HELP!!! (Band Photography)

kassie

An friend has asked me to take pics of him and his band this weekend. They are a popular wedding band and they are looking for pics to update their website. He's aware (and i've told him again) that i'm very new to photography but he's still happy for me to take the pics. ARGH.... He's looking for some "action" shots of the band in full swing, with the happy couple, them playing with a full dance floor, and some individual shots of each of the band members doing their thing

any tips or suggestions for me?

God what have i agreed to lol

magicbastarder

one thing which you should confirm is whether the couple in question have consented to this; they might object to an unknown photographer showing up and shooting part of their wedding celebrations.

kassie

fair point, i must double check that with him!

dinneenp

Hi,
I've only shot a few bands, mostly in Roisin Dubh in Galway which has awful red spotlights. Links here and here on Flickr
So I ended up using a 30mm f1.4 lens and high ISO.
I found that a lot of shots end up looking very standard/boring so ask the band to 'play up' to the camera & pose etc. for you as much as they can.

You could be better off getting just a few shots at the wedding with the crowd and do the rest as a photoshoot with better lighting & where you can do what you want- stand on chairs etc for high vantage point

There's a few people here who do a lot of gigs (one was on the December photowalk, I forget his name), if your post title had more details maybe they'd spot it and read & reply...

Good luck anyway.

melekalikimaka

get onto the venue and make sure theres no red lights, ask for green/purple/blue gels over the lights, will save you an awful lot of hassle, low ap, high iso, shutter speed 100 - 60 mark, and hold down the button and hopefully you'll get something.

Its a tough one to get the hang of tbh. Was mad into for years, great fun, but tbh its great fun when theres no pressure, its nerve wrecking when you hve to have results, as gigs are tough, very tough.

kassie

thanks mele

Splinters

Firstly you're going to need a fairly wide aperture unless its a very bright room. Id rarely go above 2.8 for most of the live shows Ive shot. If they have decent lighting maybe try not to have your shutter speed to quick (dont go below 1/60 though or you'll end up with a blurry mess). Somewhere around 1/100 can be quick enough to freeze the action overall but allow for a nice bit of motion blur. It will also let you get some ambient stage lights.

Flash is typically a no no for live music although if you have a way of triggering a flash remotely you can get some amazing shots by dragging the shutter. If you're new enough to photography you might want to avoid this as it can be tricky enough to get the hang of. You'll probably need to bump up your ISO to around 800 - 1600 to make up for the lack of flash.

For framing options be a bit creative. Its not like a portrait where you want to worry about typical head and shoulder framing conventions. Tilt the camera slight, get low down to the ground, anything that will give an interesting perspective.

As somebody who spend years playing in bands I can tell you that a lot of musicians, guitarists and bassists specifically prefer it when you dont cut off the headstock of their guitar (the top).

The main thing is, avoid flash, keep your ISO as high as you're comfortable with (obviously not to the point where its a grainy mess).

Oh one other thing, very very very important, shoot Manual!! Stage lights and low ambient lighting will mean all but the very best DSLR is going to struggle to meter correctly. Your camera will give you stupidly long shutter times like 1/4 or 1/10 which will just be a blur.

If you're unsure about it, get down early and shoot the band sound checking. Just use it a trial run and it will give you a while between the sound check and full show to sit down and look through your shots and see what you like and what you dont and change it from there.

Hope that helps.

kassie

thanks splinters!

Corkbah

all the above advice is good .... but ... in general it will get you an image (overexposed due to the usual darkness of the room)

1. if the main singer has come off the stage and is with the couple on the dance floor then the lighting system which was previously on him/her has changed....so your settings should change accordingly.

2. know and understand how you camera reacts to different lights - most Canons cannot cope with over saturation of red tones.

3. personally I think you would be mad not to try a few slow-sync flash/rear shutter exposures....use flash ...just dont use it in bursts.

4. learn the rules...then bend and break them ...but learn the rules first !!

depending on the darkness of the room try putting the camera on shutter priority 1/10, 1/15sec, 1/30sec see what results you get, with flash...without flash (at those exposure levels the non-flash ones will be blurry due to movement).... find your sweet spot in regards to your exposures and vary it when necessary (ie start 1/60sec, f4 and adjust to suit the movement/light available)

its not that difficult - but practice makes perfect - and you dont have to be in the venue to practice...any room will do...just as long as you understand the amount of light you have available at the time.

thebaz

you'll need a good fast lens , a 18 - 55 , F2.8 lens would be a good one - try to avoid flash , and increase the iso - and perhaps practice a lttle on some small gigs , best way to learn is practice and develop your own style

RED Lynam

My advice is to maybe think if you are capable of doing it. I wouldn't really go near weddings at all (not really my thing and I know I don't have the gear for it) so to do this when there is a band to photograph in low light could be shooting yourself in the foot. If you are not getting paid for this then make it clear that they are not to expect amazing results. After that just think about the look the band are going for and try and be creative in the procession. If you are photographing in RAW make sure that the camera is saving all images in RAW & JPEG (fine) or even just JPEG (fine) and save all the converting afterwards. Best of luck though.

