Help, equipment for concert shots.!

[k3nshinx]

Hello everyone.
i would be glad if someone can help me out, im acctually invited to help photograph a concert event which is to be held in an auditorium. A dance concert, combination of hiphop,bboy and morden dance. Its my very first time shooting from front stage and im quite nervous and excited with the results..

I only have my 350D with the packed 18-55mm lens.
ADVICE NEEDED,
would i need a flash, i think they allow it to be used.
what lens would u recommand to use at front stage, to rent from cs forum.
will my 18-55mm be enough, i doubt so.

Alright guys. Please give some advice! im so scared that i have nothing to show them at the end of the day. again, thanks so much.

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

rent the 85/1.8 or 135/2 depending on how far away u can stand from the stage. do recce the place first. alternatively, a fast zoom like tamron 28-75, sigma 70-200mm would be fine. rent a 430EX and that should be enough.

of course im speaking from the POV of a canon user

 

[rOnGrEn]

If its an indoor dance event in an auditorium.. i would be surprised if they allow flash photography cause that would certainly be very distracting for the audience.

As said by Isaiahfortythirtyone.. it really depends on where you stand (or where you can stand)....I stood all the way at the back the last time i covered my school's indoor dance performance at UCC..(and sometimes switch position when theres an interval)... Mainly used my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 ... I guess it depends on individual but i find that a zoom would be more "versatile"... so i second you renting a fast zoom like the 70-200 f2.8 ...

If it helps... you can view some of my newbie photos at http://www.pbase.com/rongren/dance_uncensored_2006
you can take a look at some of the exif data to have a very-rough idea of what to expect... of course every performance is different.. for example..i was shooting at [1/320s f/2.8 at 200.0mm iso1600] for some of the photos..

Oh..and please bring a tripod no matter if you are using a flash or not.. you will most probably need it.

Good luck, happy shooting and do share your shots after the event!

Cheers,
Rongren

 

[k3nshinx]

Thanks both of u.
anyway i was thinking, how am i going to use the tripod, wont i need to move around and stuff like that. sorry im seriously under stress.
yeah thanks for lens recommandation, going to get a 70-200 and a 50/1.8 i guess.
thanks!

 

[zcf]

monopod would be more portable than tripod in this kind of shoot, though not as stable.

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

even on a 1.6x camera, 50mm may be too short. do seriously recce the place out first. btw, the 85/1.8 has much better image quality than the 50mm.

 

[k3nshinx]

even on a 1.6x camera, 50mm may be too short. do seriously recce the place out first. btw, the 85/1.8 has much better image quality than the 50mm.

thanks i'll look out for that lens and im going to the place soon : )

 

[Razor54]

even on a 1.6x camera, 50mm may be too short. do seriously recce the place out first. btw, the 85/1.8 has much better image quality than the 50mm.

The 85mm hunts less too...:sweat:

If you're able to walk around during the concert, a 70-200mm f/2.8 would be nice to catch some action shots at ISO 1600 (unless the lighting is really dim).

 

[Youhong]

Zoom lens will be good... You dun have time to change lens in the middle of the concert... You will need flash - but not direct flash. For dance, you may want to use slow shutter to capture the energy... Use rear curtain mode...

 

[rOnGrEn]

Thanks both of u.
anyway i was thinking, how am i going to use the tripod, wont i need to move around and stuff like that. sorry im seriously under stress.
yeah thanks for lens recommandation, going to get a 70-200 and a 50/1.8 i guess.
thanks!

hmmz... for my case...my tripod was setup at one spot.... and the dance performance was made up of different items..so there a bit of time for me to move during the small interval... so when i need to change position.. just bring the whole tripod plus the camera along lor.. haha..(welll..that is until i got asked by the usher to stop switching position as my footsteps were disturbing the audience...:bsmilie: )

I don't know how your performance will be like.. but i doubt you will want to move around in the middle of a performance if its in a proper auditorium... However if u think the situation allows and you can get better shots by moving around... by all means

no need to stress lar bro... just do your best .. go there prepared...know what shots you want..and enjoy shooting..

 

[wanzw]

you will be fine with a 50 1.8 and a 70-200 2.8

best is to be at the rehearsals. take photos during rehearsals and recongise when the lighting will change and stuff like that.

photographers need rehearsals too!