5

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / Weddings, Concerts, and
Other Events

limited amount of time; usually the first three

songs or less. The most common setup is to have

one camera with a longer lens, like the 70-200mm

f/2.8, and the other camera with a shorter lens,

like the 24-70mm f/2.8. This allows coverage from

24mm to 200mm, all at the same aperture and all

accessible at any given moment. A second bonus

to having two cameras is that if you fill the buffer

on the first you can easily switch to the second

while the data writes to the card.

Depending on the band and venue, the time rule

might be flexible, but so many bands and venues

use the three-song rule, it is definitely the norm

when shooting concerts. The one really big

quite a bit when I bought it and the newer ver-
sions available now cost even more. When pho-
tographing the Jackie Greene band, the lights
were extremely low so I needed to use an 85mm
prime lens opened all the way to f/1.4 and an ISO
of 1600, as you can see in Figure 5-12.

Many full-time concert and event photographers
use two camera bodies at the same time. It is
much faster to change cameras than it is to
change lenses, so using two camera bodies with
two different lenses enables you to capture the
show with the most versatility and different looks,
all in the allotted time. Most of the time you are
only allowed to photograph concerts for a very

ABOUT THIS PHOTO A prime lens can really help when the light is low, especially a lens that opens up to a maximum aperture of f/1.4.
This is what I needed to capture the Jackie Greene band. Photographed at 1/125 second, f/1.4, and ISO 1600.

5-12