They are quite nice - I particularly like the last one!

Quite nice? I thought they were really good

Ideally, I'd have liked to see the rest of the band featured... ...they show some lovely technical ability, I wish I could slow the shutter speed on my camera to such a level! I can only get down to 1/8 on my digital, and my 35mm SLR is a bit precious for gigs! Of course, I doubt I'd get anything that good anyway, but I did run a photo lab for six years, and simply owning good equipment allows even the worst photographers to fluke it now and then. However, I should stress that doesn't seem to be what's happened here... *stops talking self into hole*

the 3th pic looks like the end of the intro off Govinda

quote:

Originally posted by Exodia:
I wish I could slow the shutter speed on my camera to such a level! I can only get down to 1/8 on my digital, and my 35mm SLR is a bit precious for gigs!

Why would you want a slower shutter speed than 1/8 in a gig situation? I don't think anyone could hand-hold a camera steady at those kind of speeds, and even if you could, you'd need the band to be standing like statues also... I'm sure the pics in this thread were taken at faster speeds too.

Re-reading my post, I think I meant to say faster, rather than slower - most guides for low light photography suggest between 1/30-1/125 depending on your lens/apeture setting. So yes, that was my bad.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Exodia,

quote:

Originally posted by Exodia:
Re-reading my post, I think I meant to say faster, rather than slower - most guides for low light photography suggest between 1/30-1/125 depending on your lens/apeture setting. So yes, that was my bad.

Oh OK that makes much more sense. Although if your digital camera does 1/8 then it almost certainly covers the range 1/30 to 1/125, so purely in terms of the speeds available it should do the job.

The problem that I have with digicams and gigs is not the speeds that are available, but the speeds the camera chooses, given that very few of them seem to have a true manual mode whereby you can set shutter speed and aperture manually. And if you let the camera do the choosing then what usually happens is that because of the low amount of light at gigs (particularly smaller ones without U2 / CE3K style-light shows), the camera chooses a fairly slow speed to compensate. Which is usually too slow to freeze on-stage movement, even if you hold the camera really steady. What I really want is to be able to force the camera to use a faster speed to be able to freeze the action. I know the resulting pic will be on the dark side that way, but I can fix that easily on the PC afterwards. There's nothing I can do to fix a blurry mess, on the other hand.

Having said that, the only way to get really good results at gigs is to use an SLR with a high ISO rating and a really fast (i.e. stupidly expensive) lens, as far as I can see. It's a shame that that's fairly impractical.

Yeah, that is precisely my problem - I can manually set between 1-1/8, but beyond that, the camera makes its own decisions! It does make me want to take the SLR to gigs - but I'm not a professional, so it feels a little excessive, and all I really want is some decent-quality images that will do to accompany my upcoming gigs reviews online - I'm proficient enough with angles and setting up shots, but it is frustrating to defer to 'Intelligent Auto', particularly as it fails spectacularly as soon as I turn the flash off... ...again, you can get good results with the flash, but only if you can manually adjust your speed accordingly, pah.

Although I’ve never taken a camera to a gig (except within my phone), I’ve used a couple of Canon digicams. They have TV (shutter priority) AV (Aperture Priority) and M (Manual). Manual allows setting to any of the standard speed or aperture settings within the camera’s range. You can also manual focus for those times when the camera has been on the razzle and finds it funny to just keep throwing up a blur. I’m sure they’ll be other brands with similar settings.

Without good manual control, you could also use the exposure lock within automatic mode. Partially depress your shutter release at differing areas of brightness around the stage and note what the speed and aperture readings are on your lcd screen. Then whenever you want to take a photo, point your camera at the area that gave 1/30th of a second at maximum aperture, partially depress your shutter release for exposure lock, then (still holding the shutter release in the partially depressed position) compose your picture and depress the shutter the rest of the way. It’s a fiddly way of doing things especially with the flashing lights of a gig but may work if all else fails.

Unfortunately locking the exposure for the shot, also locks the focus, so its best to try and have your sample exposure point at a similar distance to your intended subject.

After all that, maybe just take your SLR.

Playing with the exposure lock sounds like a good idea though...I'll give that a go when I review Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip (woo) next week. Thanks for the tip dude!

I'm trying not to hate my camera for it though...it really is a lovely compact, and great for pretty much every other type of photography...

quote:

Originally posted by BlipBlop:
Although I’ve never taken a camera to a gig (except within my phone), I’ve used a couple of Canon digicams. They have TV (shutter priority) AV (Aperture Priority) and M (Manual).

'M' is exactly what I need. 'TV' might do, as long as will still take the pic even when it doesn't think there's enough available light for the shutter speed you're telling it to use (because at gigs I'd probably be using a faster speed than it thinks is wise.) I've never used a Canon digicam; maybe that's where I've been going wrong. It amazes me that most digicams have all these useless program modes that you'll never need in a million years ('fireworks', 'snow', 'fireworks in the snow' etc.) but not something as basic as a true manual mode.

quote:

Without good manual control, you could also use the exposure lock within automatic mode. Partially depress your shutter release at differing areas of brightness around the stage and note what the speed and aperture readings are on your lcd screen. Then whenever you want to take a photo, point your camera at the area that gave 1/30th of a second at maximum aperture, partially depress your shutter release for exposure lock, then (still holding the shutter release in the partially depressed position) compose your picture and depress the shutter the rest of the way. It’s a fiddly way of doing things especially with the flashing lights of a gig but may work if all else fails.

Yeah, I never though of that. It's a pretty extreme solution, but I've been in situations where it probably would've made the difference between getting a decent pic and not getting one, so I'll remember it for next time.

As for flash, I try and avoid it if at all possible. Partly cos it's near useless unless you're right near the front, but mainly because it just seems anti-social and distracting for the band. Whenever I accidentally set off the flash (which seems to happen embarassingly often) I always feel really guilty about it.

If you're on facebook..

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=25759885113&view=all

Some nice ones being added there from Brussels.

quote:

Originally posted by drykid:

'M' is exactly what I need. 'TV' might do, as long as will still take the pic even when it doesn't think there's enough available light for the shutter speed you're telling it to use (because at gigs I'd probably be using a faster speed than it thinks is wise.)

Yes, your settings are used and the shutter still fires on Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Manual. Make that camera cringe with the options you choose.

quote:

Originally posted by Exodia:

Playing with the exposure lock sounds like a good idea though...I'll give that a go when I review Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip (woo) next week

I use the exposure lock method more, as in most situations it’s quicker and can be done without pressing additional buttons. It’s very good when a person is backlit and the bright background fools the camera into underexposing the photo of the person. Pointing the camera slightly downwards away from the light and locking the exposure, brings the photo back to a correct exposure. Things may be a little more difficult at a concert though but worth a play. Another plus is that you'll also have a lovely crop of photos which no one else has, of empty bits of stage where you pressed the shutter release down too far.