Concert Photography

I'm going to give you folks a look into how I shoot concerts. This is kind of where I got my start in photography and one of the things I do on a consistent basis.

The setup/technique I like to use was actually shown to me by fellow photog Chris Van Wick (who is a great photographer, be sure to check out his work.) I like this setup because it is a little more stylistic than other approaches, allows the use of faster shutter speeds while still adding a punch of color to your subjects, backlighting (I love that stuff) and it just stands out among what everyone else at the show is doing.

So here it is:



I like to use 3 flashes and the following accessories
1 x Nikon SB-800
2 x Nikon SB-24
3 x PocketWizard Trasceivers
1 x Nikon SC-17 TTL cord

The camera/lens combo I like varies but I really like to use my Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye but my Tokina 12-24mm f/4 is pretty great too.

Here is a diagram showing how I place my lights


I place the two SB-24's to the left and right of the stage behind the band ideally about 6'-7' high on light stands. Just to add a touch of color I gel these flashes with whatever colors strike my fancy (ideally complimentary colors ie: red and green.) The SB-800 goes on the SC-17 which is attached to my Nikon D70, I use this flash as my main light and I just hold the ol' fashioned way...with my hand.

Power settings vary but typically I shoot with the backlights around 1/4th-1/8th power and my main around 1/32th. This is the result:

Is Electric


Sower of Dischord


As you can see it gives the photos more depth than what a lot of people do at shows. I see a lot of people shooting with flashes on camera firing straight at the band and it just gives sub-par results.

If you have any questions about this technique or any other please leave a comment and I'll try my best to get back to you.