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Genres in practice3 min read

LESSON 50

Concert and low light

Fast glass, high ISO, three songs.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. A small trade with a big history
  2. The technical problem
  3. The three-song rule
  4. In practice: settings and timing
  5. In practice: other low light

A small trade with a big history

Concert photography covers musicians and live shows, both portraits of bands and coverage of the concert itself. The source calls it a minor commercial field that supports many independent photographers. It grew in popularity with rock and roll, during the years of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as the demand for memorabilia rose through the 1950s and 1960s. Among respected music photographers of that time it names Gered Mankowitz, who worked with the Rolling Stones, and Ethan Russell. During the film era, concert photographers favoured colour negative film and medium format cameras, especially Hasselblad; today most shoot digital.

The technical problem

Concerts are dark, and performers move. The source sums up the usual answer: a fast shutter to freeze motion, made possible by a wide aperture such as f/2.8 or f/4 and a high ISO such as 3200 or more. It also notes that venues are often large, so long lenses help to reach faces and instruments, and that a photographer must understand the venue's lighting and move through crowds. The same trade-off as in indoor sport applies: higher ISO brings more noise, which is why larger sensors that handle high ISO well are favoured for low light. RAW files give more room to recover exposure than JPEG.

The three-song rule

Access is controlled. Performers, venues or organisers decide where photographers may stand and for how long. Photographers are often allowed into the photo pit in front of the stage for a fixed time, commonly the first three songs. In an interview quoted by the source, the Chicago photographer Paul Natkin traced the rule to New York in the 1980s, when crowds of photographers fired flashes in Bruce Springsteen's face, and someone suggested letting them shoot only the first three songs, at about five minutes each. Many shows also ban flash outright, so always read the photo pass terms before you start.

In practice: settings and timing

This section is working practice. Shoot RAW, set manual exposure or shutter priority at 1/250 second or faster, open the lens wide, and let auto ISO rise. Meter for the lit face, not the dark stage, using spot metering or minus compensation, because stage lights fool the meter. Set white balance afterward; coloured stage light makes in-camera settings unreliable. Wait for the peaks: a jump, a shout, a guitar raised, the moment a spotlight hits. Noise in a sharp, well-timed frame matters far less than blur.

In practice: other low light

Also practice. The same approach works for theatre, clubs, candlelit dinners and evening streets. A prime lens at f/1.4 to f/2 gathers far more light than a kit zoom; lesson 14 discusses first lenses. Brace against a wall, exhale, and press gently. Image stabilisation helps with still subjects but not with moving ones. When the light is truly too dim, raise ISO before you slow the shutter for people, and lower it again for still scenes from a tripod. Learn your camera's highest ISO that you find acceptable, and use it without fear.

Try it today

  1. 01Go to a small gig or a lit café in the evening with your fastest lens.
  2. 02Set 1/250 second, the widest aperture and auto ISO.
  3. 03Spot meter a lit face and note how far the exposure moves.
  4. 04Shoot for only ten minutes, as if you had three songs.
  5. 05At home, compare the noisiest sharp frame with the cleanest blurred one.