In my off-time I like to do photography for local bands, in this case one of my clients (FM Rodeo) asked me to come out and shoot for them at Jack’s Roadhouse in San Marcos, TX. While the venue itself was fine, the low-light setting presented unique challenges towards making a viable product. Fortunately, I was working with a camera that is specifically designed for low-light work that allowed me to create some truly unique photos for the bands that performed. All 3 bands were incredibly grateful and immediately put the photos into circulation for their own uses.
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Each of the bands was incredibly grateful for the photos and immediately used them for their own social media advertising purposes. Public perception of the photos was incredibly positive and I received multiple offers for further work.
One of the first challenges with concert photography is how fast everything happens, drummers are striking out at blistering speeds, guitarists are shredding as fast as they can, bass players are jumping around like they’re on trampolines. The cure for this of course, very high shutter speeds. The problem with that is that as the shutter speed increases the amount of light the camera can capture decreases. Fortunately the lens I chose for that night could open to F2.8, which was just enough to balance with the shutter speed for an acceptable result.
The other major challenge of concert photography is the inherent low-light setting that the performances usually take place in. This requires not only a lens with a wider aperture but also a camera sensor with high ISO capabilities. Fortunately the camera I work with is designed with low-light scenarios in mind, although even still there were challenges mitigating sensor noise. Fortunately much of this was taken care of in the editing of the photos.
