Photography preparation

As an A Level Photography student I am aware of the importance of planning when considering a photo shoot in order to gain the best images possible. My Photography knowledge gathered from my AS Level will enable me to take high quality images.



1.      Getting started.

The problem in these small venues is in the lack of stage light! Most of the concerts have only a blue and a red spotlight on stage. Therefore the light must be Incorporated into the photo to create an atmosphere instead of corrupting the image.

2. Buy a fast cheap prime lens.

For concert photography use fast lenses.

Most of the time the stage light is very low so your only chance to get sharp images is to use a fast lens.

The 50mm 1.8 would be successful because of its ability to shoot in low light at its lowest aperture setting. For small stages a 50mm lens is a good compromise to get a head shot of the lead singer and a full length shot of the drummer.

3. What was this noise all about?

One important setting on the camera is the ISO value. A good setting for the camera’s ISO value is crucial for concert photography. Most of the time your ISO setting will be up to 1600 or higher to get a decent shutter speed.

Using such high ISO settings at a digital SLRs with a crop sensor will generate a lot of noise. Therefore I recommend to use noise reduction software in your post processing work flow. (This refers to the brightness of the image and the detail in the background.)

4. Which Mode and Settings to shoot with?

I shoot in Aperture priority mode and at my lowest aperture setting (e.g 1.8; 2.8, depending on the lens you are using).

Some people also use manual mode.

I always use spot metering, because the stage lights are changing rapidly and you’ll never know if the lights will hit the artists face in the next second or not.

Use multi shot mode. Do not only shoot 1 picture but 3 or 4 to have a higher yield of pictures that you can use.

Finally: Always shoot in RAW format to have the ability to change all the parameter like white balance and exposure afterwards in post processing.

 5. What about Shooting in Big venues?

Depending on the artist, you are allowed to take pictures of the first 3 songs without flash. Not more. These are the rules and everybody has to stick to it.

6. Camera size?

Bigger Venues need bigger lenses and mostly high ISO too.

Professional concert photographers have a full format sensor camera (because of the high ISO capability) and a 24-70 2.8 or 70-200 2.8 or both – or even an ultrawide angle/fisheye lens.

On big stages you definitely need a telephoto lens. The zoom ability is also crucial, because you can not move forward, so you have to compose from your point of view.





This research helped me prepare for my shoot so that my photographs were successful and the camera was set up correctly. This also showed my knowledge of photography.