AboutLawrence Marshall Expertise Can answer questions about many areas.Portaiture,Glamour,Landscapes,Live rock bands, Publicty, Editorial and Fine Art Photography. B&W exposure,processing and printing and the materials involved.Toning and dying B&W materials,especially the Colorvir process.Using High contrast ortho film.Intaglio printmaking.Presentation of Photographs.Exhibiting Photography.Photographing Paintings and other two dimensional Art.
Experience Thirty years experience. Freelance work in Editorial,Publicity, Portraiture,Landscape,Rock and Roll, Weddings in 6x6 and 35mm. Black and white processing, printing and toning.Intaglio printing and the Colorvir system of toners and dyes for B&W prints.
Organizations Western Australian College of Teaching. Saatchi Gallery (London). Art Gallery Australia.
Publications Western Review
Education/Credentials Certificate in Photography. Bachelor of Arts Degree,Diploma in Education.Giving regular One day Workshops in Photography in Western Australia. Various seminars in film-based Photography.Registered and practising Secondary teacher
I am using a Canon AE-1 with a Cimko MT Series lens. f= 28-50mm and Kodak 400 speed film. My first attempt at shooting my friends' gig was a bit of a disaster. I tried one of each aperture setting with various combinations of exposure settings, 8, 4, and 2. Almost everything was very blurry and I just couldnt seem to find that magical equation. Should I be using a lens with a larger aperture, faster film, explore using a flash, what would you suggest?
Many Thanks!
Christina
Answer Hello Christina,
Thanks for your question. Photographing Live Bands can be tricky. You need a fairly high shutter speed to arrest movement but are limited by the amount of light.
I don't know what lights you or the band had on stage and that can be a crucial factor.I have done live bands with 320 ISO.The minimum shutter speed was 1/30 sec.
Assuming there are more than 2 lights on stage,you could try shooting when the lights are white or yellow. This will allow exposures with some certainty.The more lights,the better your prospects are.If there is a good bank of stage lights ( say 6 )x 250 watts, the better your chances.
Another option is to use flash, provided those involved don't mind being blinded, and the flash has a Guide number of 45 or better.You will still need to be around 10 feet away to have a real effect.( Check the distance/aperture calculator on the flash).
You could also increase the Iso setting from 400 to 800 and tell the laboratory to develop for longer.This is tricky because the film grain will increase and there may also be a colour shift.
Using faster lenses may only have a marginal effect.
Your best options may be to work with the lights or use flash.
