I’ve been shooting shows for about a year.. and for a long time I was really hesitant to shoot manual.. I was just afraid I’d totally destroy every shot..

I only have a D80 which is an oldy and used to shoot pretty much like you.. but the more I learned about the camera the more I knew I need to change my shooting style… The d80 pretty much maxes out about 800ISO without introducing too much noise.. and if I meter with Matrix at a show I can pretty much be guaranteed my highlights will be destroyed.
So I set my camera a ISO800, center weighted metering, next I usually just set my lens to f2.8 … I pretty much leave all these setting alone for the whole show..
and the only thing I tweek is the shutter speed..
The more I thought about this and what Todd says about manual shooting I thought if this is the way to do it, I need to try to learn it..

So I started by shooting just opening acts using manual.. and often destroyed most of the images.. I got a couple lucky ones.. but just by doing that it taught me not to be afraid.. I’d normally switch back to shutter priority when the main band came on.. I was just too freaked out that I wouldn’t get anything in manual..

But more and more I’m getting comfortable with Manual mode.. yes, there are times when I totally destroy many images..I use my shot review on my camera to see how bad I blew some highlight out and try to adjust accordingly … yes it does slow your shooting down, and it make you have to think more.. but slowly I’m getting better at interpreting my shot and how it’ll look… I’m sure it’ll take me 100 years to really get this down, but.. every journey starts with a single step…right?

All this to say.. shoot manual with the opening bands and it’ll help get rid of the paranoia :-) and if you keep at it, before you know it you’ll shoot everything in manual.. (I’m telling myself this too.. I’m still not there yet, but getting closer)..

maybe that helps?

For me, ISO is determined by the image quality of the camera. Shutter speed depends on the movement of the band – it really depends on the situation. Focal length is also going to inform what shutter speeds might be best.

How do you go about deciding exactly what ISO to use, as well as shutter speed? I typically keep my D700 on Auto ISO and a minimum shutter speed of 1/100 and then use Aperture Priority Mode. I’m reluctant to switch to Manual, simply because I’m not yet skilled enough in terms of knowing or accurately choosing ISO and Shutter speed.

Thanks!

Jake

My next show is an acoustic one at the end of the month.. I will certainly have to try my hand at shooting the crown and venue.. thanks again for all the time you spend on us here!