Camera Settings for PERFECT live music, concert photography images // ISO, WB, Metering, AF & More

[@infinityfabric]

I can't help but constantly have my eyes drawn to your majestic cat or to look for it in the corners of the frame when it seems to be gone. Thank you for sharing the video and everything you say in it as well.

[@BostonSchulz]

She's really the highlight of the video, isn't she?? 😆 Thanks for watching - I appreciate the kind words!!

[@justinweier4099]

It took watching 6 videos that provided zero information about actual camera settings to find yours. I really appreciate how you broke this down, and that you provided straight forward information about your camera settings. Thanks so much for putting this together!

[@BostonSchulz]

Ah! I'm so happy you found my video. I felt the same way as well, a lot of people give general ideas about settings but never tell you what theirs are!! I'm super happy this was helpful to you - and I appreciate you watching and commenting!! 📸✨

[@williamm.3981]

Really nice to see you back making Photography videos!! Ironically I was wondering if you were still doing photography videos. I always loved your presentations , your sunny disposition makes it easier to learn tech tips !! Glad to see you and am looking forward to seeing more new content!!! ❤❤🎸📸📫

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you so much for coming back and watching me again!! I'm definitely going to keep trying to put out more videos, and hopefully, I'll be doing some more presentations in LA soon too!!

[@johndonohoe2260]

I found this video just by chance and I'm glad I did. No matter how long you have been doing photography it's always good to learn something new or even a different or better way of doing things. Great video.

[@BostonSchulz]

I appreciate your comment so much!! Thank you for watching; I'm glad you liked the video!!

[@Hipsterhugger]

Good to see you again!!

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you so much!! It's good to be back!! 🥰

[@RawloftheDead]

Glad to see you dropping a new video!!

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you!! I'm gettin' back into it! haha

[@igibbs2000utube]

Good to see your videos again!

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you so much for sticking around!! I always appreciate you watching!!

[@simonevans8810]

brand new to doing some concert photography, got my first gig on saturday so been watching through some of your videos, thanks so much for the advice and help getting going!

[@BostonSchulz]

So excited for you, Simon!! Good luck on your first gig! Please message me on IG (@bostonschulz) - I'd love to see your images after your show!!

[@ericsande5345]

Nice to see you again! All my YT channels have been slowing down on content.

[@BostonSchulz]

Thanks for coming back and watching, Eric!! I'll try to keep some videos going!! Maybe put some fun ones in the mix!! Let me know if there's anything you're dying to see -- coming up with content ideas is hard (lol).

[@DJVasC]

Thanks a lot, Boston. I have to take some pictures tomorrow of an orchestra as a good-willing amateur. 😇 This will help a lot. Greetz from The Netherlands.

[@BostonSchulz]

I'm so happy to help!! I have my fingers crossed that your shoot went well! Best of luck to you!!!

[@DJVasC]

@@BostonSchulz I’m pretty happy with the results. I used the 85mm lens most of the time and your tips off course 📸

[@michaelelliott4975]

Thank you for your lessons on exposure. I’ve photographed a number of Y&T shows over the years, and had some really great results. But recently saw a RUSH tribute band and the lighting was all over the place. Needless to say I threw out everything I took, so this info will go a long way towards improving my photos. Thanks

[@BostonSchulz]

Hey Michael, thanks for watching & commenting! Always love hearing about if my settings give insight & help!! I've definitely been at shows where I've had to throw out almost everything, but they're such a good learning experience!! Having a good default base to settings can be incredibly helpful and then you can adjust from there - as everything depends on your venue and the band you're photographing. This is where things like Auto ISO can help you...you can note what your camera is normally recommending for that setting and then try that in your manual settings next time. Hope your next show is amazing!!

[@mleachphoto]

An amazing video from a legend!!!

[@BostonSchulz]

You're so kind!! Thank you!! 😎

[@thomastarner8683]

Nikon shooter too, I'm going to try out the WB setting. I'm normally shoot in auto and haven't had much of an issue. But if it helps I'll do it!!!

