First off I am not going to tell you how to take your photos at gigs, I am only gong to tell you about the technique and thought process I use when shooting live bands. Some people may be shocked to know I have only taking photography seriously in the last year, before that I focused on my illustration. I spent the first year of my photography course ‘winging’ it I only learnt how to use studio lighting correctly back in March and I still probably get confused when people talk about aperture as I always get the numbers and sizes the wrong way round, but its not something I think about, I just pick the camera up and do it. With some extra thought put in I would probably have less ‘airhead’ moments lol.

So it a shorter sentence, Im only going to waffle on about my technique and experience! )

First off I am going to talk about Flash photography. I HATE when people say you shouldn’t use a flash as it kills the atmosphere of a gig. NO it doesn’t, it only kills it if you do not know how to use it properly. The best way to experiment with this is by shooting local bands as its highly unlikely you will be allowed to use flash at larger gigs.
If allowed there are several options for flash, you can have a wirless setup with several lights on the stage or the surrounding area.
If you are using a lower end DSLR then you have the option of a pop up flash, which can be used to your advantage if you actually tweak the setting and intensity of it. But it is quite direct and you can get quite a harsh effect from it.
Or you can use a flashgun which will give you more options as you ca swivel and tilt the head. Use it directly on the subject or bounce it off walls, ceiling and even the bands equipment.

www.minnikin.com

I tend to use a flashgun, the shot above was taking using a metz 45 cl-4 on used on manual. I normally have it two stops difference to the aperture but I had it on 3 as the lighting isn’t amazing in the Angel Inn and also purely for funnsies (great pub I advise you all to go to). The ceilings in there are quite low so it was great to be able to bounce the flash off the ceiling, it gives a great effect very dramatic especially playing with the curves in Photoshop afterwards.

Im always hearing ‘It’s easy for you, you have a big camera to do it for you.’ Now there are two arguments to this statement. The first one is assuming the camera does it for you. No it doesn’t, I only ever use manual on the camera and manual focus when im shooting gigs. People think that’s crazy and more work, but im in complete control at the same time I wouldn’t know how to use any other setting on my camera as I have spent most of my time using a pentax k1000 with film.

The second argument to this is assuming you have to have a DSLR to be able to take good gig photography. Here are some of my shots I have taken not using my DSLR.

Joe Satriani

This shot was taken in Newcastle City hall using my Fuji point and shoot which happened to have a manual mode on. The lighting was amazing so it was kind of hard not to get a good shot. I took this before I knew about RAW files and is a jpeg and the camera was set to only 3megapixels and it prints out beautifully on a4 which goes to show it isn’t about how many megapixels your camera has ;o) I was also just in front of the mixing desk which is situated at the middle of the venue.

This one was a crowd shot at Download festival during KISS’ set, quite a nice abstract shot that may not show the band but does show the crazy stage show and a nice silhouetted crowd. This was taken on a bog standard point and shoot camera with no manual (

Kiss - Downloads 08

and a shot of Paul Stanely

Paul Stanley

This last one was taken with my toy Holga camera, who said you had to be at the front of the stage to get a good shot?  I have an entire hugeee post to do just about the crazy effects you can achieve from these amazing little cameras.

Black Stone Cherry, Disturbed and Biffy Clyro + a Glenn portrait

Its not the tools its how you use them.

Lighting

You are not going to be able to control the lighting at the venue unless you managed to sweet talk management of the band to allow you to use a wireless set up or you are best friends with the light tech. The best part of gig photography is not knowing what the lighting is going to be like. You could research gig photography from earlier shows in the tour, but in the end it sometimes just depends on the venue.

So the thing to do it make the best of the situation you are in.

Some of the gigs I have shot have been extremely well lit others have not. But its not a bad thing it just meant I was able to experiment more with different kind of lighting.

Chris - Black Stone Cherry

Chris from Black Stone Cherry silhouetted against the harsh back lighting. If you haven’t seen these guys live I highly suggest you do so, amazing!

Ben - Black Stone Cherry

Ben from Black Stone Cherry from the same gig as above. Ironically the lighting got a lot better after the first 3 songs haha typical. But this shot shows a good lighting set up and the ideal lighting any photographer could wish for especially with the venue.

Glenn - Minnikin

One single light can create a damatic image.

Joel O' Keefe - Airbourne

Lots of red and blues can usually kill a shot, making sure you have the white balance set correctly beforehand shooting on RAW can help a lot and will make life easier during the post processing.

Composition. You are under a lot of pressure when shooting bands as you only usually have 3 songs to take photos in. Its not a lot of time at all, so while you are worrying about your settings and lighting you also have to think about composing your shots. Apart from the settings on your camera, composition helps define your style as well. The choices you make before you press the shutter determine the outcome.  When Im shooting I don’t think about the rule of thirds, the golden spiral etc (well I do when shooting anything but gigs lol) You have to rely on the band to make the shot, you just have to capture the moment and make sure there is enough detail in the frame or cut out anything that disrupts the shot.

Micky Crystal www.minnikin.com

Close Crop.

Stone Gods

Shot from below.

Stone Gods

Going wide.

Stone Gods

Seperating subject from band and background.

Black Stone Cherry

Portrait

Airbourne

Including the stage and equipment.

I could go on and on but the point Im trying to put across is that the possibilities for a shot are unlimited.

Other factors to think about are catching a moment. This shot was taken as Chris was encouraging the crowd to sing along.

Chris - Black Stone Cherry

Most people hate smoke, I love it and try to use it to my advantage. This shot of Joel O’ Keefe is quite dreamlike and surreal as the smoke engulfs him.

Airbourne

Band members jumping into the crowd is another good one. But it only usually happens as the photographers are getting ushered out of the press pit haha or Richie from Stone Gods tries to jump on your head.

Also the main thing to remember when shooting bands is…………………………..

Dont forget the drummer lol

Black Stone Cherry

Then once the 3 songs are over relax and enjoy the rest of the gig and then bug the band for cheesy shots at the end while forgetting to sort out the white balance haha

Jon -BSC

I love this shot its on my wall loll next to the photo of me with Die and Toshiya from Dir en grey

I haven’t mentioned much about shutter speed or ISO as I usually wing it on the night sometimes I can get away with an ISO of 400 but other times 1200 (I rarely have it as this as I hate digital noise) and my shutter speed with vary all the time. Like I say ive only taken photography serious for a while im yet to find a suitable pattern or technique to suit my needs yet. But I am learning all the time.

I will probably write up an article about the lenses I use as well once I have updated my collection ) but any questions feel free to ask.

Christine

xx