ok i have two questions...

[ciggynumnum]

ok, im about to turn 21. w00t!! my dad is in a band and they play alot of bars that is 21+ not the normal 18+, so my pops wants me to go take some pictures.....well ...i have never shot bands before. i want to really bad, but im not too sure what im doing. so my first question is, how do i shoot in dim lit bar? they do have some colored stage lights, but they arent bright enough to get enough light for a clear picture. so do i crank up the ISO to 1600(highest my camera goes) or do i use my external flash and bounce the light off the ceiling? but i dont want to blind everyone.


my second question is in the complete opposite, a buddy of mine wants to shoot some pictures of his car he as just finished rebuilding. i love cars, but i have only shot them 2-3 times and ever time i have the problem of glare on the shot due to the sun. so my second question is, how do i fix the sun glare problem?? should i change my angle of the shot, turn the shutter speed up and mess with the aperture??


so any help would be much appreciated,

thanks yall.

[Steve (FloppyDog)]

Oct 21, 2009 18:14:48 GMT -5 ciggynumnum said:

ok, im about to turn 21. w00t!! my dad is in a band and they play alot of bars that is 21+ not the normal 18+, so my pops wants me to go take some pictures.....well ...i have never shot bands before. i want to really bad, but im not too sure what im doing. so my first question is, how do i shoot in dim lit bar? they do have some colored stage lights, but they arent bright enough to get enough light for a clear picture. so do i crank up the ISO to 1600(highest my camera goes) or do i use my external flash and bounce the light off the ceiling? but i dont want to blind everyone.


my second question is in the complete opposite, a buddy of mine wants to shoot some pictures of his car he as just finished rebuilding. i love cars, but i have only shot them 2-3 times and ever time i have the problem of glare on the shot due to the sun. so my second question is, how do i fix the sun glare problem?? should i change my angle of the shot, turn the shutter speed up and mess with the aperture??


so any help would be much appreciated,

thanks yall.

Happy Birthday in advance! ;D

You probably can get away with shooting a limited number of photos using flash, but people might start getting annoyed. Plus, using your flash will flatten your images and you won't get the "stage light" feel to your photos. I'm not sure what camera you're using, but if it has rear-curtain sync that would be a plus. You might want to check the ceiling before using it to bounce. Check to make sure it's white and low enough to reflect effectively. It would also be a big help if you can access the club earlier and shoot some test photos. For the most part, I'd say to use your fastest lens, no flash, crank up that ISO and get in close to the action.

Regarding your friend's car shoot: Your shutter speed and aperture will have little effect on your glare problem. One option is to shoot in the morning or late afternoon avoiding the sun altogether. Another is that you might find an area already shaded from the sun like beside a large building, inside a parking garage, etc. Is your shoot location already determined?

One thing you might consider is using the sun to your advantage. If your buddy's car has a lot of chrome, you might shoot some at angles that accentuate the reflected light. This is a good time for a cross-screen filter.

Those are just a couple of things that come to mind. Hopefully the others will chime in.

[NCPhotoTrekker]

In dealing with the bar scene....don't just arbitrarily crank up the ISO. You will introduce a lot of noise that you will have to deal with. Fast glass will be your friend and shoot at f/2.8 or wider. Best bet with the wildly changing lighting is to shoot in RAW using AWB and correct later on in post processing. Each light will have a different temperature and will cause widly skewed color temps in your pictures.

Automotive photography is very cool. You need a polarizer filter which will remove glare from the glass, and will minimize it from the rest of the car. Shoot from the quarters and not straight on. This will keep your reflection out of the pictures. Get low, or get way up (ladder, balcony, etc). A tripod will be a good idea so you can get maximum depth of field with a narrow aperture..

[ciggynumnum]

flop, im shootin with a Canon Xsi. i have no idea what rear curtain sync is. lol. so im not sure if i have it. the location isnt set for the shoot yet, normally people go out to the lankefront, or there is a parking garage i could go to at night that would be pretty sweet also.

i appreciate all the advice guys. its much appreciated. thanks.

[OrcaBob]

I'd strongly recommend against flash at the nightclub. Like Flop said, it'll flatten your images and defeat what little stage lighting you have.

Depending on the stage lighting, I'd recommend a high ISO (possibly as high as 1600). You can either correct the noise in postproduction or you can use the resulting "grain" as part of documentary-style effect (especially in shots you convert to black-and-white).

If you can get permission from the club and you can manage to find a safe place, use a tripod to steady the camera on slow-shutter shots. At the very least, use a monopod.

Try to get some shots where a musician blocks a light. Exposed correctly, you'll get some cool silhouettes, and if there's any smoke in the air the effect will be even better.

As for the car shots, I'd recommend near dawn or near sunset and shoot where the car will be in sun but your camera will be shielded from the sun. Use fill flash. You can either reduce glare and reflection with a polarizer filter or you can try making use of the glint as an effect.

We look forward to seeing the shots, Ciggy!

[Steve (FloppyDog)]

I'm not familiar with current trends in shooting band photos. It used to be fashionable and common to have the high grain in this type of photography. Of course, there was little choice since the low light levels forced photographers to use high speed film that was inherently grainy.

But then again, that was back in "the day" when we used film, walked to school five miles uphill in the snow, and only had gunny sacks for shoes.

As far as the color shifts: True, like Greg said, the lighting will have different temperatures which will cause color shifts. My guess is that among all the lights, they might have one (white?) light that dominates the others to insure the band is adequately illuminated throughout the show. If you white balance in your camera, you might want to balance to this dominant light. You're going to have color shifts either way, but this may not necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, it might even add to your images if you're going for a nostalgic look. You're still probably looking at some post process, and I'd definately shoot in RAW if possible.

You have some interesting and exciting photography work coming up Ciggy, can't wait to see some photos!