First time shooting a concert - Tips needed

[professorman]

My friend is a performer at a Jamaican reggae concert locally, he is performing the opening act for a large performer is coming to town. Me and my brother are going to be his "official photographers". I have done a few aspiring models and portraits before, but I have never done any night club or even photography before. He is going to be on stage with a band playing behind him. Reggae performers generally move a lot on stage and dance as well. Think of hip hop performances I guess.

My equipment includes:
-Canon Rebel XS
-Kit lens 18-55mm IS
-50 mm f1.8
-Speedlite 430EX

My brother has the except he has no flash. I have a Sunpac Super Auto 383, but I do not know how to use it much. He just got this camera a few weeks now, so I have much more experience than him.

What tips do you have for shooting? Should I be on stage or at the front of the crowd to get pictures? Should I use my nifty 50 or my kit lens?

What settings should I shoot on? Should I just use P or should I shoot with Av? Should I use my flash with the kit lens of without flash with the nifty? Should I disable the flash, but still use the auto focus on it to focus?

[canonnoob]

dont use the flash... get some nice fast glass.. the 50mm might work for you but that leaves you with limted angles and other photos.. How close will you be?

[ZacCarter]

Put that 50mm on and do some shots wide open at a high iso. If there is good stage lighting it should work good and produce some edgy shots.

The kit lens will work good with the 430ex, perhaps use a bounce card.

What is the venue like? Ceiling height etc.?

[professorman]

How close will you be?

I think I can be anywhere I want. He is having 2 videographers as well. I am thinking to put myself on stage and my brother at the front of the crowd. My brother has a extra Rebel XT as well. My friend is about to buy it, I might let him use it with the 50mm as well for a 3rd photographer.

The kit lens will work good with the 430ex, perhaps use a bounce card.

What is the venue like? Ceiling height etc.?

Thanks. Can I use a index card with rubber band for the bounce card? I have used that before. Should I increase the flash power? How much?

The venue has high high ceiling. It goes high to a second story, but seating around the perimeter only. Maybe the 3rd photographer can go up there. What do you think? I dont know if the Nifty is good enough to capture the stage. Maybe I can get some crown shots from up there.

[imposterjeff]

when i shot my first concert i did not used a flash but used iso 1600 on a nikon d70 the results were ok but i had a apeture of f4.0 so it wasnt that fast. i would use manual settings. when i was at iso 1600 and f4.0 i was shooting 1/30th of a second and they were quick enough. i am looking forward to using my 30d and sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 this time around but the only reason i do it that way is because i work for the promotional company so i get passe dteh gaurd rails.

[[Hyuni]]

If the lighting is poor, which is sounds like it might be, ontop of fast motion, I don't think a fast prime will cut it. Doesn't matter how stable you are, if the subjects are moving, a shutter speed of 1/60 may not cut it.
I'd say work on your flash bouncing skills and you could get some intesting shots.

[imposterjeff]

yea flash bouncing would work to thats my plan for this show im shooting in a week and a half if i can get a wireless transmitter by then

[professorman]

;8494485']
I'd say work on your flash bouncing skills and you could get some intesting shots.

What do you mean flash bounce skills? With a bounce card or bounce it off the floor or something? I have some reflectors, but I dont think they would allow me up there with a assistant reflecting light, and I dont think I would be fast enough working with a assistant.

[bacchanal]

What do you mean flash bounce skills? With a bounce card or bounce it off the floor or something? I have some reflectors, but I dont think they would allow me up there with a assistant reflecting light, and I dont think I would be fast enough working with a assistant.

If you have a light colored ceiling or walls, you can bounce flash off of those to get softer (not direct) light...but that may not be possible in a large performing arts center.

I would guess, that since you say he is opening for a large performer, there may be enough light to shoot ambient. You won't really know until you get there, so you want to have a couple backup plans (bounced flash, direct flash), but if you can get ambient shutter speeds about 1/100 at ISO1600 you should be good to go without flash. Ideally it would be good to be in the 1/200+ range for fast movers. Keep in mind, you may need to dial in some -EC if your background is significantly darker than your subject.

Since you are the "official photographer" for the band, you might try talking to the lighting guy (or someone at the venue) and see if they can keep the stage lighting up for you.

[professorman]

I am very pleased with my concert shoot results. I had 1,400 pictures from 3 cameras from the event. I was on stage with the 50mm f/1.8, and I am very happy with the results. I got some great shots. I used AV for on-stage shots, and the lighting was great at times, with lots of colored lights. I shot without flash for on-stage. The crowd shots I got at first were terrible in AV mode, until I figured out how to use manual mode with the flash, and then all my crowd shots came out great. I used f/1.8 and 1/320 for shutter speed for shots of the audience from the stage.

I have another concert shoot coming up in 2 weeks, and I have upgraded to the 50mm f/1.4 . Is this a major upgrade to my setup? I had forgotten to make a bounce flash from home, so I just grabbed some white paper with a rubber band and used it as my bounce flash. What should I do to make a better bounce flash now?

Is there any other lens that I should be lusting after to get better concert pictures with me on stage? I am hoping that I will be contented with this lens.

When I was in the audience, the 50mm was too large to use and I did not have enough space to go back, so I had to switch to my kit lens. What lens would you guys recommend for between $200-$300 to cover the in-crowd shots?

Here are some of my pictures from the night. I took the pictures which are on-stage from the side. My brother and my friend took some of the pictures from the audience (front) and in the audience.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97630&id=112545544665

[bohdank]

Some nice shots. I would recommend a higher shutter speed. Many of the on-stage look like they have subject blur/camera shake. ALthough if they were 1/320s then something else is going on.

If you are thinking of another lens... maybe look at something wider in a prime. The Sigma 30 seems to get a lot of positive reviews, assuming it can actually focus ;-)

I would shoot in Manual though. Don't worry about the changing lights. With a constant setting, you will capture a better idea of the stage lighting.

Maybe these might give you some ideas, maybe not ;-)

Most of these started in the day and went into the evening, so look towards the end of the galleries.

http://www.bwkphotography.com/Events

[professorman]

Yes, I do see some motion blur. I did not see it before. Thanks for pointing that out :D . I will try manual mode next time. I just used AV mode for on-stage. I will analyze the camera settings on the pictures and see if I can come up with a workable shutter speed for that stage.

[tmcman]

And the vocalist wore black! That's tough.

[bohdank]

The most problems I have ever had was when an entire group wore white, including white fedoras. That and stage lighting made it impossible to get faces without blowing out parts of the suits, especially shoulders where the most illumination was. Give me black, anytime. :-)

[admin123456]

I also had to photography association in learned a lot of things:D

[chrismallet]

if the videographer has a light on the camera stick near em it helps sometimes.