KillaQueenz

[Nat]

Hey guys,

Took some pics at my first live event (as opposed to dj one, although there were some djs playing heh) last night and would love some feedback/advice!

Went with the no flash rule as it was live performance but I think my lense may have been a bit too slow to really capture it well as the lighting was so low :mad:

I'm a bit of a noob at all this, what lense would people recommend for that sort of lighting?

My fave pics:

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9973/dsc0116hth.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/dsc0116hth.jpg/)

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7558/dsc0178k.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/i/dsc0178k.jpg/)

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2686/dsc0001djr.jpg (http://img12.imageshack.us/i/dsc0001djr.jpg/)

Not of the performers but hey, I like it anyways

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4918/dsc0035jat.jpg (http://img6.imageshack.us/i/dsc0035jat.jpg/)

[robo git]

For a start I recommend shooting ISO 800 at least, or maybe 1600 - you'll find that the noise-level is still quite acceptable, plus you'll be able to use a shorter shutter speed so less blur

If you want more colour-balanced shots, take one of the "typical" colour-balanced shots and use that as your custom white-balance shot. Well... Unless you're AFTER a preponderance of red, in which case, as you were ;)

Take a look at the "Gig tips" thread.

[Nat]

Yah I tried some on a higher iso later in the night but was still getting motion blur.

The second half of what you posted went wooooosh right over my head. As I said I'm a bit of a noob to this so need simplistic explanations :(

Should probably elaborate a bit on what their lighting setup (or lack thereof) was......basically yellow lighting coming from the back of the stage and red lighting from the front and that was it. Other than that pretty much pitch black :mad: Would what you were saying help to make it less reddy? I would have thought that not a lot could help in that scenario? But as I said I'm a total noob heh.

[robo git]

It can help a little bit, yeah, but from the sounds of it, not a lot.

I don't know how to set up custom white-balance on a Nikon D40X so one of the Nikon folks hereabouts might want to weigh in here?

Basically with Canon you take a photo that is roughly average colour (EG: a photo where the red light is washing over everything) and from the menu select that photo under the "Custom WB" option, then in the White Balance menu choose type "Custom".

The camera will then use the photo as a reference point for working out what white should look like.

[talan]

Looks like you were battling hard with the lighting.

What lens did you shoot with? I would probably shoot ISO 1600 at f/1.8 with my 50mm.

[robo git]

f1.8@50mm in a dark environment? You like half-blurred faces then :p You're talking a 1 inch DoF - I find it's actually easier to get good shots using aperture of f2.2 to f4 @ 50mm

[Nat]

heh I was just using the kit lense *cue horrified looks*

Have just bought myself a 50mm 1.8, not specifically for this type of thing though.

Next time I buy a lense I want to invest in something suited for that type of work, fortunately most of the gigs I go to don't have as crappy light as that gig!

[Rick0r]

Red light is horrible for skin tones.. makes everything glow

[Pedey]

Hey,

I think with a gig like that its an uphill battle using no flash, although I appreciate the non-intrusive attitude. Personally, I'd just rock a flash either way, as even if performers get a little flash in the face, its part of the job, and they are going to appreciate the results much more in the end anyway. Check out our photos from the same event if you havent seen them already. http://www.slavelabour.co.nz

[weka2000]

A couple of lens options. 85 F1.2 or 50 F1.2 (canon) and say 1Dmk3 or 5Dmk2 due to great ISO with out to much noise. Use canon flash to aid in focusing.

[Nat]

Hey,

I think with a gig like that its an uphill battle using no flash, although I appreciate the non-intrusive attitude. Personally, I'd just rock a flash either way, as even if performers get a little flash in the face, its part of the job, and they are going to appreciate the results much more in the end anyway. Check out our photos from the same event if you havent seen them already. http://www.slavelabour.co.nz

I'll take a look now :) One of the reasons I deliberately didn't (even though I most definitely would have got better results) was because there were 3-4 other photographers in the front taking pics with flashes. In such an intimate environment when you're so close to the performers I just prefer not to. It's a bit different when it's a massive gig but when they're no more than 30cm away from your camera at times its rather intrusive and really distracting to have THAT many flashes going off nonstop. Sure it makes it really tough but hey, I've always liked making things difficult for myself heh.

Edit: realised that came across a bit dismissive/disparaging, excuse my current flu-riddled brain, I didn't mean it to!