Performing Arts? metering/focusing with 40D

Hi, I am shooting for a friends band later on this week. I have shot some live shows before, but not much when there was an extensive light system, so I would like some advise. It is a mid size club, stage is about 5 feet off the ground and there is a wrap around balcony level. There is a very good light system.

My question is, what is the best method for using the 40D for attaining focus and metering? Should I use spot metering and meter off peoples faces with a +2/3 stop adjustment? What is the best way to set up my camera for this? I was thinking just press the * button to meter, then use the shutter button (which currently focuses and meters) to focus, then recompose and take the picture. Is it better though to separate everything into different button via a custom function(i.e. use af-on for focus, * for meter and shutter button only for triggering the shutter? Is there a general consensus on the most common method or does everyone do everything differently?

I will be shooting raw with tungsten wb preset.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know there are probably multiple methods, but I wanted to get an idea of what works for different people as I am not real used to dealing with the difficult lighting of a club with real active stage lighting.

BTW- I am not sure if I should have posted this here since it's really for image posting - I just figured the subject was specific to performance photography. If a MOD wants to, please move to a more appropriate forum.

Will the press be covering this event? Also, how many folks are expected.

mattograph wrote in post #5878631
Will the press be covering this event? Also, how many folks are expected.

I would assume a few hundred people up to about 500 would be the absolute max. It is not a very big club, but is all about live music.

I don't believe the press will be covering it. why?

I guess it seems like a strange question.

With larger bands and bigger press coverage, show management will often designate the first three songs as "media tunes". They avoid dark rich lighting schemes, smoke, etc, so that the press can get their shots, preferably without flash. After those songs, the bands will go into their regular effects / lighting setup.

Anyhow, I don't think you have to worry about that. My two cents.

Shoot this all in manual. Your meter will have a devil of a time handling this situation (any meter would). For guidance, I would switch to spot / partial spot metering, but I would not trust what my meter is telling me. This is where canon really shines. You can shoot a nice bracket sequence by just adjusting your shutter / aperture sequence with the main / quick control dial. Plan on firing lots of shots.

Commit to a high ISO from the start. Trying to make it work at 400 leads to a ton of chimping, and missed shots.

Shoot in RAW. You will appreciate the control later.

If you can use flash, get it off camera if you can. Shooting just a foot or two off camera can lead to some awesome shots.

Try some rear curtain sync stuff if you do go strobe. Drag the shutter for some really cool effects.

If you can get on stage, shoot back into crowd a tad. Getting the artist interaction with the crowd makes for great shots.

But, again to your main point. Shooting in manual is the best way to go. Set your meter to spot / partial spot, but let the meter between your ears be your guide!

Thanks for the advice. So, I should basically chimp it then. just eyeball the exposures and review the histograms. I kind of figured that may be the best way to go, just didn't know if there were other methods that may be easier. I assumed already that I would be working above ISO 800, most likely at 1600 and shooting at f/2.8 the whole time and probably still working near my minimum shutter speed for the focal length. I will see if they allow flash. if they do, I may try a little bit of second curtain sync combined with dragging the shutter. I just got a ST-E2 so I can keep that on the cam(it may help with focusing anyways) and pull out the flash when needed and hold it in my hand for the shot. I am excited to have my 50-150 back from sigma for the show, although I am not sure which lenses I'll end up using the most. I suppose it will depend on where I am positioned. I am wary of getting up too close as the stage is pretty high, so it would be very prone to up-the-nose shots.

mattograph wrote in post #5878790
I guess it seems like a strange question.

With larger bands and bigger press coverage, show management will often designate the first three songs as "media tunes". They avoid dark rich lighting schemes, smoke, etc, so that the press can get their shots, preferably without flash. After those songs, the bands will go into their regular effects / lighting setup.

Anyhow, I don't think you have to worry about that. My two cents.

Shoot this all in manual. Your meter will have a devil of a time handling this situation (any meter would). For guidance, I would switch to spot / partial spot metering, but I would not trust what my meter is telling me. This is where canon really shines. You can shoot a nice bracket sequence by just adjusting your shutter / aperture sequence with the main / quick control dial. Plan on firing lots of shots.

