How I Make Concert Photographs

How I Make Concert Photographs

By William Lulow

I have photographed many musicians in my forty years or so of doing photography. I consider myself first and foremost, a studio photographer. But my knowledge of how light works and of the various forms of classical portrait lighting have helped me successfully record many performances in many different venues.

I carry several items in my camera bag that I need to do these types of assignments. Lenses from wide-angle to telephoto are part of the kit as is a portable flash. (I am often asked to make pictures of the club owners and the talent. These come out much better at ISO100 with my flash bounced off of a bounce card). The lenses include a 20mm f/2.8, a 60mm f/2.8 an 85mm f/1.8 and a 135mm f/2. I find that this is all I need to cover any venue especially the smaller night clubs. Even with larger arenas this should suffice, because I’m often able to get fairly close to the stage.

Since most of us are shooting digitally these days, it bears repeating that digital lenses are best used stopped down one or two f/stops to ensure you get sharp images. They can be used wide open, but I have found that they perform much better if stopped down slightly. So, most of my images are shot around f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second. In venues where the lighting is better, I will use a faster shutter speed to capture the movement of guitar strumming, for example. But, if the hand is blurry from movement, that doesn’t usually detract from the image.

I almost always use a monopod for extra support. In addition, I bump up my ISO to 2000. I’ve sometimes used 2500, but for making 16×20 inch blowups, I find that 2000 is about optimal.

Here is my camera bag:

Here, the camera settings:

Here is the venue I use most often, The Towne Crier Café in Beacon, NY. There is not a lot of stage light. Larger arenas will have much more stage light allowing faster exposures:

And, of course, the results: (Here, Steve Forbert)

Notice the light on Steve’s hair and how it spills over to his face, highlighting his facial expressions. This comes from a study of lighting that can be easily learned. 

 


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