Concert Photography

Just over two months ago, I finally got to photograph my dream concert… kind of. The lead singer and lead guitarist of my favorite band, Skillet, started another band called Fight The Fury as a side project. They released an EP with five songs and later announced they would be doing a small tour. When I heard one of their very first concerts was going to be in Madison, which is only an hour away from the UWW campus, I bought a ticket and hoped that I would be able to get in the front row (and, more importantly, that I would be able to bring my camera inside the venue). A few days before the concert, I found the venue’s Facebook page and sent them a message asking if I would be able to bring my DSLR to the concert and take some photos for fun. Thankfully, the answer was yes, as long as I didn’t use flash. The concert was on a Sunday night and I had a final exam at 7:45 Monday morning, but I was excited to see two members of my favorite band and two other talented musicians perform live.

The venue turned out to be extremely small, and I was able to stand in the very front since I was the third person to be let inside. After three local bands performed, Fight The Fury took the stage and put on an amazing show. Since Skillet is much more well-known, you have to work for a media outlet of some sort and have a press pass to be allowed to take photos with a DSLR camera. This concert was probably the closest I’ll ever get to doing that, and it was great- I even got to meet the band afterward! I took over a hundred photos that night, and a few of them turned out to be some of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken with my camera. Below I’ll share my favorites, along with the camera settings that were used and a few concert photography tips.

Shutter Speed: 1/80
F-stop: 4.5
ISO: 1600

Shutter Speed: 1/250
F-stop: 5.0
ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/250
F-stop: 4.5
ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/250
F-stop: 3.5
ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/160
F-stop: 3.5
ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/80
F-stop: 4.5
ISO: 1600

Note: I had to keep playing around with the shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO due to lighting changes.

Concert Photography Tips
When photographing a concert, try to take photos of each band member for variety- chances are, they’re each doing something different (In this post, I only showed photos of two members because these were the ones I considered to be the best. However, I did take photos of everyone.). Be ready for action, as many performers like to move around, jump in the air, interact with the crowd, etc. Have earplugs with you because it gets extremely loud, especially if you are closer to the stage.