1. Originally posted by sparko:at least, in London I stood on some kind of platform, and it was only us photographers for these few minutes up on that platform, the other guests sat aside on the barrierer backside and waited or were standing around us, on the ground. on my right there was the VIP area, just like 2-3 feet away, Noel was there (second London)
    You need a tele lens, on full frame I had my 70-200 and I wished I had more already in the first spot. Still, the 70 were good from the second spot to get the full stage and screen.

    Light is horrible on the first two songs, exactly for that reason of press photographers. I had a Canon 5D Mark II (and Canon L 2.8 lens) and it was almost not good enough. You really need a very good DSLR with damn good high ISO performance, which is also very fast. Shoot RAW format.
    I tried serial shots all the time, most of the time I read BUSY on my display.

    I'd love to give it another shot with my new cameras. But I guess u2com won't give me another photo pass for fun. (I was the "test rabbit" for "we give photo passes to fansites and see what happens")

    If you get a pass, you will meet at least an hour before actual show begin, leave everything outside the floor door (jacket, bags etc, a dedicated security watches over them) and will wait at the first spot then. You will not be able to see the rest of the show (though they tried to bring us in watching upstairs, but security didn't want people standing there), they have no storage for equipment, doesn't matter if you have a ticket. You would need to store your stuff away yourself.

    Everything was acceptable until I got to the end. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!
  2. Photo Passes are for the Press. Simple as that. For photographers doing their job for simple press reviews.
    You must not have any photoartistic expectations to your photos, they work hard to disturb the shots with bad light when you are close to the stage.
    As a fan, hoping for THESE SPECIAL PHOTOS, it's nothing.

    The press has their spots, at U2 you are lucky having two of them, then they will be accompanied outside. If you have a ticket, the best case is, someone is waiting at the door to grab your bag, then you can reenter and see the rest. But you will even miss a lot between the two spots, you will hear it, but not see it.

    Buy a very good compact or small Bridge camera, that is allowed, at best with a RAW format option (Canon, Panasonic), try finding a nice spot and you will have the better pictures in the end, when you start photoing after the first two songs.
    Try manual settings with higher ISO like 800, short time (not longer than 1/60) and the widest aperture the camera can meet. This will give you better pictures and more authentic pictures, because after the press, U2 start acting for their fans.
    Between the songs, Larry looked over and looked into every single photo lens he could spot. Dunno if he does that usually or if he did that by knowing, there was a fan too.

    The best thing about all of that was, I met Sebastian Clayton, who is an amazing guy.
  3. Originally posted by sparko:Photo Passes are for the Press. Simple as that. For photographers doing their job for simple press reviews.
    You must not have any photoartistic expectations to your photos, they work hard to disturb the shots with bad light when you are close to the stage.
    As a fan, hoping for THESE SPECIAL PHOTOS, it's nothing.

    The press has their spots, at U2 you are lucky having two of them, then they will be accompanied outside. If you have a ticket, the best case is, someone is waiting at the door to grab your bag, then you can reenter and see the rest. But you will even miss a lot between the two spots, you will hear it, but not see it.

    Buy a very good compact or small Bridge camera, that is allowed, at best with a RAW format option (Canon, Panasonic), try finding a nice spot and you will have the better pictures in the end, when you start photoing after the first two songs.
    Try manual settings with higher ISO like 800, short time (not longer than 1/60) and the widest aperture the camera can meet. This will give you better pictures and more authentic pictures, because after the press, U2 start acting for their fans.
    Between the songs, Larry looked over and looked into every single photo lens he could spot. Dunno if he does that usually or if he did that by knowing, there was a fan too.

    The best thing about all of that was, I met Sebastian Clayton, who is an amazing guy.
    Ah, alright, I had misunderstood your previous post and I thought they wouldn't let you back in whatsoever, despite having a ticket. Now I see you meant they won't let you back in with your camera gear, which is a very understandable condition if you ask me.

