Want to improve my concert pictures skills

[MFNO]

Hello,

I'm new to this message board. Been reading a lot for months, but haven't posted yet. (sorry for my English mistakes, it's not my language)

I've been taking live pictures for about 10 years now. Started with a Casio bridge camera, then a Olympus bridge camera, then pushed it forward a couple of years ago with a Canon Rebel XTI, then a 40D for one year now. I've got good concert lenses : Canon 24-70 L, Sigma 70-200 2.8, Sigma 30 1.8, that kind of stuff. The 24-70 is my all-around lens for concerts, really. Rock music shows is what I like.

I think I reached a level where I really want to improve my pictures. I am not a professionnal, it really is just something I love so much, period. Not wanting to become a professionnal or whatever. Really, I just want to have fun with taking cool pics, and putting a little twist to them with Photoshop or something if needed.

But right now, I feel like I don't know what to do to improve. I think on a "technical" level I'm OK, as I can manage to take clean, in focus, not blurred pictures in any kind of stage lighting. I may improve there, but I don't think it's the most important right now.

I would like to learn from different ways :
- discover good, original concert photographers : I need inspiration, see good concert pictures and get ideas from people and photographs... Not only good technicians with sharp clean pictures, but also photographers who have a real original style, or even an original way to use Photoshop or computerized work on them.
- read books or online articles in order to learn more stuff, advices, ...
- see tutorials of photoshop use on concert photography.

Of course I read on a regular basis all the messages on Photography-on-the-net, but really, I am not lazy on reading and learning by myself, I would love to have advices on "where to go from now"... I hope some of you guys know what I mean and can provide some help, comments or advices.

Would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx !

[londonblue007]

start posting your photos. I think it would be a big help to us if we can see what you are doing and respond appropriately.

[MFNO]

I think I'm going to post here more often now so that I can get advices and comments :)

Right now I have a helluva lot of galleries online here : http://livepics.free.fr/gallery2/main.php

Only the last ones have been done with my new camera + lenses, for instance :
- Suicidal Tendencies : http://livepics.free.fr/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1828

- Hermano : http://livepics.free.fr/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=424

- The Hives : http://livepics.free.fr/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1454

- Infectious Grooves : http://livepics.free.fr/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1751

There are hundreds of pictures, I can't choose one or two here :)

As for my earlier questions, don't you have any advice of cool photographers I should check the websites of ? Any book ?

[johnstoy]

Yeah... Post some pics here... choose your best ones (up to 8 ) from a set and start a thread with them...
And number them, 1 through 8, so we can give you some feedback about each one.

[johnms88]

You seem to have a decent technical knowledge to get a sharp picture in concert situations (at least from the small amount I saw).

Do not chop of guitar heads or body parts (99% of the time).

Concert photos are probably the hardest thing to get an "original" shot because of the inherent limitations (cant post the performer, short amount of time shooting, harsh conditions, uncontrollable lighting, small workspace, etc). You will find that getting goos shots just comes from shooting a lot of frames (for me at least :P).

Read some stuff on post processing. Learn to shoot in raw if you don't already. You would be surprised on the images I have "saved" from the trash.

Best way to get better is to practice as much as possible, and post to get critiqued. Post actual images not just links to them and you will get a better response.

[londonblue007]

As for my earlier questions, don't you have any advice of cool photographers I should check the websites of ? Any book ?


As far of advice from cool photographers, pay attention to the performing arts boards. We are all cool =) and try to give the best advice possible.

Photographer's that I'm a huge fan of, other then ones here, Polly Samson is one. She only shoots film and one performer.... her husband David Gilmour. (Not a bad gig). I think some of her shots of him and pink floyd are some of the most iconic rock'n'roll photos of all time (IMHO). Check out www.davidgilmour.com/galleries/gallery24/06.htm and www.davidgilmour.com/galleries/gallery26.htm and browse through to see for yourself.
That first link, to the photo, that is a shot that I only wish I could get some day. I'm hoping Gilmour goes back out on tour sometime soon and I can get in to shoot. It'll be one of the best days of my life. (I have come close once... Aussie Floyd, the biggest Floyd tribute band on earth... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2946382532_ce418d97c4_b.jpg)

Another, also a woman and also married to a rock star (or was), is Linda McCartney. Her shots from the 60's of rock bands really defined an era in rock photography. She was one of the most sought after photographers of the day, which is how she met Paul McCartney.

I've never really found a book that was as insightful as the critiques I get here. Mostly because a book is general, it isn't specific to you, your circumstances, your venues, your lighting, your artists. It's passive. It's something nice you can read on a cold winters day, but when it comes to finding out how you did, it has no comment. It's just a book. Here though is both. You can read through, see comments from the past, learn about things, then go shoot your show, then post your best 8 and get a ton of comments. That is more helpful to me then a book. It's active. It's specific. It's what I need to grow as a photographer.