Commit to a high ISO from the start. Trying to make it work at 400 leads to a ton of chimping, and missed shots.

Shoot in RAW. You will appreciate the control later.

If you can use flash, get it off camera if you can. Shooting just a foot or two off camera can lead to some awesome shots.

Try some rear curtain sync stuff if you do go strobe. Drag the shutter for some really cool effects.

If you can get on stage, shoot back into crowd a tad. Getting the artist interaction with the crowd makes for great shots.

But, again to your main point. Shooting in manual is the best way to go. Set your meter to spot / partial spot, but let the meter between your ears be your guide!

It all depends really: If the front lighting is pretty constant, you can use M.
If the lights fluctuate a lot, Av will probably be a better choice.

Using spot metering IMO only makes sense in the last case if you use Av, and keep the spotmeter in the face. You'd end up cropping a lot on a non 1D... I'd use evaluative with appropriate EC set (again: depends on circumstances; black t-shirts and black BG will need very different EC from white t-shirts, lots of smoke and backlighting... Shoot Raw, shoot lots, and champ the histogram occasionally.

Don't forget to have fun

I agree. Here I metered off a T-shirt, chimped the exposure to the right, & let RAW pick up the slack in exposure changes: 70-200 f/4 ISO 1600
The Johnny Headband Band

Here I should have gone to the 85mm f/1.8, but tried to guts it out with the 70-200 f/2.8
ISO 3200 EXIF is included in:
Barbara Payton @ ISO 3200

Every venue is going to be a bit different & there's no one good way to shoot them all.
Concert Photography Tips: A FAQ Perhaps

PhotosGuy wrote in post #5882638
I agree. Here I metered off a T-shirt, chimped the exposure to the right, & let RAW pick up the slack in exposure changes: 70-200 f/4 ISO 1600
The Johnny Headband Band

Here I should have gone to the 85mm f/1.8, but tried to guts it out with the 70-200 f/2.8
ISO 3200 EXIF is included in:
Barbara Payton @ ISO 3200

Every venue is going to be a bit different & there's no one good way to shoot them all.
Concert Photography Tips: A FAQ Perhaps

What? The king of all manual goes Av?

Thanks for all the responses. It looks like I will have to evaluate the situation once I get there to decide the best way to go about metering it. If the lighting is consistent, I will probably go manual. If it is changing a lot, I will choose av and a metering mode and compensation that makes the most sense for the situation.

I appreciate the tips. I had read through the concert photography tips, I just wanted to get an idea on how different people approached it. Here's hoping there's enough light that I won't be forced to use my 85 f/1.8

You're talking about Dwight? I've only used Av to illustrate how it's easier to use M in the Need an exposure crutch? thread.
Except one time when I bumped the dial without noticing.
Then I learned to set the Av & Tv settings close to the M settings. Sometimes I set Tv to the fastest speed I want & Av to a wide aperture when things are happening fast, just in case I need to change fast, but I haven't actually used those settings yet because I usually forget to.

James-in-Baltimore - a parallel thread to this one is running right now - with some links to some great tips on shooting live events (concerts, et al.)

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=533895

I'm sure this will help quite a bit!

PhotosGuy wrote in post #5885373
You're talking about Dwight? I've only used Av to illustrate how it's easier to use M in the Need an exposure crutch? thread.
Except one time when I bumped the dial without noticing.
Then I learned to set the Av & Tv settings close to the M settings. Sometimes I set Tv to the fastest speed I want & Av to a wide aperture when things are happening fast, just in case I need to change fast, but I haven't actually used those settings yet because I usually forget to.

Just dragging your shutter.... (I was gonna say pulling your leg, but I liked the former, given the subject.)


If you have time to pick up the following, its a good read on using the speedlite system. He does a whole chapter on the off camera flash thing, centered around shoot a concert in Austin, TX. In your case, the info is doubly-useful.

The following what?

PhotosGuy wrote in post #5889136
The following what?

Damn!


http://www.amazon.com …oks&qid=1215921​587&sr=8-1