Dark Photography School

Under ideal conditions you want a tripod, but in many instances there isn’t enough room to lug one around. A monopod is another option, but even that can be problematic in large crowds. Many venues/bands simply won’t allow flash photography as it’s distracting, especially with many of them going off. Your only option: handholding in what is normally very low light conditions.

Please note: not every concert is the same. All venues are slightly different, and all shows have different properties with regards to lighting, effects, etc. This article tries to make some generalizations, but obviously some of the advice presented here can be adjusted according to the situation. In many cases it’s an unknown with regard to what the club or venue will allow you to carry in, what the lighting will be, and how crowded it may be.

Lenses

Do you have a 50mm f/1.8 lens in your arsenal? If not, it should be your next purchase. They are made by both Nikon and Canon (and I assume others) and as far as lenses go, very inexpensive. I bought mine brand new at a local camera shop for $90. Having an aperture of f/1.8 really opens the possibilities. If you don’t have a “nifty fifty”, you want to bring your widest-angle lens. Having a wide angle lens makes it easier to photograph in low light, as more ambient light is caught by the sensor, requiring a shorter exposure time. A telephoto in low light conditions with no flash or tripod is pretty much out of the question, unless it’s outdoors during the day. I am also making the assumption that you have a digital SLR camera.

What To Carry

The short answer: Depending on the environment, as little as possible.

In a small and/or crowded venue it be difficult to navigate through crowds with a backpack and a camera. After a while that stuff gets heavy. Usually there won’t be a safe place for you to put your lenses, flash unit, memory cards, etc. You also don’t want to be changing lenses too frequently in a club environment as there are lots of particles floating around the air. It becomes several times worse in venues that allow smoking.

Pick your favorite lens, around 4-6GB worth of memory cards, camera body, and stick with that. You may want to consider bringing an extra lens, if you can safely carry it. If you have a lens hood, I recommend it as well because it can help with errant light rays bouncing around and creating ghost streaks and flares in your photos.

Get the crowds

EXIF: 1600 ISO, 1/20 sec., f/4, 17mm focal length, flash off

Sure, the band or performer is why everyone is here, but you can’t communicate the vibe of the show without including the crowd.

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Focus on something other than the performer

EXIF: 1600 ISO, 1/125 sec., f/8, 17mm focal length, flash off

When you set the focus point of your camera on another object, such as the light source in the photo above, the light meter responds accordingly. This will often create interesting bursts of color from the lighting arrays, while underexposing the performer–creating a silhouette effect.

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Capture the artist/group talking to the crowd

EXIF: 800 ISO, 1/125 sec., f/6.7, 37mm focal length, flash off

Most performances involves the group or artist talking to the crowd. When this happens, the lighting effects person will focus more light in a more consistent manner, which makes it easier for your camera’s light meter to get the proper exposure settings.

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Get hand held shots with focal lengths above 50mm

EXIF: 1600 ISO, 1/4 sec., f/3.5, 75mm focal length, flash off

Yes, in an earlier paragraph I advised that wide angle shots are more forgiving to low light conditions. However, you can use that to your advantage to create images that have a soft glow around the subjects. In may not work in every case, but try experimenting with intentional blur. This is something you don’t want to go overboard with, but every now and then the result can be interesting. I wouldn’t recommend more than 1/4 to 1/2 a second for these shots.

Shooting Mode/ISO/White Balance

Shooting Mode - I recommend sticking to Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. You want most of your shots to be in focus and not blurry, and the only way to ensure of this is that your shutter speed is 1/60th of a second or faster. In some instances you can go down to 1/45 of a second, but anything below that is probably going to be blurry. When in this shooting mode, your camera will adjust the aperture in response to the shutter speed. Ideally you would like to have a shallow depth of field to give more focus and attention on the band (i.e., background is out of focus), but in such a changing and difficult environment, you are probably going to have to settle for whatever you can get.

ISO - This is best left at 1600. There are times in which you can get by with 400 or 800, but most DSLRs don’t automatically show the ISO in the viewfinder. This can leave you missing many shots because you didn’t realize you left your ISO at a low setting.

White Balance - Again, it’s best to let the camera decide this time. In a more predictable and slower paced environment you would want to use the correct white balance preset or custom temperature. The problem is that the lighting conditions at concerts are unpredictable and change rapidly. Leave it at AWB.

Questions? Requests for further information? Please let me know by commenting on this article.