How Do I Shoot A Band? Please Help.

[Robinsnest]

HI! We are hiring two bands to play at my niece's 16th B -day party. We rented a big room at the Pythian home in Weatherford.. Big room and has a stage not unlike a small elementary school stage. The will have a light man but no fog. I have a Nikon D80 with a 50 mm1.4 lens and a zoom that came with the camera. I also have a speedlight sb800. I want to take some great photos and make an album for her to keep as a gift.

I do have a confession. I mainly take photos in aperture priority and when I have the flash on it seems go into auto mode. How do I adjust for better photos?

Can someone please tell me what lens would work best? I will rent one if I need to. Also what settings I might need to use? Please be specific. I know you pros can help! Any other tips like angles to use would be a huge help too!!! I am sure I will be able to get up close to the stage...that is, unless a mosh pit starts...do they still have those? lol Oh...lastly what effects might be nice to try in PS elements 7? Thanks a million! I know you guys will help me out! thanks so much, Robin

[d2creative]

You usually don't want to use flash when taking band shots because it ruins the effect of the stage lighting. If the lighting is not great (low light, typical of most venues) you just want to shoot wide open. Might have to bump up your iso to make up for what will most likely be some slow shutter speeds. Wide angles are fun if you can get real close and zooms are great for detail shots. Try a variety of focal lengths and angles and have fun.

[Daniel W.]

Hmm....

Look into using CLS, the popup flash acts as a commander, and you can slave the SB800, place the SB800 within line of sight of the camera, but off the camera. (i.e. do a quick read of Strobist) I assume the lens that came with your camera is the 18-55, not a bad lens. Use it wide angle and get close (bring earplugs). If they have a lighting engineer, then the 50/1.4 would also work, high ISOs at 1.4 or f/2.

The SB800 can be switched into manual mode where you control the power incrementally, or you can adjust the compensation value that the flash outputs (like the EV adjustment in aperture mode).

With bands, I generally try to shoot for two things.
(1) skin tones are not blown (overexposed) unless that is the look I am going for.
(2) if there is lighting, and it's good, either drag the shutter with flash (shutter speed at 1/30 or lower, usually 2 seconds is my limit) to expose the subject well and allow the ambient light to expose - it's a very trippy effect.

Also, let the image suit the style of the music. If it's rock-y, the flash technique will work because it's upbeat. But if it's nice acoustic guitar-y goodness or something of the sort, shoot without flash, wide open (1.4 or /2).

Shoot in manual, check the screen. Shoot again and dial down the flash if needed.

[jcmartin0313]

I shoot events all the time and have actually shot at that venue. First, do you want to use a flash or not? If not the 50mm 1.4 lens is the way to go because you can stop it up 1 stop for a bit sharper image but still retain your low light ability. If you can rent a 70-200 2.8 VR that is the lens to have period. If you can buy one you will not regret it.

If the D80 has auto-iso by all means use it but limit it to about iso 1000 unless you want to use a noise remover in post processing. Use manual mode, not aperture priority so you control everything and unless the ambient lighting is very bright use TTL, not TTL BL. TTL BL tries to balance the available lighting and in a dark room, you end up with brightly lit subject and black backgrounds. That is my experience anyway.

If you can use a flash, here is the technique I use. First, ignore the exposure meter display because it is always going to show underexposure, that is how the flash in TTL mode knows how much fill to add (maybe you knew that, but it confused me forever). Second, use the flash rotated up with the white bounce card for fill only so the images reflect the ambient lighting properly and the color temperatures are accurate. Third, try to keep you D60 at it's flash sync speed, 1/250th to stop motion, but do not go below 1/50th (the reciprocal of the focal length)with the 50mm lens or you will notice blurring from any hand shaking. Lastly, with this set up, take some test images around F2.8 @ 1/250th with the flash angled up using the bounce card. If the images seem dark, either take the SS down to 1/125th or add a little EV compensation +3/+7 and try again. You can stop it down towards 1.4 but realize the image will get softer in the corners as you do so center focus is crucial. Also, don't be afraid to play with the flash value compensation if things seem to bright. Also try the auto WB or flash WB, but if you shoot in RAW you can clean up any problems with the mixed lighting later.

This is about as off the cuff as I can tell you and sounds a little redneck to boot. The goal is to let the camera absorb as much of the ambient light as possible using the flash to fill in the shadows so the images do not look like you used a ps and snapped away. I hate event images where it is obvious a flash was used straight on. IMO they could never make an on camera flash that tilts down 90 degrees and I would be happy (j/k). Ohh yea..I often use center-weighted or spot metering depending on how many people I am shooting on stage to make sure the person stands out in mixed lighting.

As for angles, the best thing to do is move around as much as you can and take alot of photos even if they seem wierd. Try to shoot from below and above, from the sides focus on one of the members and let the others fade into the unfocused background. I shoot alot of closeups with my 70-200 for the emotion aspect and it goes over well. Also, sometimes you can use the crowd to frame a band member or the stage so it gives you the feel of "being in the audience" when the image comes out. You will find that by letting go a little and just taking pictures, you will produce artful images you really like.

