My very first assignment for Around About Media was taking pictures of a 38 Special concert in Woodstock, GA. I have done some photography in clubs and small venues – always as a “friend of the band” with on-stage and backstage access for most if not all of the show. This was the first time I was restricted to the pit – that area between the stage and the barrier that keeps the audience back – and limited to the first 3 songs of the show. I’m not sure where that limitation originated, but it isn’t uncommon.
I had to deal with multi-color lights that wonked out color, light temperature, and tint – not to mention that, even though a band seems well lit to you, the available light for photos is limited. I used my trusty go-to Tamron 28-75/2.8 on my Nikon D7100, and my Nikon 85/1/8 on my Nikon D300. ISO was cranked up to 3200 on both, and I set to shoot in shutter priority of 1/250 with exposure compensation dialed in as needed.
The biggest key to producing great concert photos (any photos really) is to take a lot of photos and only show your best. Here are some I didn’t throw away.
You can see more in the October issue of Townelaker magazine.
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