Concert photos....how do i get a good shot without

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Permalink Reply by Randall Sherman on January 2, 2010 at 11:55am

It is better to "Post" your photos using the black camera icon above this window rather than the "Upload Files" link below this window. I have taken the liberty of doing that for you so everyone can see your photo as they read your discussion. Well, this doesnt work very well and now it appears to be a photo taken by me! So, when you "post" your image, I will delete your photo from this window. (Also, it would be better to resize your image to something like 800*600 for faster loading. I also advise you to watermark any image you submit for discussion.)

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Permalink Reply by Randall Sherman on January 2, 2010 at 12:10pm

In the old days cameras were prohibited from concerts. With the advent of pocket point-and-shoot digitals and especially cellphone cams that is no longer feasible. I believe rock groups fight back by purposely making their stage hard to image with inexpensive cams by keeping overall light levels low, highlights extremely bright and mixing the color of the spotlights so no one photo can look "correct."
Perhaps inadvertently you have figured out the best approach -- capture the ambience of the performance. Afterall the band performed on an underlit stage with overly bright multi-colored spotlights causing the performers' faces to be overexposed with strong color casts so why not portray what you actually saw? Nice job!

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Permalink Reply by Katie Vanderhaeghe on January 2, 2010 at 6:31pm

Although I am also still struggling with concert photography myself, I have figured out a couple of things that I have found helpful. During the show, I tend to underexpose my images, I have found that it is easier to adjust exposure and brightness than it is to adjust spots that have no detail because of lights (also I found that colour casting is a lot less evident and easier to correct).
For post-production on images that turn out like yours, I usually play around with colour balance, and vibrance in layers, so that I can target the people while leaving the background as is.. Unfortunately I have to adjust layers a lot before I get it right, but I can usually figure it out with about 3 layers.
(I don't have this particular image on my new computer right now so I can't upload it here yet, but at this link: http://sweatereyes.carbonmade.com/projects/2302919#3
that photo looked very similar to yours before the people were completely yellow and their clothes were mostly red, so it gives you an idea how you can fix it)
Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Hermes on January 3, 2010 at 11:32am

The usual way to get rid of "unnatural" reds and yellows (i.e. that come out in the photo, but weren't there when you saw it) is to set the white balance to tungsten (the "light bulb" setting).

However, in this scene you have some blue lights as well. Setting WB to tungsten would accentuate the blues. As Randall has hinted, perhaps they do this deliberately to stop us ordinary paying customers finding the right settings... But if they did this, how would professionals hired by the performers manage to get "official" photoraphs?

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Permalink Reply by Sean on January 3, 2010 at 2:21pm

What are you using to shoot? You might want to mess with your white balance to off set the yellow tungsten lighting. Concerts are tough even if you have the right equipment because there is no metering and the lights change from song to song and verse to verse. Some shots with not the best equipment Canon XTI 18-200 mm Sigma lens

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Permalink Reply by nikki on January 5, 2010 at 2:44pm

thanks guys!! all your info helped me!! <3

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