[@hanumanguy]

Thanks so much Boston, great tips. I was most interested in your single shot v burst mode comments. Burst mode certainly can increase the chances of getting the perfect moment but it quickly becomes tiresome in post. I do street photography also and there is similar dilemma, to burst or not to burst. I am going to try shooting some concerts with just single shot. I am mostly just shooting local gigs for fun so nothing to lose.

[@BostonSchulz]

I love hearing this! I would absolutely recommend testing it. If it doesn't work for you, yes, then stick with burst. I completely get wanting to catch that moment, but I find myself focusing more and shooting with intent when I'm on single shot. Also, I feel like I miss focus a lot with burst, so it's even more tedious going through all those images in post and not having most of them even be usable!! Let me know how it goes when you try it!!

[@hanumanguy]

@@BostonSchulz Very helpful. Thanks for your kind reply.

[@ericsande5345]

I don't have any modern DSLRs but used to have an 85mm f/1.8 and tried photographing musician friends. 1.8 was not my friend - still had to stop down a bit, underexpose and do a little work on the computer. As a musician myself I've worked venues with photos on the wall well before digital was king and have NO idea how the film photos look so good.

[@BostonSchulz]

People who shot film were magicians, and I don't think anyone will be able to convince me otherwise! 😆

[@bigbrownmab189]

Keep rockin stay blessed !!

[@BostonSchulz]

Thanks so much for watching & your kind words!!

[@thomastarner8683]

I like to lock my control dials/wheels after I my shutter speed and aperture are set, and then simply ride my ISO up or down to get exposure right. I will not the shutter or aperture till the next shoot. I constantly bump the selection dials while moving around the pit and use to get my settings all out of whack. So locking them going through the (pencil menu) Custom Settings Menu "F4" on the Z9 and "F3" on the D850 to lock them or disable the front and back selection wheels on the bodies. I do it for every show now and haven't had the issue with my setting getting messed up since.

[@ericsande5345]

Would love to see you discuss making a living as a photographer. It's one of the great mysteries out there. Nobody wants to talk about negotiating fees, copyright ownership, etc. I'm a semi-professional trumpet player with a "day job" because there's not enough work in Las Vegas anymore.

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you for the suggestion!! I feel like there are so many different ways of making money as a photographer that it's hard to summarize all of them. But I can definitely make a video on how I do it!! Thank you for watching and commenting, Eric!!

[@ericsande5345]

Hi - I came back to this comment because there are many good musicians and photographers out there that give their effort away and it's frustrating. There are people in the upstairs offices of the PAC where I work that make $250,000-$500,000/year and they're not even there 8 hours per day M-F. It's frustrating being a person that can create art and be at the bottom rung of the pay scale.

[@RoseyLand]

Thanks for this great video 😊

[@BostonSchulz]

Thanks so much for watching!!

[@CptCoitus]

Thank you! I've been struggling with my band photos lately and I will try your settings in the future. And is that a Shaun Cassidy album in the back?

[@BostonSchulz]

I hope they work for you! Best of luck!! 📸✨ And it's a Tom Petty vinyl cover!!

[@jo_buchanan]

Thanks for the info in the most simplest way for someone like myself who is just starting out freelancing at gigs. I have only done 2 gigs so far and i was tbinking my photos looked bright and sharp on the camera led but when i got home and checked them out on my laptop, they were dark, they had dark shadow stripes gowing through the image. Could this have been helped if i had put the lens hood on? I am using a camera new to me and learning as i go along. It's a Sony a7iii with a tamron 28-75mm lens. Any advice would be appreciated if anyone has used tbis camera on settings for harsh lighting, etc. Also, i was advised by someone to turn on shutter noise as i turned it off as i didn't want fans etc hearing me press multiple times, click click click. So i have it off, so I can't use a mechanical shutter. Because im building my confidence also being in the pit around other photographers, i dont want to be the noisy one.

