Concerts and the stage

Learning goal

On a dark stage where the light changes every second, you will be able to photograph musicians' faces and moments sharply and readably. You will see why the camera's general metering gets confused on stage, set the exposure not for the stage's darkness but for the musician's face, and hold this setting manually as the light changes. By watching for a few minutes the stage lights' cycle that repeats with the song's rhythm, you will sense in advance the moment when the face is best lit. You will know how saturated single-color lights spoil skin, and especially how they swallow detail on dark skin, and photograph the face at the moments when a natural light falls on it. You will keep to the venue's and the artist's rules, not block the audience's view, and protect your ears.

The question

The hall lights go out and the band formed by the association's young members takes the stage. With the first chord the stage is drowned in red, then suddenly turns blue; a spotlight lights the singer's face for a second and leaves them in darkness again. Each time your friend presses the shutter, a different result appears on the screen: one frame a pure white face, the next a pitch-black stage, another a bright red blotch. The drummer's dark skin has vanished completely in the blue light. How do you shoot at a dark concert?

Context

In the metering modes lesson you saw spot metering, which meters a very small point in the frame and ignores the rest (Lesson 9.2). Working without flash in the dimness of the civil ceremony hall, you found your own ISO limit and left the metering not to the chandeliers but to the bride's and groom's faces (Lesson D.5). And in the gels and colored light lesson you tried how colored lights add mood to a scene (Lesson 19.9).

A concert stage asks for all this knowledge at once and fast. In the ceremony hall the light was dim but steady; on stage, the light is in a director's hands and changes with the song. The musicians move constantly, the light passes from color to color, the audience is between the photographer and the stage. The concert photographer both solves a technical problem and learns to listen to the music's rhythm: the best frames are often at the moments when the light and the music peak at the same time.

Simple explanation

Why does metering get confused on stage?

Most of the stage is dark and the musicians are lit like small, bright islands. Because the camera's general metering looks at the whole frame, it tries to pull the darkness to a middle tone and blows out the faces; or, when a spotlight hits the lens directly, it darkens the whole frame. That is why on stage the exposure isn't left to general metering. The musician's face is metered with spot metering, or the exposure is set manually and corrected by looking at the face over a few frames. As the light changes, the manually set exposure stays fixed; the moments when the face is lit come out correctly exposed, while the dark moments stay dark. This gives a more consistent result than the camera deciding again with every change of light.

Movement is taken into account too. A singer shaking their head or a drummer's arms are fast; many photographers use a short shutter speed, a wide aperture and an ISO up to the limit they found in their own noise test on stage. Sometimes an arm or a guitar neck staying a little blurred tells the movement; this can be a choice, but the face staying sharp is often the backbone of the frame.

How do you read the light's rhythm?

A stage lighting cycle is the repeating pattern of color and brightness of the stage lights over the course of a song. The lights often follow the song's structure: they brighten in the chorus, dim in the quiet parts, and when a solo comes a spotlight turns to one musician. In the first songs, before pressing the shutter, the photographer watches this cycle for a few minutes: at which moment does which light fall on which musician? Once the cycle has been learned, the best moment is waited for and the camera is kept ready for that moment.

A white-light moment is the short moment, among the stage lights, when a white or near-natural light falls on a musician's face. At these moments the skin looks close to its own color and the face's detail reads best. On many stages these moments come at the start of a chorus or at the peak of a solo; a photographer who watches the cycle can sense them.

How is skin protected in colored light?

A monochromatic stage light is a light on stage in which only one saturated color, for example deep blue or red, lights the musicians. This light builds a mood strongly but spoils skin. In saturated red light the sensor's red channel easily blows out and the face turns into a detailless, blotchy red. In deep blue light, on the other hand, dark skin reflects almost no light and merges with the stage's darkness; light skin looks cold and pale. That is why frames in which faces matter are shot, whenever possible, at white-light moments.

Frames shot in monochromatic light also need care in editing. Trying to force the color to neutral often leaves the skin gray and blotchy; a lost channel can't be brought back. Many photographers either leave such frames in the stage's color or turn them into black and white as a conscious choice. What matters is that each of the musicians of different skin tones appears in at least one frame with their face's detail, close to their own tone.

