Concert Photography

Shooting low light, fast moving objects is the most difficult to shoot. But that is exactly what a concert is. Fast moving, smokey atmosphere, and low light. So how do I go about it?

First of all, I figure a concert shot has been done a thousand times and the effort to make the shot look completely unique many times simply kills the mood. A tilted camera to the extreme; shooting low and up the artist’s nose, etc. I would rather just get the shot.

The first thing you will need to do is set up your camera to capture the most light, at the quickest shutter speed possible. What this usually means is setting your ISO upwards to 1600 and greater. Yes, this creates a ton of noise, but hey, isn’t the room full of smoke anyway?

The second thing is to try to shoot each shoot with as little distractions as possible. What could I possibly mean by that? A concert is full of distractions…right? Well, the distractions I am talking about are the ones that have nothing to do with the music. If you can see all the way to the back of the stage, you should probably change your angle. Try shooting one artist at a time and then shoot pairs and the whole scene.

Mix it up a little. Take some wide angle shots up close, and some zoomed shots from far away. Keep moving. And while you are moving see if you can capture the musician just blocking a light, or creating some interesting shadows.

Lastly, wear ear protection and bring water.

Have a good night shooting!