[@zetacrucis681]

I thought Nikon full-frames going back to D600 (my main camera) or maybe even earlier are pretty much ISO invariant from about ISO 800 up, so you can brighten them in post with no penalty and also preserve more highlights by shooting at lower ISO (as long as it's not lower than 800). That seems to be the case in my limited experience, but I'll have to do some more rigorous tests with my camera to see if I've been mistaken, because this lady's photos are no joke, completely on another level.

[@BostonSchulz]

This is so interesting - I've never heard this. Thank you for telling me - I'm going to do some testing on this too!! I'm pretty confident in saying that adding 'exposure' in post will add more grain than properly exposing in camera with a high ISO. But now I wanna do a true test of this. I appreciate your comment and kind words. 📸✨

[@hanumanguy]

@@BostonSchulz Some swear by "ISO invariance" but I am not convinced with tests I did. Obviously depends on the camera. Also with mirrorless if you underexpose too much, you can't even see what you are shooting in the EVF or backscreen or see what you shot on the back screen.

[@amoricanseth8320]

any tips for videographers? anything to say about lens selection?

[@BostonSchulz]

Since I don't do a lot of video work, I wouldn't want to speak on any recommendation there. But most of my video work that I do is just handheld with my 24 - 70. ✨

[@chrisw443]

great video!

[@BostonSchulz]

Thank you so much for watching, Chris!!

[@CarlosAlvarGonzalez]

HI, great info. What settings you recomend on shooting concerts with led screens, for them to look good and without stripes. Thx

[@BostonSchulz]

Hi Carlos! There's not an easy settings fix for that as my understanding is LED lights are all going to be different from one light / show to the next. Do you have a DSLR or mirrorless camera? Which camera are you working with? Do you have the option to switch it to mechanical shutter in those situations?

[@kai_san_live]

Shooting in a lot of super dark venues, having the aperture as wide open as possible helps but it's less than ideal when trying to get multiple subjects in focus. Then again, I started on a f4 24-120mm so I'm used to making up for it with higher ISO. Don't think I ever took anything I liked at f1.4 so I"m thinking I should have just gotten the f1.8 50mm instead... Definitely not a fan of shooting at a lower ISO and "fixing things later" because I like being able to see what I took right away in case I need to change the settings. Can't comprehend using like ISO 400 for an indoor basement venue.

[@ericsande5345]

I've tried taking photos of musician friends with an 85mm f/1.8 and you really can't shoot wide open. I've found that the main advantage to 1.4/1.8 lenses is that by f/4 your getting into the sharp zone.

[@BostonSchulz]

Agreed! I don't think I've ever taken a concert shot at f1.4 and liked it. But I have taken a ton at f1.8 that I've loved...but I think my 1.4 lens is sharper at 1.8 than my 1.8 lens was at 1.8, so at least there's that. And definitely - if trying to capture more than one individual in an image, the fastest I'll go is 2.8, and with that, I know one of them is going to be blurry. I've definitely heard from people 'scared' to crank up the ISO trying to shoot a dark venue at 320 ISO and asking for help fixing their images. It happens - someone somewhere must have taught ISO as a dirty word. 😂 Thanks for watching and commenting!! I appreciate it!!

[@BostonSchulz]

@ericsande5345 - I've definitely shot concerts at f1.8!! I'm mostly just focused on one individual (instead of interactions or a group), but I haven't had any artists complain about those images and I definitely needed the extra light. It's doable, just depends on the style of shot you're looking for!

[@neilholmes152]

for me, aperture used would depend on what distance to subject is and what depth of field I want. shooting a full band with all in shot from next to the stage would need even f8 sometimes. fast lenses for shooting individual or maybe two musicians but for anything more isn't 1.8 too shallow?

[@BostonSchulz]

@@neilholmes152 Absolutely! Once you're comfortable with all your settings, moving up to f8 to get everyone in focus is a great idea if it's possible! That being said, I definitely shoot a lot of bands on stage together at f2.8 and have never had an issue with it. But most of the time if I'm shooting at f1.8, it's when I'm isolated on one person. Let me see if I can dig up some examples!!

[@lenaf4657]

I can't use my camera with a concert lights on any other shitter but 1/60 because of the lights flickering 😭 and even then it sneaks through sometimes. Even going by 60, 120 and so on in theory has to help, but on practice it's so much worse than 1/60. I can't find enough information about it. I'm in a more provincial place and that's the lights small venues have

[@petekutheis3822]

HAve to do 8000 in the almost no lighting clubs here in the ATX.

[@BostonSchulz]

ISO of 8000 is totally fine. If your images look grainy and you want to reduce it, I swear that Lightroom's Denoise AI works wonders. But yes, these settings are just a "starting point" and you'll have to adjust for each unique setting, but they're what I recommend as a baseline. Your baseline is different than mine! I do get lucky with most of my venues.

[@Denden-mx9gl]

my Apperture is 1.7, shutterspeed is 400 to 500 then Auto ISO. Is that alright? I get some good results but I'm wondering if it's right and I also want to improve.

[@BostonSchulz]

I would recommend going full manual and getting used to how those three play together. If you need more light, you might even want to turn down your shutter speed. In this video, my normal rec for shutter is 1/250 unless your band is SUPER fast.

[@BostonSchulz]

You can see my full list of "starting" settings here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3XaqYybfdVoq6Msi=r-UGV0w1NhjvkL2U&t=1436

[@sonderbass]

If you decide to use Auto ISO, I’d put a cap on the maximum ISO you are willing to accept. Otherwise, you’ll start shooting at ISO 25k in some dark settings which most would find less than ideal. I recommend manual as well, but I personally set my maximum allowed at 6400 ISO if I decide to use Auto

[@Denden-mx9gl]

@@BostonSchulz I used to do this but it was a hassle so I was experimenting with Auto ISO and it seems to be better, I started to experiment on this when I saw an post by nikon that you should use Auto ISO when shooting with constant change of light. out of 4 thousands pictures I took one event, there's only 3 pictures with over exposure.

[@Denden-mx9gl]

​@@sonderbassyes I shoot in manual, only the ISO is set to manual. I do shoot with manual ISO when I was on DSLR and I really find this as a hassle, sometimes I miss some nice moments just by changing the ISO. I tried Auto ISO with my old DSLR before and noticed a lot of pictures were overexposed, but now I am using a mirrorless and noticed the pictures are really decent. After reading your comment I went to investigate on my photos and saw that the highest ISO it shot was 1600, I don't shoot night photography with Auto, I shoot them with Manual so I should monitor my auto ISO again for gigs. I used Auto ISO on 3 gigs already after my initial comment so I'll still keep in mind of your comment regarding with ISO capping. If I notice a frequent really high ISO, I'll set a cap. Thanks on this.

[@TechnikMeister2]

If you record the music, its a breach of copyright. Specially if its posted on a KZbin channel thats monetized.

[@BostonSchulz]

Hey Steve! What’s this in reference to? I don’t talk about video settings or recording music in this video. Let me know if I’m missing something!

[@TechnikMeister2]

@@BostonSchulz If you download a video of someone performing, and play it on your channel, and you are getting paid by KZbin for views, then you are in breach of the performers copyright and you have to pay a royalty back to them.

[@BostonSchulz]

@@TechnikMeister2 I understand that. How does that pertain to this video or my channel? My apologies, I don't understand why you're telling me about this. I just want to make sure I'm not missing something?

[@colinreidcr]

ayoooo

[@BostonSchulz]

LET'S GOOOOO!

[@Kinadnuf]

Cheers love, thanks 👍

[@BostonSchulz]

Happy to help!! 📸✨

[@LucaAppertiPhotography]

Hi there, i hope you well! Thanks for the video! Which nikon z are you using? Suggestion to the world! Do not use the auto area af people for concerts😂🫣

[@BostonSchulz]

I use the Nikon Z6ii right now! 📸 Auto Focus and letting your camera choose your settings for you -- it will hurt you more often than it helps!! (At least in my opinion... 😂)

[@LucaAppertiPhotography]

@BostonSchulz I'm using the same. Big jump from the D70S to Z6ii. Yes did hurt me already and learned my lesson