Finally, be prepared to play in PS and shoot in RAW if you can because you can fix almost anything in RAW..lol.

Man I sound like an amateur (which I am)..but I am tired..Good luck to you.

[Ahh!]

Now, I'll throw some other stuff at you:
The main problem you will face is in anything-priority, the contrast will transform the camera's computer into a confuser. Highlights may be too high, and dark spots may be black if the room is dark and the band has its own stage lighting...

If you decide to use some flash to fill in and yet want to keep the band/stage lighting true, use the amber filters supplied with your Nikon flashes. They are CTO, or Color Temperature Orange. Stage and other lighting is probably incandescent-based. Your flash is more like daylight. To keep the colors true, use the CTO and place the camera in WB=tungsten (lightbulb symbol).

As for Commander Mode, camera stores have a quick guide to CLS. Get one to help you if you haven't picked up on it. I'd use it at TTL for the off camera at -0.3 TTL and the commander on camera at -1.00 TTL as a starting point to preserve the lighting, then play from there...If you want real drama, kill the on camera and get some rim lighting by repositioning yourself to catch most of your light behind the performers. Or add just a little fill (maybe -1 or -2 TTL) and see where that takes you.

[ifly223]

While I may not be able to help with technical aspects, I can suggest this. If not already, become familiar with the music being played. Musicians are hams.LOL I know, I was one back in the mid 80's during the hard rock/heavy metal days.LOL If you know the music you can catch a lead guitarist bending the strings during a lead solo or the facial expression of the lead singer hitting that high note. This way you can already be prepared to catch a great shot in advance. : )

[Cdubya]

I agree with Dan on 'dragging the shutter'. That is my favorite way to shoot band members. I usually shoot them individually this way. And hope for a lot of movement on the stage. I choose the Rear Curtain Sync and will use a shutter speed of as long as 1/4 sec. I will put it on Manual and test the situation using my histogram. I've had very good results using this method.

I can't think off hand if the D80 is able to be set to Commander mode, but if it is make sure the 'magic eye' on the flash is looking at the camera.

Good Luck.

[Robinsnest]

WOW! Thanks SOOOO much everyone! I am overwhelmed at the responses!! I wished I could say I understand all the technical talk but I don't understand all of it. I will have to do a lot of reading up to try to figure out what your talking about and I will. I just shoot on aperture priority and the only photos I shoot are outdoor natural light of my little girl modeling for online clothing boutiques. I have never shot in raw, I have photoshop elements 7. and have a lot to learn about manual and flash sync and white balance card. OK, I am working myself up into a panic attack. LOL Anyone willing to give me an hour or two of tutoring? I'll pay you! Probably much easier for me to learn all of it this way. Oh, also...it is a "screamo band" and "psychedelic punk thrash band" LOL I used to go see Pantera every weekend in the late 80's so I am familiar with similar "type" of music. I am just too old to be into that anymore. The hardest thing i listen to now is when my 5 yr old daughter plays her Jonas Brothers cd. ROFL Again, thanks for all your help and if I can hire anyone for tutoring for a couple of hours that would be awesome. I'm in Ft Worth! thank you thank you thank you! Robin

[knowimagination]

What bands are they?

I would recommend taking a lot of test shots during sound check also as long as the lighting wont be drastically different. If I were shooting it i would probably use the 50 and not use a flash.

[Robinsnest]

Thanks so much for everyone's help! This gives me a lot of info to mill over and figure out before the party. Thank goodness I have a couple of weeks to process what everyone here has told me. To answer you question FalconN, the bands are DAYBREAKER and THE UNCONTROLLABLE URGE. Both have myspace pages under music catagory. thanks, Robin

[Shane]

PM sent . . .

[MicWayWal]

Why do people, whose only expertise, is being able to afford to buy a camera, think they can do what a professional can do after a few suggestions?
They don't buy a car and think they can race in the Daytona 500?
They don't buy a stove and think they can cook a gourmet meal?

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by MicWayWal

Why do people, whose only expertise, is being able to afford to buy a camera, think they can do what a professional can do after a few suggestions?
They don't buy a car and think they can race in the Daytona 500?
They don't buy a stove and think they can cook a gourmet meal?

Michael,

I think she just wants to be able to shoot her daughters birthday party the most effective way she can. I don't think she deserves that type of response.
It's not like she is asking how to become a pro overnight and quitting her day job to shoot concerts... LOL

[Robinsnest]

THANK YOU ANDREW! Your exactly right! LOL

[ggeen]

Originally Posted by MicWayWal

Why do people, whose only expertise, is being able to afford to buy a camera, think they can do what a professional can do after a few suggestions?
They don't buy a car and think they can race in the Daytona 500?
They don't buy a stove and think they can cook a gourmet meal?

Obviously you have never driven in Dallas. Everyone thinks the yar A. J. Foyt.

Have you ever eaten at a chain restuarant. I think the only requirement to be a cook is that you are still breathing.

So, I must argue your point.