    I have been taking pics in press pits for years and big international acts usually ask you to hand in your pro gear at the venue's lockers once the first 3 songs end and you're asked to leave the pit. I agree that it's a pity to miss a significant part of the show during that process, but that comes as a part of the photo hobby/job I guess.
  4. The problem with shooting in RAW is that the frames per second rate drops quite a bit, except on high end bodies (1Dx etc etc).

    I've had really good results with my Canon G7X (high-ish end compact) shooting JPGs in continuous mode (about 10fps), aperture priority, auto shutter speed and auto ISO.
  5. Hmmmm, really. I thought you might have problems with auto shutter speed. As Sparko said any shutter speed slower than 1/60 (at least) will produce unacceptable blur. While auto ISO can produce unacceptable noise (camera dependant). Most importantly for me, is overexposure. Are you adjusting exposure compensation? I usually shoot concerts in manual mode, but if I'm shooting in anything else, I adjust exposure compensation to -2EV at least. -3EV if the camera will allow. Otherwise too many shots are blown out, due to the contrast between the intense lighting on band members, & the very dark background. Dialling exposure compensation down will quicken shutter speed & reduce ISO, if these have been left on auto.

    Of course it's very dependant on where you're shooting from, & what you're shooting. Photographing band members from very close will be quite different from shooting screen visuals from quite far away.
  6. +1. Auto shutter and auto ISO are for taking picnic photos, not for concert photography which is features changing enviroments and is overall among the hardest types of photography. Changing light conditions, people bumping against you, quickly moving subjects... All factors play against you. Leaving anything in auto is just a blatant mistake, more so if we talk about shutter speed.
  7. For concert photography, it's better to choose a fixed speed and let the camera do the rest - if you have a high end camera like the latest DSLR Pro Generation and at least 2.8 Lenses. I would not try this with a compact camera, these have much different algorythms for pictures. Concert photography is some kind of the highest art for the technology - it needs speed, fast reaction and it has sometimes very low light. I do everything manual, except the focus but here you also have sometimes bad chances with a amateur or mid range camera. I started that phototopic with a Canon 300D and so I really embrace the new technologies I have now.

    The SPEED of FPS does not differ between RAW and JPG. That pretty much depends on a high end processor and a VERY FAST memory card. The only difference is, the pause on RAW comes earlier, like after 30 pics with my 1DX, with JPG I probably wouldn't notice a pause. Really, in a concert, you do not need 50 frames in a row. You might need that for sports events. For a concert, 10-20 are really enough, then you look for a different view, motive or angle.

    With RAW you have a HUGE (!) reserve if the picture is overexposed. I had a pic of Adam, with a white spot on his head an face - he was like a bright white balloon. I pulled down the exposure during RAW development and tadaaa he had a face! You will NEVER have this option with a JPG because that information is never stored, but it is stored in a RAW File (thus why it's 10 times bigger). I shot them with a 5D2 back then.
    Of course, on a compact cam, the reserve is smaller, still there is more information than in the JPG.
    With the NIK Collection from Google (for free available for Adobe programs) you can also denoise amazingly well without disturbing details, the camera would just swallow because it also softens the pictures which does not happen with the NIK Filter.
  8. really get to know your camera. just copying someone else's settings probably won't give you the desired results...

    but yeah, I'd NEVER suggest shooting in jpeg instead of raw you can just as well throw away your memory card, if you do...
  9. Well, my post has started a healthy debate I see !

    I do normally shoot with between -1 and -2 EV using the settings I posted earlier, and I would normally NEVER shoot in JPG but I do get a higher FPS rate on my camera when I do. I will give RAW a try at some of the shows on the upcoming tour though.

    At the end of the day, the settings I use give me a good balance between enjoying the show and getting good photos without having to change camera settings all the time.

    I would love to be able to take my "proper" bodies and lenses into a show, but that's not going to happen, so I'll make do with my G7X. I'm happy with the results and that's the main thing.