Focus Point? Best Concert Practices?

[amareica]

Hey everyone -

I've been admiring your shots for awhile. I'm not exactly ready to post any of my pictures juuuuust yet but..I was just curious, when you're shooting concerts, what focus point do you generally use, or do you constantly change it?

This seems to be my biggest problem when shooting concerts, I never know what the best focus point to use is and a lot of times the height of the stage and different variables seem to have a large impact on what works best for the shot so I'm constantly changing to adapt. I usually shoot in M mode with a 30D and either a fixed 50 or a 24-70 depending on the lighting. Would love to hear some of your feedback on what works best for you/what focus point/points you use the most/how you determine what works best/etc.

Thanks!
Mary

[narlus]

i know a lot of people prefer to use the center 'cross-type' AF point as it's sensitive to contrast changes both horizontally and vertically, but i like to frame my image in the viewfinder for the best composition, and so i have no qualms about using the outer AF points. sometimes you miss focus, or need to manually tweak it. just part of the game. i use a 30D as well.

[thelightofsound]

i have best results with one shot center focus. but most of my subjects aren't running all over the stage

[bacchanal]

Depending on how much light I have, I use either use the center point or manually select a single off center focus point. I try not to recompose if at all possible (especially when using fast primes wide open), but I'm using a 30D, so sometimes the off center points aren't as sensitive as I'd like them to be. There are times when there just isn't much contrast in the area that you want to focus...so a little focus/recompose action may be necessary. And as with Michael, most of my subjects aren't running around all crazy like all the time.

[jhacker]

I use whatever focus point I have to to focus on the artists face. Usually I shoot portrait mode, so I use the top focus point. If I want a different composition, I switch to whatever will be over their face. Works like a charm.

[René Damkot]

Whichever of the eleven points that works best for what I want...

[amareica]

Thanks guys

[shannyD]

i had my first shot at this the other night. and im excited to try more. just go to shows, and practice. thats what im going to do.. even if the band sucks.. just go so you can figure out your style. im going to try and get out to a heavy metal band on monday ( and thats not my style) im into punk mainly. so im going to try and get better, and keep collecting great advice from all of these awesome people. you will get tons of advice. but just keep getting out, and keep doing it. thats what im doing, and im really enjoying it.

shannon

[tnunnery]

I spot-meter with the center-point and lock in the exposure and then switch to the best focus point to take the shot. When things are really hectic, I just use the center point. Focus/recompose doesn't work well for me in concerts especially at apertures of 1.4 or 1.2.