I recommend shooting in continuous mode at the highest frame rate possible. The key is practicing before you go to the concert. The effect of ISO on your photos is pretty simple; if your ISO is high, you'll get grain or noise in your photo, if it's low then you won't. When seeing the photo larger, it’s more apparent that not everything is so crisp!

With these settings in mind you should be able to get pretty good results from your camera. 1.8). Music photographers are often asked specifically "what settings do you use?" Nikon D3 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 120mm. However in situations like concerts, the lights are often changing colors which make this less of a benefit. I have emailed some of my favorite bands publicists and get no response. I find Auto WB accurate enough with Nikon cameras that it gets me very close — any changes in post are often when Auto WB is thrown off by a strong was of LED lighting. When I first get into the photo pit, I'll usually start with my aperture wide open, my shutter speed to 1/250, and my ISO at about 640. Exposure: 1/80 second, f/2.8, ISO 3200. Do you do any noise reduction in your post processing? If my subject front lit, I usually still read my meter not at medium grey but at Zone 6 or 7. Crank the ISO. Todd some questions. Hey Jay, with the AF settings I use (I use the AF-ON button exclusively for AF activation), it’s just a matter of recomposing after AF lock. Exposure: 1/400 second, f/3.5, ISO 3200.

I’ve heard its a great portrait lens, as well as macro. To recap my recommended camera settings for concert photography: About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published photographer specializing in live music, lifestyle and portrait photography. That said, there can be some benefit to using Matrix metering (Nikon) or Evaluative Metering (Canon) are most useful for concerts where large parts of the stage are lit by the same light as the performer. (Our Last Night in London, UK). To expand on your auto focus settings, do you single focus point in AF-C mode or one of the other settings on the d800? A necessity with shooting in manual mode is just having a the experience of knowing when to change the exposure based on what you see and feel. Exposure: 1/40 second, f/2.8, ISO 3200. Crank the ISO. Here’s a breakdown of every major camera setting that I recommend for shooting live music. ISO levels up to 3200 will produce very good quality for almost all DSLR cameras. I know you always keep the aperture open to 2.8 for the most light but what about if you’re trying to get various planes in focus such as face, hands over guitar strings? Having a basic understanding of the exposure triangle is important, and helps you understand how you'll need to change your settings for the situation. If you're able to spend a bit more, check out my article below on the best concert photography lenses! Recommended setting: Matrix/Evaluative Metering. ), there is no reason to pass over RAW for JPG.

This is especially true when either ISO or shutter speed must change to achieve a proper exposure. This is useful because your focus point will almost always be the artist's face, which is the part of the image that is the most important to properly expose. Recommended Setting: 1/100-1/200, faster whenever possible. So while the histogram is not a bell curve, there is a little bit of space between the edge and the bell. Choosing the right camera settings for concert photography can be a daunting task, even for experienced music photographers. Due to the large dynamic range of a concert, in which there can be very bright lights and deep shadows, any camera-metered mode can be easily fooled and produce poor exposures. ), there is no reason to pass over RAW for JPG. You can do this, but I'd be very careful about going any slower than 1/100 even if the subjects aren't moving much. When shooting with prime lenses with a fast f/1.4 or f/1.8 aperture, I still shoot wide open, since lighting is often poor if I need the speed of those lenses in the first place. Nikon D3 and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 200mm.