Hey I'm sort of a beginner in the photography field, and I just have a few questions. Today I took photos for this band, :p and they came out horrible! All of them were blurry, even when I used flash. (they came out worse when I used flash) Anyone have any good tips, tricks, advice on what camera to use and what setting?
Also I always find it hard to take photos at night, they come out pitch black on my camera, I use a FujiFilm, it's an okay camera, I can only get good pictures if there's a lot of light. But I want to take photos of the moon so badly, but it just comes out as a white blurry ball, how do you capture the moon on a camera/ what camera is good for that type of stuff?
@bradleynovak@agima Not meaning to insult any one. Just using wrong terminology. I simply meant I couldn't get these kinds of shots to have what I thought the color should be.
For concerts Fast Glass. It is heavy and expensive, but for concerts you need it. Definitely skip the flash, it is usually a large area you would want to light up and a flash on the camera isn't going to cut it. Crank up the ISO. There is a good chance chance that it will be noisy if you don't have a newer camera, but sometime that grainy/noisy style can look cool. And if the choice is a shot with grain or no shot then that is an easy choice.
If you can't get the fast lens or the noise is too bad try to grab the shots when the lights are on the performers. Also try to catch them while they are still.
The Moon: The moon is a lot brighter than you realize. Your camera is trying to meter so the average of the overall scene is 18% grey. The little ball of light barely adds anything to the overall black scene so the moon ends up WAY over exposed. My best moon shot was with a f11 lens and 1/320 of a second. My camera in auto would have wanted the lens all the way open and a second or two of exposure.
@agima Not intentionally. I do very little editing to what I shoot. I usually crop. Sometimes with PSE10 I use the auto levels. On a rare occasion I do something else. Here is the original image (sized for upload). The edit I put up on here was a lot lighter, grainier and cropped.
@scarletbegonias Hi Marissa, I have a Fujifilm camera too, this is my best moon shot (& after a couple of bottles of wine ;) ) I've often found once you have the focus, shooting with the flash on can help too.
@scarletbegonias Fast telephoto glass and high ISO are the answer for concerts - those lenses are very expensive and heavy but that is what it takes to get the job done. Forget on-camera flash, it won't work.
For moon shots, all you need to do is spot meter the moon. Then use a tripod, the longest lens you have and a remote shutter release. Here is my supermoon shot.
Concerts are tough to shoot. You have to deal with low light, constant stage light changes, the performers moving all around, etc. The above advice is sound. I'll just add -- shoot a LOT! You may get one great shot out of 20 crappy ones, but that one good one will be worth it.
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In short you need a camera that can handle high ISO and you need a lens that is fast - ie. F2.8 or lower.
Here is one that I took the other month.
The moon is not that difficult, just treat it as if you were shooting a street light.
I will be looking for more tips on this type of photography.
If you can't get the fast lens or the noise is too bad try to grab the shots when the lights are on the performers. Also try to catch them while they are still.
The Moon: The moon is a lot brighter than you realize. Your camera is trying to meter so the average of the overall scene is 18% grey. The little ball of light barely adds anything to the overall black scene so the moon ends up WAY over exposed. My best moon shot was with a f11 lens and 1/320 of a second. My camera in auto would have wanted the lens all the way open and a second or two of exposure.
Thanks.
For moon shots, all you need to do is spot meter the moon. Then use a tripod, the longest lens you have and a remote shutter release. Here is my supermoon shot.
Here are a few recent ones I took: