How to shoot the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival(or any other concert!)

Not only can you enjoy the sounds of a concert or festival, you can record the sights with you camera! Here are some tips on how to get some great shots!

Flash or No Flash?
Whether or not you use flash will pretty much be based on how bright the light is. If there is enough ambient light to get a decent exposure, you can shoot without flash. However, most lighting is bright enough for the eye, but not very bright when it comes to photography and getting good exposures. The problem with direct flash is that it is very harsh. If you can bounce the flash off the ceiling(if the concert is in a tent with a white ceiling, AWESOME!) you will get much softer light. However you will lose any color in the stage lighting.


The shot below is using the ambient light. the light has a nice direction to it and retains the color of the stage lighting. Exposure was 60th/second at F6.3 with ISO 800. He didn't move too much, so the shutter speed was fast enough to freeze him.


CAMERA SETTINGS

ISO
If you are using flash and the light is good, 400 is fine. If you are going for ambient light, you will most likely have to use 800 or even 1600 to get a good exposure.

WHITE BALANCE
If your are using flash, use flash or auto. If you are going with ambient, choose TUNGSTEN/INCANDESCENT(little bulb)

LENSES
Here is where having a wide aperture(smaller number) is good. if you want to shoot with just the ambient light, having a lens that opens to 3.5/2.8/1.8 will let in a lot of light and allow you to get faster speeds. A 50mm lens with a wide aperture is a great lens if you shoot lots of concerts.

Wide angle lenses will allow you to show the whole stage, telephoto lenses allow you to zoom in.

SHUTTER SPEEDS
If you go with just the ambient light, the key is to remember you need a shutter speed that is fast enough to freeze movement of the musicians. 250th of a second is best, 500th would be good for a musician who is moving fast, like Matt Andersen. Again, you will most likely have to up your ISO to get a fast enough speed.


You could also try to some slower shutter speeds with flash to get some blur and sharpness, like the close ups below of Carson Downey Jr soloing. To do this, choose the shutter speed you want to use(60th-15th works well) and adjust the aperture to get a proper meter reading(or use TV/S mode, which is shutter priority and allows you to set the shutter speed you want to use and the camera controls the aperture). Then pop or turn on your flash, and use TTL or Manual flash mode and adjust the power if necessary to get the light balanced. Very import, your flash should be second to rear or second curtain sync. That way the flash fires at the end of the exposure, not at the start, so the flash image will be ON TOP of the blur.



Good comparison here:
JP LeBlanc, fast shutter speed(250th), with flash:


JP LeBlanc, slower shutter speed(60th), with flash:


Now, when you do balance the light, expect to get some mixed colors. Below you can see some normal flesh tones mixed in with the orange and yellows of the lights.


SHOOTING LOCATION
Right at the front of the stage allows you to get really close to the action, but you will have to use a wider angle lens, resulting in a bit of distortion, like the image below of the late Jeff Healey. You will also be more likely to get lights in the background, which could create some flaring.

If you can stand farther back in front of the stage and use a zoom, you can get a shot without distortion . You may want to try to get up higher to get above the crowd(a small step ladder works well).

The side angle can also provide an interesting shot, and it will help avoid getting the microphones and stands in the picture or obscuring the faces.




And watch out for microphone stands! They get in the way all the time, try for an angle where you can't see them!


Also, don' t forget the bass player! The bassist usually doesn't get much attention, but are such an integral part to the rhythm and sound.


This shot is funny because I caught a string breaking on the last song.


Don't forget to see if there are any interesting possibilities with the other musicians, such as the drummers(show framed through the drum kit, with a beaming smile!) Most band members usually get a chance to solo for a bit(at least in the jazz fest!)


Or using a bit slower shutter speed with flash to get some sharpness and blur like below.


Nice harmonica close up!


And the sax solo:

Some final tips:

-WEAR EARPLUGS!!! Especially if you are going to be shooting up front. It doesn't take very long to affect your hearing!
-watch out for drunk people with beer in their hands...BEER is BAD for your camera. It smells, and it's sticky and hard to clean off..and if some drunk asks you to take their picture, just snap a shot to humour them so they don't get mad and do something stupid..

have fun!

ps-if you want to see some great ambient light shots, check out Dan Culberson's site shoottheband.ca He rocks!