BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Flash Photography

BetterPhoto Member

Flash Photography of Live Bands

How can I photograph live bands with ambient lighting that needs flash. I don't want to use flash because that kills the atmosphere. Unfortunately, all my photos are coming out blurred as the musicians move around a lot. Can anyone help?

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July 21, 2005

Andy

Although I am not an expert in photographing live bands, I can share with you some of my experience from taking stage performances from the cruise ships. Besides cityscapes, taking stage performances is my second favorite in low light photography. The lighting is just so dramatic.
First, preparation: While I was on a cruise ship, I have no idea what the performance will be. But you have an advantage because you can scout out the area first and you may even familiar with what the musician is going to perform. It is much better if you know the music or the songs.
Second, equipment: You did not mention what equipment (camera and lens) you own. I use a film SLR camera, a 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 with Image Stabilizer, and ISO 400 speed film. The IS on the lens helped a lot because most of the time the shutter speed got down to 1/8 or even 1/4 second. Another point is I was using a zoom lens and at maximum zoom, the largest aperture will be f5.6. I fight to get as close as possible so I do not have to use the lens at maximum zoom (usually between 50 and 65mm). If you have a fast lens, use it.
Third, set-up: The key point here is use manual. Forget about auto-exposure and auto-focusing. Most of the time the musicians, not like the dancers, stay at the same place. So you can set the focus and turn it to manual. About exposure, I always use the first couple of performances to get the feel of the best exposure value I can use. Then I just lock the value and shoot. Of course, some of my shots will be underexposed but seldom overexposed (due to the use of print film, which has more tolerence towards overexposing). For performers who moved around a lot, I just preset my focus and wait for them to move into the "kill zone" ;)
Fourth, participation: There is always a moment the performer will stop moving. I don't know the terminology in music. But there are times like the moment between two sentences (in a song), the music changes from fast to slow beat, the last word of the sentence, the last note of the entire song, a long note, etc. That's the time I will press the shutter. Personally, I think the best is to capture the dramatic lighting together with the performer's face being sharp, while another part of the body has a little motion, instead of everything sharp and motionless.

I usually can get a few good ones with a roll of 36-exposure film. In my gallery, the last two, which I took from a cruise ship, are my favorites. I got a few more which I did not scan yet.
If nothing comes out, then it is just too dark to get any good picture. Hope this helps.

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July 22, 2005

Steve Hopkins

Kathie - Andy had some good tips for capturing live bands. I would buy some ISO 800 speed film. That should give you the shutter speeds you want, so as to stop some or all of the motion of the performers. How about trying some black and white for that 'look'? Again, use ISO 800 or even 1600 speed film.
Have fun!