HOW TO … Take Concert Photos!

Have you always wanted to take concert photos, but you have no idea how to approach it?
Here are five tips to get you started!

star CHOOSE A WIDE-APERTURE LENS!

Wide aperture lenses are a must have for concert photographers! There is almost never enough light for standard zoom lenses to get a proper shot of a show. Even if you’re on a budget, you can still afford a good quality lens like the Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8 II, which will do the trick in the beginning!

star USE FAST SHUTTER SPEED!

It’s better to rather use a fast shutter speed and fix the exposure afterwards in post processing! As you have to capture movement (expect you’re at a really static and boring concert), you want your images to be tack sharp. In my experience a minimum shutter speed of 1/160 is necessary. The more, the better.

star DON’T BE AFRAID OF HIGH ISO!

A bit of grain never killed nobody! I would go as far as to say it shall be part of an atmospheric concert photo! If you feel like it is too much, you can easily reduce the noise in Lightroom or Photoshop (or any other weapon of choice) afterwards. Nowadays I don’t freak out anymore, when I have to set the ISO to 4000!

star SHOOT IN CAMERA RAW-MODE!

ALWAYS! This goes for all kinds of photography, not just concert photography. You simply won’t be able to get the best results when shooting JPG. And you really want all the advantages from editing an raw image – like setting the white balance, adapting exposure etc. – without any quality loss.

star START SMALL!

Don’t go for the big concerts, when you first start out. Try and shoot some local acts first. Probably you have some musical friends, who’d be happy to get their live pictures taken. Mind the light and listen to the music – at some point you will be able to capture the perfect moment without pressing the button in continuous-advance mode. Take your time! You don’t have to get it right the very first time!