Shooting a concert can be a real challenge

As a photographer, I love challenges, but some will also add a lot of stress, especially when the bar is already set pretty high. This blog is about concert photography tips and tricks.

I’ve been photographing Wibi Soerjadi for many years, and over the years we’ve become close friends.
One of the advantages of knowing the artist very well is that I’m allowed to shoot the whole concert from any angle I wish.
Well, ok, there are some limitations of course. I’m always aware of the audience and behave as a guest instead of part of the organisation.

But overall, I’m pretty free in what I want to do.

The camera challenge during concert photography

As mentioned, I’ve been shooting Wibi for many years, and it’s awesome to see how much better cameras have become.
Especially with live piano recitals or orchestra’s there are many obstacles I never realized when I started doing these kinds of concerts.
I’ve shot some rock performances, and although they are tricky, the lighting is often great for creative photography. You can often work with a shallow DOF, and as long as you have enough going on on stage, like smoke, colored lights, etc., it’s easy to get a lot of different moods and feels in your images.

When I shoot Wibi, it’s “slightly different”.
Except for the awesome Christmas concerts in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the lighting is often non-existent, or very dim, and almost always constant. In other words, if the lighting guys don’t do their work correctly, I end up with blowout images or awful shadows. Luckily, I have had some control over the lighting for the last few years and am allowed to change spots and outputs. Which in all honesty, makes my life a lot easier. It doesn’t create magical studio lighting setups, but at least I can get rid of a too harsh accent light or a spot that’s too bright or reflecting in the piano. It helps a bit.

And sometimes there is no lighting at all, or just a small accent light to highlight the location, like in the situation you are going to see today. Let’s continue with some concert photography tips and tricks

So, what is the challenge for the camera?

Aperture and focus assist

When I shoot Wibi, for example, I have a few things I need.
I want the artist’s face sharp, but also at least one hand, and preferably both. Which also means you can see the venue and the audience, preferably slightly out of focus. This is also one of the “demands” or “things that make my clients happy,” no f1.8 shots, but showing the location in these kinds of shots is pretty essential.

So I’m mostly shooting at F2.8-F4.0, depending on lens and location.
Because I’m mostly shooting during the concert itself, I have disabled ALL focus assists, so no “searchlight” and no beeps, and of course, the silent mode is engaged.

Funny anecdote, when Sony introduced the silent mode, one of the first concerts I tried it out at was during a concert by Wibi. Because I’m really close to him, I get an awesome experience. But the disadvantage is that he actually hears everything I do. And although I’m always very careful not to disturb him, I thought it was pretty funny when I got a message during the break if I took any photos because he did not hear anything. For me, it was now proven, the silent mode is essential 😀

Now, don’t get me wrong, a fast lens still has huge benefits.
The faster the lens, the more accurate and faster your autofocus system will work, seeing the camera always focuses with a wide open aperture.
Because I’m moving around a lot and a piano recital is pretty “static,” I want to make sure I shoot from as many different angles and positions as possible. This limits my choice a bit in “fast glass,” so my choice is the Sony 24-70 f2.8 G-master. I’m also carrying a second body with a Sigma 12-24, which I use for some audience shots and more “funky” angles. For some images, I will switch lenses between the bodies (one is an A7RV and the other an A7RIII).

Shutter speed

Besides having to shoot with a reasonable depth of field, I also have to shoot a lot of the images on a rather high shutter speed.
Wibi moves around pretty fast, and the best shots for me are the ones where his hands are frozen in the air with maybe just a slight trail of movement but the face has to be razor-sharp. This mostly means that my standard shutter speed is 1/125, with some images to make sure I get them at 1/250-1/500.

 

ISO

And of course, the ISO
This is where I have seen a HUGE boost in performance over the last 3 years.
Especially the Sony A7RV has made a huge step forward in focus accuracy, but also in high ISO noise. It seems to be easier to remove than on the A7RIV.
Because I’m shooting on a smaller aperture and with a higher shutter speed you would normally prefer in these kinds of lighting situations, I have to accept that my ISO is mostly all over the place.  Some images are shot at ISO1600-3200, which is fine and almost needs no noise reduction except a slight adjustment in Lightroom. But often I’m hitting the ISO16000-32000 with peaks to ISO64000, and although for the internet those images can be used, they are not suitable for large posters, billboards, or pillars.

And this is where technology has made a HUGE step forward.
I’m using mostly a mix of Topaz PhotoAI and the new Lightroom online AI noise reduction.
Both solutions are 100% improvements over anything I used before. Especially in small details like hair and reflections, the new algorithms are great for keeping a natural look without that paintery look we all “hate”.

