Yay it's mid term break, and I was sinful enough to go out to shoot. Should have been revising for mid term tests, but the lure of a concert shoot was just too much. Quite last minute notification (but i was guilty for not bothering to ask around). Just picked up the cam and go! More after the break.
The singer was by the name of Elva (whom i heard wrongly as ah hua the day b4). Just 1 singer. Easy target i thought. But upon arrival i realised that there was no arrangement for me to go within the barricades. This meant that i've to crowd around with amatuers wielding compact cameras, and enthusiasts banging their Gary Fong diffusers around thinking that they-should-display-it-since-they-bought-it. Crap. The worse part was the fact that i've to handle front row spectators as there were times when i had to block their view just to get the shot. Maybe the organisers thought Friday Weekly wasn't a paper with enough publicity, or I was too young to know how to dodge video cams. Whatever.
Firstly, i had a better feel of the metering having been to Max Pavilion before. A good point to base your exposure off would be the main projector screen behind. Just manual meter that screen, and adjust your compensation from there. Shouldn't vary much (unless they decide to pull stunts and use candle-light). I shot RAW this time round since i have more computing power now, and quickly realised i don't have enough mem space. Well, 160+ pictures is still more than enough.
Secondly, the AF settings were more appropriate. 21pt Dynamic for tele shots, 51pt dynamic for wide. Important to set AF lock-on to long. I set it to short the last time round which resulted in it focusing on the background immediately should the subject leave the AF pt. Don't bother with 3D tracking since the colours change so wildly it would be thrown off. I only had less than 10 OOF pics, of which half were handshake as i attempted to pull some motion blur stunts.
Thirdly, I had the luxury to shoot throughout the session. Only 5 songs in total, but with enough breaks in between to check my pics and correct my mistakes.
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Woots.. my first concert shoot! One of the most adrenaline pumping 10 mins behind a camera, other than shooting a missile launch of course. Read on to find out more...
Concert photography is demanding, both for the photog and the camera. I was fortunate enough to get to shoot such a major performance to have a taste of this genre of photography, described aptly as "low light, fast action photography".
Talking about the lighting... It is a different world. Spotlights were transient, wildly saturated and varying in both direction and intensity. At one moment they even switched off all the lights, having the lead singer lit only with a torch. Dance actions were fast and difficult to anticipate. I was glad i did not take up any such assignments earlier... i just don't have the skill and equipment to cope before this.
The usual rule applies: Only the first 3 songs can be photographed. That means less than 10 minutes to get that picture for the paper. The first few moments started off with hardly any light, and the performers strolled in and took up their positions before the lights came on. Crap... no opportunities to take them as a group, given the big lobangs between them.
One thing nobody could teach you is how to move during the shoot. U have to dodge other photographers and videographers, and watch out for wires, steps and stuff in the dark. Having light gear and strong legs help here, as you can regain your balance easier even if you trip. (yeah i almost fell once, tripped against some hidden firecracker tube). Move with the beat, feel the music, and spam during climaxes. At least that's wad i did.
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