Night and Low-light Photography Photo Workshop

    ■   Backgrounds. It is easy to focus on the per-

former and get so caught up in the music that

you don’t notice what’s going on in the back-

ground. Many times you are not able to

change your position much so you either need

to wait for the subject to move or you need

Capture the moment

The goal behind all concert and event photography
is to capture the moment. This is a combination of
making sure that you have the exposure correct,
have the timing down, and recognize the moments
that matter. There are five different elements that
can help you capture the perfect moment:

■   Timing. To get great concert photos, you

need to practice your timing so that when a
moment unfolds in front of your camera, you
are ready to capture it. This could involve
watching how the subject interacts with the
fans or other band members, or how the light
changes on the stage at any given moment. It
helps familiarize yourself with the music
before shooting a band because that really
helps you with the timing. Is the music fast
and frantic or slow and melodic? Does it
sound like there are lots of music solos which
might mean that the lights will be brighter on
a musician when performing live? Most peo-
ple get into concert photography due to the
love of live music and photography, so just
consider listening to the band before the
shoot as a form of homework, and fun home-
work at that.

■   Emotions. As you watch the musicians

through the viewfinder, watch for the emo-
tions that can take an average photo and
make it great. Just watch the face and be
ready to press that shutter release button.
Watching guitarist Steve Stevens rip out a
solo, you can just feel the energy and power,
mainly due to the facial expression he has, as
shown in Figure 5-17.

5-17

ABOUT THIS PHOTO Steve Stevens performing live is a true

joy to watch. His love of the music he plays is clear from his facial

expressions. Taken at 1/320 second, f/2.8, and ISO 1600.