Ideal Camera settings for Gig and Theatre photography

In this video I offer Five Top Tips for setting up your camera ready to take photos at gigs, at theatres, your kid's nativity play, your mate's stand-up comedy routine, and other live events that are oftentimes dark, have strobing lights, changing colours, and moving people. The settings maximise the light taken into the camera so you can capture crisp images of bands, actors, singers, etc.

Special thanks to Stageworks for allowing me to take pictures of their shows, and also there are pictures of Paul Weller, Marah, Jesse Malin, KT Tunstall.

Music
Composed and performed by Adam Mason
Music

My Camera Gear:
Canon 5D mkII
Canon 5D mkI
Canon EF 24-105mm, f4.0,
Canon EF 50mm 1.4
Fujifilm XT3
Fujifilm X-Pro1
Fujifilm XF 10-24mm, f4.0
Fujifilm XF 18mm, 2.2
Fujifilm XF 35mm, 1.4
MeFOTO Travel tripod with ball head
Velbon Ultra 353 Mini Q with ball head
HoldFast MoneyMaker dual strap
Peak design straps (Slide and Slide Lite) and clips
Lee filters for ND and grad filters
Rode VideoMicro
Purple Panda Lav mic

[dawnjane]

Gonna be taking pictures of a musical today. I’ll be sure to use all the tips from this video

[TheBenjaminBrowning]

I shoot manual with auto iso. I keep 1/160s when there’s more movement on stage. When I select a slower shutter speed when there’s very little movement, the camera automatically lowers the iso and results in cleaner images. Auto iso = one less variable to deal with when there’s already loads going on in front of you.

[thewildybeast]

Fantastic seeing Jesse Malins. A very good mate of mine did his sound for a number of years

[JoanaPinto]

Great advice! I’m gonna go shoot a dance show for the first time and this was helpful

[jams]

Found this really interesting, had not thought of setting the camera up and then excepting that some will be over exposed and others under. Guess that is better then looking down at your camera to adjust and play then missing the action. Thanks for sharing.

[lafamiglia]

😊 thanks. It helped me a lot. I was confused between noise and speed. And answer is raw. Noise can be reduced but speed can't. So, thanks again. 😍😍😍

[tetianaomelchenko]

Hello, thank you for these tips! Do you use tripod when shooting a speaker on the stage ?

[splitzkeyz]

This great advice and I thank you. I was, however, looking for VIDEO as opposed to stills… my search continues. The room is dark… the wide image is perfect.., then the spotlight hits the soloist on full and the main subject is blown out to irrecoverable white…😢

[Youronechannel]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing. I’m just an starting photographer for theatre. Oh boy it’s challenging 😰

[spynolimits]

Thanks for your video. What about WB?
Also AF in single shot or continuous mode?

[tktk_gaming]

What about White Balance ? Do you recommend Auto for this or is there a manual setting you utilize?

[operatigger]

I shoot with a Canon 80D, and when I do theater/dance photography I shoot in Shutter Priority so I can set the shutter speed, especially in dance, and will then dial in some exposure compensation. I've tried shooting in full manual mode, but unless the stage lights are bright and don't change, rarely does that happen, then there's no way I can shoot in manual and get a good picture.

[smcuni]

I've just 'shot' Imelda May in concert and as you say challenging and changing light conditions throughout, BUT in addition to your excellent suggestions, I also used high speed multi-frame shots; my camera is a fairly basic Sony A6000 but is able to shoot at 10fps and using a relatively low ISO of 1600 and speed of 1/80, got great results. keep up the great work.

[dramamamafive]

Really great practical tips! I appreciate the advice to set up the camera and then shoot, shoot, shoot, knowing that some photos will be culled out. Much preferable to squinting at the camera in the dark, trying to change settings with the stage changes. THANK YOU!!!

[tedwards]

Legend mate saved me for my first theatre gig!

[samsam]

Thanks so much for these tips Keith, I've always had my shutter on 1/800 which has probably been way too fast all that time!
How do you deal with the shutter sound? I alway worry it will distract the performers, as my Sonay A6000 doesn't have a quiet setting :(

[SedaliaFlyt]

Nice video, thanks. What about filming a dance performance? Specifically a ballet performance in low light with multiple dancers on stage. Video settings and lens recommendations? I’m using a Sony a7iii. Thanks!

[nunocalcadabastos]

oh and aperture stick to 4 is wide enough since you using auto iso it willimprove your focus

[richardmcneill]

Thanks for publishing this video, it has been very useful. I have started shooting for our local theatre group, but need to upgrade my camera, as With maximum aperture, iso 1600, I struggle to get a shutter speed faster than 1/15. This gives be some great shots (about 10%) and a lot of movement blur. I’ve always liked the EOS cameras, and am considering a M50 Mark II, the M200, M6 Model II (in that order). Will these all be suitable or is this an alternative. I am price sensitive so an RP or R not an option for me!!! Thanks In advance. Richard

[dingbat]

The X-T3 has a very useful feature that allows you to set Auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed requirement - so you can shoot in Aperture priority with AUTO ISO set to a minimum of 1/250 and max ISO of 6400 for example. It will still drop the shutter below the selected minimum if it can't raise ISO any higher but you can see what it is doing. Great feature that is also very useful when shooting action shots too.