As for some really cool websites. Start with the ones in all of our signatures. Most of us have sites or flickr's. You can start with mine =)

[londonblue007]

Checked out your site. Very very nice work. Especially the Hives. Great stuff there.

If you want some up front advice... there is a line on the main page of your site... "All those pictures are free to use. Please, just let me know when you want to use any of them. Please note that I can send you high resolution of most of those pictures if you need them."

Get rid of it. If you want to be serious about this, you can't be giving your photos away.

[johnms88]

Checked out your site. Very very nice work. Especially the Hives. Great stuff there.

If you want some up front advice... there is a line on the main page of your site... "All those pictures are free to use. Please, just let me know when you want to use any of them. Please note that I can send you high resolution of most of those pictures if you need them."

Get rid of it. If you want to be serious about this, you can't be giving your photos away.


x 100

[René Damkot]

Agreed.

You have some nice images. Technical they are good.

To improve: Look. Look again. Look some more.

See what you like, and try to find out why you like it. Look at work by others. Visit a gallery. Look a bit.
I think you get the point ;)

[MFNO]

Thanx all ! I really appreciate.

A few comments :

- londonblue007 + johnms88 : to make sure things are clear, I am definitely not a professionnal, nor do I want to earn money or anything from this : I take pictures from magazines or webzines when asked, but mostly, it's for the pleasure of it, really. I like it, do not intend to sell it or anything. I do not want to be compared to professionnals, with better skills and better camera + lenses... If smaller bands who can't afford professionnal photographers want to use my pics, if I can help them start their band and all, then cool ! This is how I feel about it...

- René Damkot + johnstoy + others : thanx for the advices and comments, I'll do what you say... Just so you know, I shoot RAW all the time, and I try to avoid "chopping" arms and instruments as much as I can, except on purpose sometimes when the "frame" seems right, or when I am too close at 24mm :D

Thanx again

[johnms88]

- londonblue007 + johnms88 : to make sure things are clear, I am definitely not a professionnal, nor do I want to earn money or anything from this : I take pictures from magazines or webzines when asked, but mostly, it's for the pleasure of it, really. I like it, do not intend to sell it or anything. I do not want to be compared to professionnals, with better skills and better camera + lenses... If smaller bands who can't afford professionnal photographers want to use my pics, if I can help them start their band and all, then cool ! This is how I feel about it...



When you give images away for free to a newspaper, band or magazine, you are taking a paying job from someone who shoots pictures for a living.

You are only as good as you say you are. If your pictures are good enough that bands and magazines want to use them, then you are good enough to get paid! Being a "professional" is only how you present yourself, and has nothing to do with if you make money or not.

[MFNO]

I totally understand what you mean, I'll never give images to magazines or professionnal bands...
I really don't want to be paid for this, seriously.

I do get your point, but I feel uncomfortable with it, though... It's like I play a bit of music myself, and shouldn't play for free at clubs, cause there are professionnal bands that do it for money... Or I'm a painter, and I shouldn't give paintings away to friends or people, cause there are painters who do that for a living...

Really, I'm a bit confused. I do understand what you guys mean, but somehow it seems weird to me (always been the "naive" kind of guy...).

[johnms88]

I totally understand what you mean, I'll never give images to magazines or professionnal bands...
I really don't want to be paid for this, seriously.

I do get your point, but I feel uncomfortable with it, though... It's like I play a bit of music myself, and shouldn't play for free at clubs, cause there are professionnal bands that do it for money... Or I'm a painter, and I shouldn't give paintings away to friends or people, cause there are painters who do that for a living...

Really, I'm a bit confused. I do understand what you guys mean, but somehow it seems weird to me (always been the "naive" kind of guy...).


Its not that you cant give your paintings or pictures away for free, you just shouldn't do it to someone who would NORMALLY pay for it (ie. media, label, etc). There's no problem if you give a print to a friend or family member or some BS local band that cant afford to clothe itself to use on their myspace page.

[MFNO]

OK, it sounds better this way, I get it.

I'll "rephrase" it this way then.
Never meant to give them pictures for free to people or magazines who would normally pay for that...

[bacchanal]

I totally understand what you mean, I'll never give images to magazines or professionnal bands...
I really don't want to be paid for this, seriously.

I do get your point, but I feel uncomfortable with it, though... It's like I play a bit of music myself, and shouldn't play for free at clubs, cause there are professionnal bands that do it for money... Or I'm a painter, and I shouldn't give paintings away to friends or people, cause there are painters who do that for a living...

Really, I'm a bit confused. I do understand what you guys mean, but somehow it seems weird to me (always been the "naive" kind of guy...).

I'm in the same sort of situation. The way I do it is I state on my website that it is okay to use the images for non-commercial use and non-derivative works. In most cases, I allow downloading of web-res images and do not consider personal myspace or web gallery use to be commercial use. I do this because I tend to shoot artists that are outside of the "commercial" realm, but I occasionally shoot commercial level artists.