A venue rule is a rule a concert venue or an artist sets for photographers: flash being forbidden, photographers being able to shoot only during certain songs or in a certain area, the audience's view not being blocked. These rules change from venue to venue and from artist to artist; that is why they are asked before the concert. Loud sound is a danger too; many concert photographers use earplugs.

Visual evidence

In the first song your friend shoots with general metering. One frame is a pure white, blown-out face, the next a pitch-black stage. The singer's face in red light is a single-color blotch; in blue light, the drummer's dark skin has vanished in the stage's darkness.

Then they lower the camera and just watch for a whole song. They see that the lights turn white in the chorus, that in the guitar solo a spotlight finds the guitarist, that in the last chorus a warm, near-white light falls on the drummer. They ask the organizer: no flash, and you can stand in front of the stage only during the first three songs. They put their earplugs in.

They fix the exposure manually for the singer's face using spot metering and wait. When the chorus comes and the light turns white, the singer's face is sharp and in its own color. In the last chorus, when the warm light falls on the drummer, their dark skin is detailed, the beads of sweat on their forehead shining. A few frames in red light, on the other hand, they set aside as black and white.

Common mistakes

Summary

At a dark concert the exposure isn't left to general metering; the musician's face is metered with spot metering or the setting is fixed manually, and shutter speed, aperture and ISO are chosen to keep movement and the face sharp. The stage lights' cycle that repeats with the song is watched, faces are shot at white-light moments, it is known that saturated monochromatic light spoils skin, especially dark skin, and each musician is made to appear close to their own tone in at least one frame; the venue's rules are kept and the ears are protected.

Mini assignment

In this assignment you will shoot at a small concert, a school show or an event with colored lights.

1. Ask about the rules, watch the lights for a whole song without pressing the shutter and note the lighting cycle on a piece of paper.
2. Meter a musician's face with spot metering or fix the exposure manually, and shoot at white-light moments.
3. Shoot the same musician in a monochromatic light too; compare the two frames, especially the faces of musicians of different skin tones.

Check yourself

• Did your exposure stay consistent as the light changed?
• Were you able to sense the lighting cycle in advance and wait for the moment?
• Is each musician's face close to their own tone in at least one frame?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. Why does the camera's general metering get confused on stage?

• A) Because the stage is always very bright
• B) Because most of the frame is dark and the musicians are small, bright islands
• C) Because the musicians never move
• D) Because the lens isn't good enough

2. What is the benefit of watching the lighting cycle?

• A) Sensing in advance the moment the face is best lit and waiting for it
• B) Using fewer batteries
• C) Changing the lights
• D) Finishing the concert sooner

3. What happens to dark skin in deep blue monochromatic light?

• A) It looks brighter
• B) It turns red
• C) It can reflect almost no light and merge with the stage's darkness
• D) Nothing happens

4. When are the venue's rules asked about?

• A) After the concert ends
• B) Never
• C) Only if flash will be used
• D) Before the concert

Answers

1. B — General metering pulls the darkness to a middle tone and blows out bright faces.
2. A — Once the cycle is learned, the best moment is waited for and the camera kept ready.
3. C — In blue light, dark skin loses its detail; white-light moments are waited for.
4. D — The rules change with the venue and the artist; asking in advance protects everyone.

Summary card

• No general metering: meter the face with spot metering or fix it manually.
• Short shutter speed, wide aperture, an ISO limit found by testing.
• Watch first: learn the lighting cycle, then shoot.
• White-light moment for faces; skin gets spoiled in monochromatic light.
• Every musician in their own tone in at least one frame.
• Ask about the rules, don't block the audience, protect your ears.

Bridge to the next lesson

The wedding, the association evening and the concert are over; there are eleven memory cards on your friend's desk. More than two thousand frames came out of the wedding alone. The next morning the tea stall's owner calls: "When will the photos be ready?" Your friend doesn't know how to choose from so many frames, how to edit them and how to get them to the family. Delivering 2000 photos in two weeks: is it possible? The next lesson takes up culling, batch editing and the online gallery.