AnimalRights

Splinters wrote: »

As somebody who spend years playing in bands I can tell you that a lot of musicians, guitarists and bassists specifically prefer it when you dont cut off the headstock of their guitar (the top).

I teach that fact to everyone, anyone that understands or has a feel music should know that ofc.

Splinters wrote: »

The main thing is, avoid flash, keep your ISO as high as you're comfortable with (obviously not to the point where its a grainy mess).

Flash is not Satan if used correctly...

Ofc if the place has a great natural set up then brilliant! But if it hasn't flash is the way to go...the secret is to PP so it looks unobtrusive and harsh in the shots.


Low shutter speed 0.6 and Flash


Flash looking 'Natural' with semi decent stage lights.


Black n White also disguises flash well...


Lightroom presets with tweaking also disguises flash well..


and ofc good stage lighting means no use for the 'nasty' flash

Flash is needed for 90% of gigs I cover as the bands are ultra fast moving which a low shutter speed and poor lighting won't catch in a million years no matter what camera settings you have....
The advantage of fast moving bands is ofc it is easy to get great action shots.

twowheelsonly

Some great shots there AR.

I too would be inclined to use some flash. It's a wedding anyway, so plenty of people flashing away on their own cameras and the band are looking for these photos so they'll hardly object!!

The main thing would be not to overdo it with the flash and also to use slow/rear curtain sync for some shots as these look quite 'lively' on a bands portfolio. (Straight flash can sometimes make even the liveliest performers look static IMO)

Corkbah

twowheelsonly wrote: »

Some great shots there AR.

I too would be inclined to use some flash. It's a wedding anyway, so plenty of people flashing away on their own cameras and the band are looking for these photos so they'll hardly object!!

The main thing would be not to overdo it with the flash and also to use slow/rear curtain sync for some shots as these look quite 'lively' on a bands portfolio. (Straight flash can sometimes make even the liveliest performers look static IMO)

I think the main point is will the Bride and Groom object to a photographer turning up and taking pics of the band !!

Ps. OP ... make sure you are dressed to fit in at a wedding ....suited and booted (turning up in jeans/tshirt when everyone else will be dressed up in suits you'll stick out like a sore thumb)

Edit: band want you to take pics of them with B&G (so you need a wide, slow shutter speeds and a flash)

band want pics of them with the full crowd out... might be a good idea to have a monopod handy....set camera to timer, prefocus ...both with flash and without flash ..... press button...wait ...raise monopod ...hold steady and...click !! ...or shoot from behind the band (onstage) with crowd in front of them.

band want action pics of themselves playing ... combination pics of individual members at their instrument ...with/without flash...combination of long and wide lenses could give the band plenty of options for images to choose from.

I hope you know what you are getting in for ..... next thing you know they'll be offering your service as part of their wedding package.... make sure the band know they must get permission from the B&G and anyone who is identifiable if they are to display the images on their website/promotional material.

thebaz

Janer your first image is exactly what I used to see when I started going to gigs and getting hammered - great image

kassie

thanks for all the advice guys!!!

the guy from the band who asked me to take pics is someone i met through another mutual hobby so i'm doing him a favour because i live only 10 mins from the wedding venue and i can't see him offering my "services" as part of their package, he's an honest bloke!! I've stressed to him that my capabilities are limited and that i'm only a hobby photography still on a massive learning curve and he still seemed happy for me to take some pics. I have mentioned to him about running it passed the B&G which he agrees with.

I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself, i've stressed to him that i'm not a professional and he seems happy so i'm just going to go and enjoy the opportunity for what it is... a chance to photograph something different and hopefully learn something as i do!!

OldGoat

Quid pro quo. Tell the band that as you are inexperienced that you want to sit in on a couple of their rehersals beforehand so you can figure out angles and practice shooting a band. Then you'll have loads of time to work on your own photography and experimental shots.

Leftyflip

OldGoat wrote: »

Quid pro quo. Tell the band that as you are inexperienced that you want to sit in on a couple of their rehersals beforehand so you can figure out angles and practice shooting a band. Then you'll have loads of time to work on your own photography and experimental shots.

Sound advice there! This also lets you see when they kick in at certain parts of a song, so you can anticipate when to get the shot. Above all don't worry, or get stressed - it can be difficult, but it's not that bad and it's great fun!