5 Tips To Make Your Music Photography Better | Fstoppers

© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3s, f/2.8 at 1/400 sec, ISO-2500Lens: 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR

With Music Festival season now in full swing, right now is a great time to experiment and take some awesome photographs. Prize winning photographer and Nikon user, Morten Rygaard has 5 tips for making your music photographs better. 



Tip #1 Be ready for the unexpected. Know what kind of stage the band might perform on. Watch them live on Youtube before you go.© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3s, f/2.8 at 1/400 sec, ISO-2500 [Buy it] [Rent it]
Lens: 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR
Tip #2 Be selective. Focus on one performer at a time to capture raw emotion and energy.© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3, f/2.8 at 1/320 sec, ISO-1000 [Buy it]
Lens: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
Tip #3 Find the perfect settings. At most concerts you’ll have to set your ISO at a minimum of 800. Sure, you’ll get noise at higher ISO’s but it’s better than a poorly lit photo. Your aperture needs to be at f2.8 or lower. At f1.8 more light will enter the camera allowing you to use a faster shutter speed. This also means you have to be very accurate with your focus. Morton usually sets his shutter speed at 1/125 second or higher. For hand held photography: use the reciprocal of your focal length as a guide. If you are shooting at 200mm, then shoot at 1/200 second faster for sharp images.© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3X, f/4 at 1/800 sec, ISO-1600 [Buy it] [Rent it]
Lens: 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR NIKKOR [Rent it]
Tip #4 No Flash – more or less. Flash ruins the stage lights plus if you’re far away from the band then it wouldn’t help anyway.© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3, f/3.5 at 1/400 sec, ISO-4000 [Buy it]
Lens: 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR
Tip #5 wear earplugs! If you get the chance to get up close, you’ll want a few pairs.© Morten Rygaard. Image taken with a Nikon D3X, f/2.8 at 1/400 sec, ISO-250 [Buy it] [Rent it]
Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR


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