Concert photography (Low light and high speeds) post some of your work

[KyleAHPhotog]

I love concert photography, every show is a challenge. Though from the last show I found out that everyone has their own way of approaching extreme low light conditions that require wicked fast speeds with unpredictable lighting.

Al Barr of Dropkick Murphys​

I tend to keep it in Aperture Priority (have that sucker wide open), high ISO, and just fire not even look in the viewfinder.

The last show I shot (Porcupine Tree) had good lighting, it was just to dim, so i couldnt really attack it like I could normally, and it did not help that the venue was a theater and every one was sitting. I was crawling on the floor cause we were told not to disturb the audience, the stage could have been lit candles and it would have been brighter.

Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree
​

Best Lighting was GWAR! It was like being on the set of a Van Helen video when ever they did the shots where they where on stage and they had lights EVERYWHERE!!!

Balsac of GWAR​

Worst photofriendly lighting EVER! Skinny Puppy, none of my pictures of that show came out. Though it was the best show I have ever seen. I was an AV orgasm of color and bass.

Nivek Ohgr of Skinny Puppy
​

So how do you tackle very minimal light when staying still is not an option.

Post pictures of anything that was done in really low light without tripod.

All images in this single post are ©Kyle Henderson all rights reserved

 

[zgeeRF]

I usually shoot B+W at 800-1600. The problem is to tame the contrast.

HP5+ in 120
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zgee/4086918346/

 

[cnphoto]

Some recent stuff. I mostly shoot around ISO1600 on Neopan or TMax/Tri-X.

Obituary

ignore the Flickr 'oversharpening' on these:

Revival Tour

Reality

 

[Federico Alberto]

Gloria Gaynor sings a Barry White duo with her singing partner. (Taken at Santo Domingo's Hard Rock Cafe, 1 August 2009).

Olympus Digital PEN E-P1
Leica D Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH
Olympus MMF-1 FourThirds/Micro FourThirds adaptor
Aperture Priority Mode
f/1.4
ISO 1600
25mm
1/125
Metering: Matrix
White Balance: Auto
Hand grip
No Photoshop
No HDR
No flash

 

[wlewisiii]

From Saturday night - f2@1/75th on BW400CN

A while back - 35/1.8 - 1.8@1/30th on Fuji Superia 1600.

William

 

[jmarcus]

 

[furcafe]

While small clubs are usually the best place to check out music if you don't have to shoot, they tend to have the worst lighting (next to dive bars & certain nightclubs/restaurants). They also have the tendency to use awful red gels on the crap lighting that they do have. If you don't want, or aren't allowed, to use flash, your only solution is to use the highest ISOs that you can squeeze out of your film/sensor & the fastest glass that you can find. In my experience, I need a minimum of ISO 640 & f/1.4 to get shutter speeds high enough capture any moderately energetic band (minimum 1/30th-1/60th sec. if you time it right), though some motion blur be OK. Here's an old example:

 

[shyoon]

Olympus Stylus Epic with Neopan 1600.

 

[semrich]

Sala Terrena Mozarthaus
Vienna, Austria

MP, Summicron 28/2.0 ASPH, Delta 3200 @ 1600

 

[cnphoto]

that's a beautiful image semrich.

from a newly dev'd roll of Neopan 1600, 1:100 stand developed for 2 hours in Rodinal.

 

[semrich]

cnphoto, thank you. I'm glad it came out this well it is a reminder of an excellent venue and performance.

 

[sevres_babylone]

I shoot with my R-D1, usually at 1600. I have learned that it is important not to underexpose. Lately, I have also been using my Ricoh GRD3 at 1600 and F1.9, and it is surprisingly usable. These two shots are from SXSW in Austin, using the R-D1 and the Canon 50 1.5. The top one is of Seattle's Vince Mira, the bottom of Denmark's Choir of Young Believers.

 

[Bnack]

 

[k.a]

shot with an olympus om1 and f2/35mm wide open at debaser in stockholm.

the film is fuji neopan 1600. since it's a metal band i don't mind the heavy grainyness and contrast

some more pics here

 

[RayPA]

I'm going to follow William's lead here and add to the John Doe count (here with Exene).
Lots of ...jostling up front at an X show (the slight blur).
Hexar RF 'cron 90/2. Superia 400.

Same night same setup.

Here are some recent ones my G10 (not my first choice for shooting shows) at 400 and 800 ISO. I probably could sharpen these up some more.

 

[furcafe]

Well, if there's an X theme, I'll add to it, though this wasn't really low-light, since the 9:30 has good lighting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/2560729394/

 

[RFaddict000]

I don't have tele lens so my shots are all made by 50 mm or wider. I also happen to be cheap and sit quite far from the stage. But that can let me bring the audience into the frame.

I like to take b/w photos of concerts. They distill the visual stimulus and get you to feel as if there is music going on.

With b/w I can also push the film if I need to, but for the concerts I have been to I can always have good results with ISO400 b/w film without pushing. Perhaps I had only been to big shows.

Jason Mraz in Boston 2009

U2 360 in Boston 2009

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Sala Terrena Mozarthaus
Vienna, Austria

MP, Summicron 28/2.0 ASPH, Delta 3200 @ 1600

Richard, outstanding photograph!

Oh, chamber music...

You've captured its spirit very well here!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Disaster_Area]

Here's a few of my favorites...

 

[douwe]

Mostly with Contax G1 on Fuji Neopan 1600@1250, or Konica Hexar on Kodak Tmax 400@400, or any possible combination: