How To Take Better Concert Photos

One of the trickiest niches in photography is definitely concert photography. With lasers, lights, stage props, moving musicians, people in the crowd, weather, etc. you can never really know what to expect. Unlike other niches of photography, concert photography’s lighting and conditions are never constant but is always predictably unpredictable.

Getting close is probably the most important thing about concert photography, next to knowing how to properly expose an image. The best way to get better at taking photos is to just get out of your comfort zone. Maybe you feel more comfortable standing a little bit away but the best images are made by people who can get close to their subject.

Making sure that your composition, or the way the subjects are aligned in the photograph is super important. The more positive space you have filled with interesting patterns and colors will make the real world seem more magnificent than it actually is. In this photo I adjusted my exposure before-hand and did a classic hail Mary shot over the guys who play the brass in JBB. In all honesty the hail Mary shot can become a serious tool in your skill-set if you practice it enough.

Sometimes wandering around festivals or concerts can produce some of the best pictures from those events. I came across this tent pretty much on accident, since I tend to always go in the amphiteatre at the spirit of suwannee music park, from a different direction. My mouth dropped the second I saw the lighting coming through the transparent tarp on the side of the tent protecting the string instruments. To date this is one of my all-time favorite festival photos that I have taken.

Sometimes when the artists or musicians have alot of lights and movement on stage, things can become a little challenging. Girl Talk’s set has a million things going on at once and lights that are constantly moving. One of my keys to getting sharp images in moments like this is a longer shutter speed combined with steady hands and controlled breathing. Practicing keeping steady hands and learning to time your shots with your breathing can really help you take sharper photos in darker settings.

Bringing a tripod along can be a total hassle but in the long run can help you create amazing images like this one of the Spirit of Suwannee Amphitheater at Bear Creek 2010.

My final tip goes with this photo of moe. and the top photo of The Flaming Lips at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, always try and be where the other photographers are not. For some reason photographers always like to be with all the other photographers but that is a serious mistake because then all of the photos are from very similar angles. One way to really set yourself apart is to just get creative and a look for different angles that people wouldn’t expect.

I hope this helps some of yall out there.

For more info about myself and my photography visit: NeverAgain Photography

By Phil Sunkel: Psunkel@Hype-mag.com