> 6 minute read

How to Photograph Live Music

Photographing live music is great fun and the results can look spectacular, even if you’re making images of local bands in small venues. Let’s have a look at how to get started.

Whether you’re working in dark, grungy basement bars or massive sports stadiums, music photography is wild, unpredictable, and a whole lot of fun. And despite the massive variation between venues, performers, and types of music, there are a lot of hints and tips that are useful wherever you are.

Access

One of the first things that music photographers think about is access at the venue. Without it, you are stuck photographing from the same position as any other audience member – which isn’t the end of the world, but it does restrict your options.

At small venues, some extra access isn’t difficult to negotiate. The best thing to do is ask the band if they mind you getting up close by the stage – or even on stage, out of view of the audience – for a great angle. Most small bands won’t mind at all, especially if you offer some pictures in return.

At larger venues, it can be more difficult to get next-to-stage access, especially if you don’t contact the organisers or band beforehand. If you are lucky enough to get an official photographer’s pass, it will usually give you what’s known as ‘three songs, no flash’ access in the press pit in front of the stage. Awesome views are guaranteed, but only for the first three songs – then you have to leave. You can’t use flash either but, as we’ll find out, you probably don’t want to.

Do Your Research

Some singers close their eyes and sing with raw emotion, while others dance and thrash about with seemingly uncontrolled energy. If you want to know what to expect when you turn up at a gig, it’s best to do some research on the band you’re going to see.

Watch some YouTube clips of previous gigs and look for the little details. Who are the most charismatic members of the band? Do they exchange smiles and glances at the end of every song? What is the best position to get an image of the whole band? It’s best to be prepared so these things don’t take you by surprise.

The Right Settings

When it comes to camera settings, it’s easier to photograph gigs using the manual exposure mode, since this stops the camera reacting to every little change in lighting. Set a high ISO and a wide aperture to enable you to use a shutter speed that’s fast enough to freeze most on-stage movement, such as 1/250 sec.

When it comes to white balance and Film Simulation modes, experimentation is the key. Try to pick a combination that matches the venue’s lighting, but don’t spend ages obsessing about this or you’ll miss photo opportunities. Instead, record RAW files so you can adjust colour afterwards in post-processing.

Travel Light and Choose Fast Lenses

Be careful not to take too much gear to a gig with you. Don’t be that person with a massive camera backpack that annoys everyone in the crowd. Wide aperture lenses are a really good choice, as they will let you work with fast shutter speeds without raising ISO too far.

Check out the FUJINON XF23mmF2 R WR and XF50mmF2 R WR, which are a great pair of gig lenses. Keep one in your pocket and the other on your camera and you’ll have most of your options covered, certainly in small venues. Replace the XF50mmF2 R WR with a telephoto zoom like the XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR if you’re some way back from the stage or want to get good close-up portraits of the performers.

Use the Crowd

It’s tempting to focus all of your attention on the stage, but take the odd moment to look over your shoulder at the people behind you, too. Try to frame the energy of the crowd and expressions on their faces, illuminated by the light reflected from the stage. It’s all part of the live music experience.

Another way to involve the crowd is to take some steps back from the stage and photograph the band with a few layers of people between you and the action. Wait for cool-looking silhouettes of people enjoying the show.

Watch the Light and Don’t Use Flash

In some respects, lighting is taken care of by the engineers at the venue, who have lit up where the band is standing and included effects to add some drama. But it’s not quite as simple as photographing away with your camera without thinking about the light at all.

Use spot metering to take a reading from a band member’s face – that will give you a good starting point for your manual exposure. But you can also rely on what you’re seeing in the camera’s EVF as you’ll have a constant live exposure preview and can make alterations accordingly.

Just don’t use flash. You’ll not only kill the mood the lighting engineers have painstakingly created, but you’ll also get on the performer’s nerves and, likely, be asked to stop.

Black & White Might Save the Day

Gig photography looks great in black & white! Though it’s best to create in colour and monochrome at the same time so you have the option of both. The best way to do this is to photograph RAW files so you can process black & white and colour JPEGs from the same master RAF file. Or you can use Film Simulation mode bracketing to create multiple JPEGs with different looks from every shot you take.

Focusing

X Series cameras are good at focusing in tough conditions, but the high-contrast, low-light environments of gig venues can present some problems, so it’s worth practicing a few techniques. Face/Eye Detection doesn’t work well if the band member you’re photographing keeps turning away from you, but regular subject tracking in continuous AF mode can give good results.

• Turn off Face Detection AF using the AF/MF SETTING > FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING menu option, or a shortcut in the Quick Menu.
• Set continuous (AF-C) focusing mode.
• Set ZONE using the AF/MF SETTING > AF MODE menu option.

Alternatively, try single (AF-S) focusing mode with a single point. You’ll be able to lock on to a band member, recompose, and then wait for the right moment to make a burst of images in continuous shooting mode.

Your Next Steps

• CHALLENGE Get down to a gig and show us what you can do! Post your favourite image to social media with the hashtag #learnwithfujifilm and #livemusic. You can also submit your work here for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.