How to set up a camera to shoot a concert?

What is the best concert photography setting, and how do you use it to achieve excellent results? Scenery is a key part of getting wonderful concert photos, especially in the case of insufficient light. If your settings are correct, the result will be amazing. But what if you are wrong? Your lens will be blurred and the quality of your photos will be poor.

In this article, we will share the settings of 10 concert photography, and introduce the exact camera settings used in concert photography to help you shoot good concert photography.

1. Manual mode or aperture is preferred.

Nikon D800 |185mm | f/4 |1/320s | ISO1600

When I started doing concert photography, I used aperture priority mode. Generally speaking, aperture priority works well, which is very suitable for beginners, because it can partially automate the exposure process, but after shooting for a period of time, you may realize that only manual mode can provide the flexibility I am looking for. So, choose according to your own experience and habits. (In addition, if manual mode is selected, please check the LCD preview and histogram of the camera at any time to ensure correct exposure! )

2. Use the maximum aperture setting of the lens

Nikon D700 |14mm | f/2.8 | 1/200s | ISO 3200

If you are thinking about which lens to use for concert photography? It is recommended to shoot with a large aperture lens. Set the aperture to the minimum f allowed by the lens.

Value, which will provide you with an ideal aperture and shine as much light as possible on your sensor.

Large aperture is particularly important in low-light concert photography. If possible, please shoot with the lens of f/2.8, f/ 1.8, f/ 1.4 or f/ 1.2.

If you are a beginner and your budget is limited, I suggest you buy a 50mm f/ 1.8 lens with low price, large maximum aperture and excellent imaging quality.

3. Use a faster shutter speed

Nikon D800 | 340mm mm | f/4.8 |1/320s | ISO 1600

If you want to take pictures of people moving in a concert, you must use a fast shutter speed to capture such movements. Usually, the shutter speed is set to 1/200 seconds or faster.

4. improve your ISO

The higher the ISO, the less light is needed for correct exposure-in concert photography, the light is usually limited, which is the key to correct setting.

The ISO range of your camera may start from 100. But if you want to shoot a low-light concert, I suggest you raise it to 1600, 3200 or even.

6400。 Otherwise, your photos will end up too dark.

The other is the noise problem.

When you raise the ISO from 400 to 800 to 1600, you will see that some colors and spots look terrible. The details will depend on your camera, but in improving ISO.

You should always be cautious.

Use spot metering

Nikon D700 | 50mm | f/1.8 |1/2500s | ISO1600

Spot metering limits the camera's exposure reading to the center of the scene-this allows you to determine the exposure based on small objects such as faces. When shooting a concert, the singer's home is usually illuminated by spotlights, while the rest of the stage is still dark.

So this is what you have to do:

First, set your camera to spot metering mode.

Then put the singer's face in the middle of the viewfinder and remember the recommended exposure settings.

Finally, if you use manual mode, if you don't like spot metering and the effect is not good, you can try matrix/evaluation metering mode. The camera will read the light at several points in the scene, but pay attention to the overexposed face, especially when the background is dark.

6. Use automatic white balance

White balance can resist unnecessary color shift in the scene. If you want beautiful photos, it is very important to use white balance.

However, it is recommended that you handle the white balance in the post-processing after taking pictures. Therefore, please set your camera to automatic white balance. If you shoot with RAW, the white balance is completely flexible. Whether the white balance setting is determined during shooting or not, you can use lightroom post-processing tools to correct it after you go home.

7. Use continuous shooting mode

The camera's continuous shooting mode setting, also called continuous shooting, allows you to shoot quickly.

Turn on continuous shooting mode, and you can shoot 5 frames, 10 frames or even 60 frames per second, depending on your camera.

This is very helpful for concert photography for two reasons:

If you take multiple photos in a row, at least one of them may become clear even if the other photos are out of focus.

Multiple photos will increase your chances of determining the ideal photo.

8. Never use a flash.

Nikon D700 |130mm | f/2.8 |1/250s | ISO 3200

Don't use flash at the concert. In order to get a good flash photography effect, you need to put the lights on the singer's side, which is not feasible in the concert environment.