This guide is intended for beginners in the basic settings of show photography. If you have a DSLR camera and want to know how to control the basic settings of your camera to take great photos, this guide is for you. If you’re an experienced photographer, but you’re not used to filming concerts and big events, there can be useful information here, as well as a lot of things you already know.
First of all, there are no camera settings to create the perfect show photography. Each situation requires different camera configurations based on countless factors:
- These are just a few of the many doubts that may arise during the filming of your concert.
- Concert and event photographers are often asked specifically about the types of settings they use.
- But in general they know that the answer won’t be very useful because their settings change.
- Constantly depending on the situation.
What’s really important is to have a basic understanding of how each setup works, the limits you can push on each configuration of your DSLR camera before you start recording.
All basic camera settings combine to give a properly exposed image. Having a basic knowledge of the exposure triangle is important and helps you understand how you’ll need to change your settings for the situation when recording concerts and events.
Basically, the exposure triangle indicates that getting the right exposure depends on three things:
In concert photography, he constantly strives to let in as much light as possible, because often the environment for photographing shows is poorly lit, so it is important to know the basic parameters for professional concert photography.
Shooting in manual mode gives you more control over the correct exposure of the image. This way, you can quickly change the basic settings of professional recording to combat changing lighting conditions, especially when recording concerts.
The other advantage is that the recording manual will require you to quickly learn how each configuration affects your image and you will become a better photographer thanks to this.
Shutter speed: 1/250 or faster
Shutter speed directly influences the final result of your photos or sequences, because if you left it at high speeds, it is possible to force the limits of the other settings to get a bright enough image. Try using slower shutter speeds when shooting shows, leaving more light on the sensor, resulting in a brighter image.
But if the shutter speed is too slow, a motion blur occurs when objects move through the framing. This is a big problem in concert photography, where subjects move constantly and really need to freeze movement. When the most iconic moments in an ensemble are a big jump or a swaying guitar, you don’t want those images to look blurry.
1/250 is a good base, but not a rule. It will capture most of the movements well and let in enough light to not force the other adjustments to the maximum to balance the overexposure.
Lenses for filming programs: To film programs, do you really need a lens?allowing for a low f-number opening. The most suitable models are Prime lenses, as the 50 mm lenses are clear and receive more light, so there is no need to reduce the shutter speed and run the risk of very high ISO sensitivity or a blur, creating the grain.
The only drawback is that the smaller the f-number you set, the lower the depth of field you will have and your image will not be as sharp as that of a larger f-number. This can result in the loss of your focus point. but good lenses and cameras reduce this problem.
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White balance: Auto WB
Leaving the white balance for you is the best thing you can do as a beginner who records programs. As you acquire the rest of the camera settings, you can start learning a little more about how white balance works and how to adjust it to get uniform colors in your images.
However, in situations such as concerts, the lights change frequently and this becomes a problem, because you can only adjust the color temperature by possessing, if there is no proper balance, as long as you take RAW and non-JPEG photos, you can adjust the temperature and color tone in editing software such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.
Autofocus: AI-Servo
This is a continuous focus mode, which allows you to follow the subject and AF point when moving in the frame. When you shoot shows, you’ll see your subject move quickly, for concert photographers, almost always, continuous focus is a big plus. A useful technique for concert photographers to learn is to rotate the focus button, allowing you to set another button on your camera to be in charge of focus.
The camera’s metering settings have no effect on the exposure you take in manual mode. If you use a different mode such as AV or TV, the metering works by automatically changing the settings on your behalf to get the correct exposure. Look in the manual viewfinder, the counter can also be used as a guide to figure out how to expose your image.
Photography of programs in RAW or JPEG format
RAW images have great advantages over JPEG images. RAW files store much more information, allowing you to take your photos to editing software like Adobe Lightroom and adjust white balance, exposure, and many other settings. With small errors, it is possible to adjust its shadows and reflections and maintain many details, which makes editing much easier.
Because of these skills, RAW files are much larger than JPEG. Despite the size difference, JPEG shooting is not worth it. SD and CF cards are cheap these days, so they are hard drives.