An added advantage of Topaz PhotoAI is that if the camera slightly misses focus, I’m now able to correct this. It’s no magic wand that will fix everything you mess up, but it can save some images that were very close but not perfect.

 

Todays concert

Today I want to share the results from a very special one-time concert.
The concert was in a beautiful location, “The Duif” in Amsterdam. As a photographer, this is already great, so I wanted to make sure I got the best out of the location.

The first part of the concert was a collection of classical pieces. The second part, however, would be the first and probably only time Wibi would perform an 11-part composition, “Flashback,” he wrote to deal with a personal loss. Because I knew this part would be nerve-wrecking and very emotional for Wibi, I decided to do something I normally never do (and it was the right choice). I wanted to make sure I got ALL my shots before the break so I could just sit on my chair and enjoy the composition, shoot some images in between from that location, and not disturb Wibi at all.

As mentioned before, you have to work with the lighting and location you are given.
In my case, “angle is essential” because otherwise I don’t see the piano, the artist, or the hands.
So, for the first series, I’m sitting about 1 meter away from Wibi slightly higher, with the option to go down on the stage in one move and shoot from a very low angle (love those shots).

As you can see, nothing wrong with the shots.
They are proper “registrations,” but we want mor,e of course.
So, let’s run upstairs and shoot some images from the balcony.

This is the moment I had my lightbulb moment.
The light was going pretty fast, and the red spot behind Wibi started to show up a lot more than before the concert.
This could be fun.

After the break, I stayed in my seat for the second part of the concert.
One of the perks we have is that I can select my seating, so in all honesty, the following shots are from a position I chose to shoot from.

Don’t forget the close-ups

Here’s another tip about concert photography. First, I always try to get some nice close-ups.
During the first part of the concert, there is no sweat and the artist will look fresh and full of energy. These are the perfect moments for the power shots, the shots that will be used in publications, magazines, etc.
Personally, however, I love the close-ups in the second part of the concerts (I know Wibi prefers the “fresh” ones). For me, the emotion, the sweat, and the expression have so much more power. So I always shoot both 😀

As you can see, it’s pretty “static”.
There are some different positions of the hands, expression etc. but overall it’s dare I say it… “pretty boring”.

So let’s spice it up.
One of the tricks is extreme close-ups.
In this case, I’m using the 10x zoom on my iPhone to try out the new Adobe camera.
And I’m pretty impressed.
The images look great, but in reality, the lighting was pretty tricky.

 

More concert photography tips and tricks

It is better for me, draws me more into the story, but it doesn’t show the location.
So, that’s why I love the flip-up screens.
I’m shooting a lot in live view mode both on location and in the studio.`

In the studio, it helps a lot that you are automatically shooting from a lower angle, but it also makes eye contact with your subject a lot easier and more “friendly”. On location or in situations like these, I love to use extreme angles. And when using a wide(r) angle, you can really play with the location and “distortion”.

Let me explain.
These three images are all shot from the same location, but due to the wide-angle effect, all the angles are very exaggerated, creating an awesome, almost surreal look.
The added advantage is that you can get the whole scene in the frame.

So, depending on where you leave the space, you can play with the look of the scene.
But how about going even more extreme?
I think the following images are some of my all-time favorite concert images.
And the trick was just having loads of luck with the lighting in the ceiling and finding it in the corners of the lens.

Conclusion, concert photography tips and tricks

I hope you enjoyed the behind the scenes look during this special concert and how I got the shots.
All images are almost straight out of the camera.
I only do slight adjustments in Lightroom with these kinds of events. Although in some images I took out reflections in the piano from the audience, which in this case were very distracting.

All events are different, and all clients/artists will have different requests and demands.
The best advice I can give is “behave like a guest that can be kicked out at any moment”.
The audience paid for a relaxing evening, and having a photographer walking around, using flash, tripods, and coaching the artist is, of course, not done. I always try to move between pieces and always put the audience first. I guarantee you that if you follow that simple rule, people will let you do your work and probably even help out. I’ve been offered seating more than once when I was kneeling on the floor or when people were helping out with cameras. It’s all about your behavior, although some people will always find something to complain about.

As most conclusions go, we have to end it.
So for the last shot, I ran back up on the stage and used wide-angle shot to get in the audience and Wibi.
And see there… also the red in the back is now much more noticeable.

 

Read another blog about concert photography (also with Wibi Soerjadi)

 

Want to join a concert of Wibi yourself? Check out the Wibi Soerjadi calender