white balance as in my head the shots are black and white, but i think im going to have to fight the mono urge!!

I generally use the central sensor when metering, will this be adequate for the gig do you think?

[taygull]

You just want to narrow the metering to the smallest point. I should have mentioned the advice above is assuming you shoot in AV mode. This would be a great chance to learn RAW if you are not shooting RAW.

[Eyelikedurt]

I will indeed be in AV mode. Ive shot in RAW before, but the software i have is absolutely awful and i only have PS version 6 :(

I'll shoot RAW and it'll force me to convert them , instead of being lazy and sticking to JPEGS!

[zacker]

and the best advice ever?
dont drink the coffee....lol

[blackshadow]

and the best advice ever?
dont drink the coffee....lol
Hear hear!

Starbucks coffee is like dishwater.

[johnstoy]

and the best advice ever?
dont drink the coffee....lol
Hear hear!
Starbucks coffee is like dishwater.

It's true...the worst hand shaken pictures result from three large 16-20oz. coffee's and an exciting show...Anxious to get pictures of everything and everyone, while on a coffee rush yields shaken shots...Even if not on coffee, steady the camera, set up, sustain and shoot...

The 50mm 1.8 is OK for starters...

Taygull covered practically every factor that I too, resort to...Ah and the rewards of being able to choose from many, many, many shots...In the end there are never enough shots to choose from...

Make a check list of every thing to do and everything to bring along to the shoot...

Ah, and one more thing, bring extra memory cards, an extra backup battery is also comforting to have, and...

And there was one more thing, but I forgot while typing this stuff so I'll post it here, when I think of it later...

Note to Taygull: maybe you should add that paragraph summarizing your preparation for the shoot, to Dwight's Sticky Thread.

John

[johnstoy]

Here it is, Mark...

The other important task (I just remembered, Dwight ,told me this...) to do at the gig is to promptly check your results on the LCD...Do this right after a few shots and periodically there after during the entire event...This includes the Histogram...Zoom in on the LCD to check for exposure on the face...try to check for sharpness on the performers eyes, this way too...However you won't know if the image is real sharp or soft, till you actually see it at home on your computer screen...that's why you must take a lot of pictures...The histogram is invaluable for color saturation and for determining the light and dark exposure parameters...

[Eyelikedurt]

Johnstoy...

I recently watched a rather funny video on what is referred to as 'chimping', stick it in the search function and im sure you'll find it. I try not to check images on the screen as much as possible, ive missed too many shots that way! Im confident that i can get the majority of my shots sharp and reasonably well exposed, as its my first 'gig' im looking for interesting composition. Everyone's advice has been great so far, i'll try my best to avoid the coffee .... might get a nice cup of tea instead ;)

[livewire-photography.com]

i find it helps to get the feel to the music, sounds obvious i know but meh.....
also i heard on this forum to keep the focusing point over the eyes.
James... AKA the Biggest help........................ Not

[Eyelikedurt]

Any help is help James....cheers mate.

[Zeineth]

Hi everyone.

Im attending a gathering of musically minded folk who are performing in a local coffee house (starts with 'S' and ends in 'tarbucks') and i'll be there, camera in hand.

Now im completely new to music photography, and i know there is a wealth of knowledge to be tapped within this very forum, so im asking if anyone has any advice to please throw some my way ;)

Its a small venue, probably only the stage will be lit, and its an acoustic set up. I can't imagine the lighting will be too 'studio 54' which is a blessing. Im assuming my 50mm will be my best bet, but anything anyone can suggest will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Mark


Just some advice but you may want to talk to the manager of the S-Bucks you will be visiting in adavnce. As coperate policy S-Bucks does not allow pictures to be taken inside of their stores unless for official S-Bucks use and with writen permission. I know this becasue my wife is a store manager of an S-Bucks and the managers are supposed to stop anyone that takes any pictures for what ever reason.

[Eyelikedurt]

Zeineth - Sir, you have just raised a very good point. One i hadn't even thought about. I'll check it out, and if im given permission i'll post some of the shots. Fingers crossed people.

By the way Zeineth, how much power does your wife wield? Enough to pull strings this far across the pond? ;)

[Zeineth]

Zeineth - Sir,

By the way Zeineth, how much power does your wife wield? Enough to pull strings this far across the pond? ;)

Sir?!?! me a sir?!?! lol ROFLOL :lol: Thanks I needed that.

I am afraid the wife does not have any power outside of her own little store.

[Eyelikedurt]

Sir indeed!
Well it was worth a try ;)