European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                How to shoot concert photos dont let this happen to you 1 lighting be a by Anita Gosch staff writer taking Good concert photos whether at an outdoor festival or inside a concert Hall int As easy As it anybody who spent a lot of Money on suffered hours pushing and shoving to get close to the and waited anxiously to get the film Back from the pickup knows How frustrating it is when theres not a single decent but with a High Quality some Sharp fast film and a Good spot in the youll be on the Road to getting some decent shots of your favorite of youll also need All the other things a photographer should have a steady a Good Eye most lots of a certain amount of Luck is also say you shoot a Roll of 36 half of the shots might pass at least there in of that five might be All right Good enough for your photo but Only one might be a super where the colors Are just right and the composition perfect the kind youd consider sending to a Rock Here Are some tips that could help you with your concert the camera while snapshot cameras Are easy to carry and simple to use just aim and  bring you far less than the desired the Best youll get is some great shots of the backs of your buddies invest in a interchangeable Singleten reflex sir camera with a Builtin Light with an sir its easier to focus in Lowright situations than with a and theres a greater variety of fast lenses to choose if your camera has a Light meter that can be set on you May think you can Trust the meters but dont forget that at concerts lights come from All which can affect the cameras the automatic setting will work Fine if the lighting is if theres a Strong spotlight and Little other the camera will average Between the spotlight and the dark and can produce a shot like photo use of the manual setting on your automatic camera will allow you to determine the better you should consider getting a motor drive for your with a motor depressing the trigger shoots the advances the film and Cocks the youre ready to take your next photo and you wont miss a Good shot while youre manually advancing the you can set the motor drive either on single Frame advancing the film one Frame at a or on continuous which winds the film for As Long As the trigger is with continuous shooting you can get some interesting sequence but if the lighting is wrong or the focus is youll waste a lot of the lenses the trick to taking lenses to a concert is to bring As few As possible so you wont have any extra choosing those that will give you maximum a zoom Lens in the 70210mm Range is whether youre up front or farther Back from the the is that most zooms Arent fast enough for the Low lights in concert there Are some expensive ones with stops aperture openings As Low As but most have stops of around which Doest let it in very much for most indoor an Stop slower than is next to you have to compensate with a slower shutter which will give you camera or subject As in photo 2 make sure shutter Speed is what it should 3 the right Lens could have made this shot medium telephoto in the 100135mm with stops As Low As Are probably your Best and if you get really close to the a Normal 50mm Lens will be dont try shooting with a Small focal length Lens from any great you wont be Able to identify the performers see photo a Tel converter might come in you can screw these gadgets onto any Type of thereby doubling the size of the youll lose stops As Well As some of the original Lens if you have an assigned seat in the concert Hall that far from the you can use a very powerful Lens such As a but youll have to bring along a tripod and a Cable and Hope nobody gets in your Way while youre taking the wide Angle lenses Are All right for full stage but these photos tend to be its better to aim for tight closeups of the to Flash or not to Flash forget about using a most flashes Arent Strong enough to reach the though there Are some expensive ones available that might do the the harsh lighting Quality you get with a Flash could be flashes bother the musicians in there frowned upon for professional photographers up and there a pain in the eyes for the rest of the other equipment there Are a number of special filters you can use that will turn a blah photo into an exciting starburst filters make spotlights diffuse the Light into neat Little Star and a multiple image filter will get you some interesting that Many filters will decrease the amount of Light reaching the making exposures even More difficult in Lowright How much is enough youve no doubt seen professional concert photographers lugging around huge aluminium camera cases and carrying two or More the reason is that one camera might contain Blacka Edwhite film and the other or one camera might have a telephoto Lens and the other a Normal with the luxury of a photo which allows photographers to hang out in the barred off area Between the stage and the lugging around that much equipment int a but if youre going to be in the thick of the you should travel its difficult enough to use Only one the film choosing the Type of film for your concert photography is a personal if youre interested Only in color prints for mounting on your for a High Speed 400 Asa color negative film is the Way to go for the Low Light situations at indoor concerts or at outdoor festivals at but take the time to find a Good Quality color print the lab technicians can balance the color in the final print with More precision than 8 stripes Magazine