I have a Nikon D60 and am very happy with it. I’ve used it mostly for shooting hockey games, but now I need to branch out a little bit.
Some friends of mine play in a band and I’d like to take some pictures. The lighting is very dark with stage lighting. I’ve had trouble getting good shots in the past.
I’m in Tennessee and left my manual in Georgia so I can’t even look to it for help. If there are any Dopers who would like to give some advice I’d be grateful.
You’ll need fast glass - what lenses do you have?
If you want the manual, it’s available here (warning: pdf).
If you want to avoid blur with your existing equipment without using flash, I would first recommend opening up the aperture as wide as it can get with your lens. Then set the ISO to AUTO - this will adjust the light sensitivity automatically based on the light in the frame. Depending, you might want to set a maximum ISO, though, so you don’t end up with a night full of ISO 3200 pictures that look noisy as hell. Or you can manually adjust it and test out the shutter speed at the various ISO levels.
Those are the only two options I can think of off-hand.
Watch your metering!
Depending on how far away you are, and how much “reach” your lens has, you may end up with nay part of the frame filled with your subjects, and the rest black. This will tend to way over-expose the subject. Check the preview image, and adjust your exposure compensation accordingly.
I’m not surprised - this is one of the quintessentially difficult things to shoot, along with sports games and kids. It’s ironic that some of the things most people want to photograph are the hardest to photograph well, 'cause they’re in the dark and involve small things that move quickly and unpredictably. The best things happen in the dark and involve small things that move quickly and unpredictably. Mouse hunting, for example.
But, yeah, at a gig it’s dark, you’re being jostled, the camera won’t focus, and because it’s dark you’ll be shooting at ISO 3200 under artificial light, so you’ll end up with something murky and yellow.
Now, if you can use flash at the venue, there’s a technique called slow-sync that was all the rage when I was a lad; you combine a blurry long-duration exposure with a sharp pop of the flash for detail. Have a read of this. I don’t have a D60, but I do have a Nikon F5; put it on S, 1/10th second, ISO 1600, set the flash to slow or rear sync, alternate between these, take dozens of pictures. Voila! One of a few things the built-in flash is good for. Your pictures will look like something from the NME circa 1997 but that’s not a bad thing.
Otherwise you’ll need a fast telephoto lens. But you can go far with a humble 50mm f/1.8; especially if it’s a small venue. 85mm f/1.8 doubly so.
Thanks for the ideas!
A 50 mm f/1.8 is something that should be in your toolkit, anyway. It’s one of the cheapest lenses Nikon makes, and the optics are top-notch. You will have to get fairly close to use it, but the ability to take shots with shutter speeds faster than 1/20 of a second and still have nice bright shots is totally worth it.
I have a question about the Nikons. I have a D40x, though I had this happen with a few other Nikons as well.
Sometimes when I go to take a photo the camera will focus and do everything else but it will just not take the photo. It’s not some dark shot or anything hard like that, usually it’s inside. Sometimes I can’t ever get the photo and I just don’t know why. I’ve had this happen a few times on other Nikon cameras but not other brands. Is there a reason for this?
And yes I know the camera is on because I took a photo a few seconds before.
In addition to the advice above: since you’re friends with the band, you have some additional opportunities.
One, get up close. Sidestage or even on it, if you can. Move around to take advantage of the available light.
And two, use speedlights. Off-camera, with radio triggers. Two bare speedlights, one on each side of the stage, will gain you an exposure advantage without washing out the stage lights. (There’s another reason to consider this, which is that modern LED stage lights can produce very strange effects in digital cameras).
Others have mentioned the camera aspect of your issue, but the absolute number one rule for getting good concert shots is you have to be in the front row(s).
Re: the D40x–I’ve had that issue as well when I rely on autofocus in low light. I’ve always assumed that it’s because the camera hasn’t “locked on” to the subject. You may see/hear it working, but it hasn’t completely focused, so it won’t fire. Whether or not that’s the real problem, switching to manual focus always works for me.
Just a couple of guesses assuming it is actually locking/confirming focus - recharging flash might be one culprit…also (check the manual) there might be some setting (which you can perhaps override) that won’t let it take a picture if the resulting shutter speed will be too slow to prevent motion blur (don’t underestimate how dim indoor scenes can be, a typically lit home interior at night might be a 10 stop difference in exposure compared to an outdoor sunny scene - about 1000 times less light).
The front row is not the best place for photos at most concerts, unless you’re nine feet tall and bring your own fence. Granted, it’s much better than being in the middle of the stalls with a crappy lens.
Either your auto focus is jumping from point to point in the image, trying to lock onto what it thinks you want to focus on. In which case switch your auto focus to either manual or center, if its roughly the same as Canon.
Or your F stop/ shutter speed is not playing nice together and you need to adjust one or the other. I’d suggest that when you get the blinkie, switch the camera into appeture priority or shutter priority and see if the blinkie locks on and you are able to shoot.
Declan
I am going to have to invest in speedlights at some point in the future; right now there is no budget for them. And yes, LED lights can create some strange/interesting effects - alas, not usually repeatable!
Used the fastest lens you have. Hopefully you have at least an f/2.8 or faster. If you don’t, you probably won’t get anything usable unless you use flash (not recommended), or you happen to catch it when for some reason the venue turns all the lights on.
Otherwise, the secret formula for shooting bands is:
Use the widest aperture you can - f.2/8 or faster; the slowest shutter speed that will not result in motion blur or camera shake; and the highest ISO possible that doesn’t result in too much hideous noise.
As a general rule, in a small venue I will usually start out with something like 1/125, ISO 2500, f/2.8, and adjust from there.
It can be quite hard to get good usable pictures during the show at a small venue, even for very experienced photographers. If you can go anywhere in the venue (including on stage), that will give you a lot more opportunity. If this is a venue larger than a bar, you might need a photo pass (issued by the band) to bring a camera in. Check in advance. If you are friends, get backstage shots of them lounging. Many people over the course of time will get on-stage shots of them; very few will get non-performance shots. Those are the ones that will be the most valuable in 20 years, both monetarily and artistically, if they get famous; and those are the kind of shots fans appreciate the most.
Thanks!
You haven’t said what your lens options are. Which lens are you planning on using?
I’m not sure what numbers to give you to tell you what kind of lens I’m using… 18-55mm 1:3.5 5.6GII ED …
That lens is a variable aperture lens, ranging from f/3.5 at the widest (at 18mm) to f/5.6 at the smallest (when you have zoomed out to 55mm). It’s a serviceable-enough kit lens for good lighting but hard to use in a dark place, because it is too slow. You probably won’t get much with it if the venue is a typically dark bar. That’s why you should try to get some backstage or outdoor shots where the lighting is/can be better and where you can use flash.
Who knows though, maybe this bar will be one of the ones that believes in bright lights for everyone! Or they won’t care if you use flash the whole time, although that tends to destroy the ambience of live performance shots.
The important part of this is the f/stop. In this case, the lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.5 at full wide angle, and f/5.6 at full zoom. Alas, this is not a fast lens. The lens than comes with the camera rarely is. It’s not a bad lens, but not ideal for shooting in low light. You want a lens that has a maximum aperture of f/2.0 or greater (the numbers go down not up) for good low light performance, although there are always exceptions.
As mentioned above you might consider getting a prime (fixed focal length) lens like the 50mm f/1.8 mentioned above, available for around $200. You will need to get a little closer to the action, but you’ll be able to take shots at a much faster shutter speed because more light will be reaching the sensor. A faster shutter speed mean you’ll be able to freeze the action; otherwise your subject will be blurry because they moved while the shutter was open.