Advice for taking concert pics

I have a Nikon Coolpix 990 and am planning to take it to a 4-day outdoor
concert next week. I have used it in the past and have gotten great
pictures during the daytime but once it gets dark, the quality goes way
down. Most pictures are too dark. I'm not an expert on the camera but I do
know how to adjust most of the settings. What settings would you suggest I
try to adjust in order to capture better pictures with those conditions? My
seats are in row 15 this year so I am really hoping to get some good
pictures.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

taking pictures at a concert with a point and shoot camera is pretty much a
hit or miss deal. you really need a DSLR, shoot at around ISO800@60 - or
better yet get a good spot meter



"Jeff Marcum" wrote in message
...
I have a Nikon Coolpix 990 and am planning to take it to a 4-day outdoor
concert next week. I have used it in the past and have gotten great
pictures during the daytime but once it gets dark, the quality goes way
down. Most pictures are too dark. I'm not an expert on the camera but I
do
know how to adjust most of the settings. What settings would you suggest
I
try to adjust in order to capture better pictures with those conditions?
My
seats are in row 15 this year so I am really hoping to get some good
pictures.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

"Jeff Marcum" wrote in message
...
I have a Nikon Coolpix 990 and am planning to take it to a 4-day outdoor
concert next week. I have used it in the past and have gotten great
pictures during the daytime but once it gets dark, the quality goes way
down. Most pictures are too dark. I'm not an expert on the camera but I
do
know how to adjust most of the settings. What settings would you suggest
I
try to adjust in order to capture better pictures with those conditions?
My
seats are in row 15 this year so I am really hoping to get some good
pictures.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm by no means an expert, but I do go to my fair share of concerts, and I
try to take pictures whenever they are allowed (and sometimes even when they
aren't). The few tidbits of information I've written below don't always
apply in every circumstance.

Take LOTS of pictures. Use the flash if/when you can - yes it ruins the
"natural" lighting, but then at least the picture will have a good chance of
coming out sharp. Also use stage lighting to your advantage; usually you can
time the lighting choreography, as they will use the same sequence through
the chorus or the first/second verses of the song (in this case, it also
helps to be familiar with the artist/song), so on the brighter lighting
sequences it's possible to take very good pictures without the flash.
Knowing the venue also helps sometimes.

And probably more important than any of the above - get as close as you can.
Sometimes it's possible (even if you're on the 15th row on a reserved
seating concert) to leave your seat for a short moment and make your way
near the stage to take a few close-up shots. Taking a good picture is a
no-brainer when you're 10-20 feet from the stage. Then you don't have to
rely on constantly using maximum optical zoom and longer focal ratios.

As far as settings go, try manually experimenting with different shutter
speeds and see how low you can go while still being able to take a picture
that is sharp enough for your needs. Most consumer digicams have very high
noise levels at higher ISO settings, so don't usually like manually setting
it any higher than ISO 200. But that's something you can try out as well. If
you don't mind a bit of post-processing, you can do wonders with
Photoshop/Elements i.e. USM, Neat-image.

hth,
Terence


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Great tips. Thanks for sharing

"Terence Gui" wrote in message
m...
"Jeff Marcum" wrote in message
...
I have a Nikon Coolpix 990 and am planning to take it to a 4-day outdoor
concert next week. I have used it in the past and have gotten great
pictures during the daytime but once it gets dark, the quality goes way
down. Most pictures are too dark. I'm not an expert on the camera but
I
do
know how to adjust most of the settings. What settings would you
suggest
I
try to adjust in order to capture better pictures with those conditions?
My
seats are in row 15 this year so I am really hoping to get some good
pictures.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm by no means an expert, but I do go to my fair share of concerts, and I
try to take pictures whenever they are allowed (and sometimes even when
they
aren't). The few tidbits of information I've written below don't always
apply in every circumstance.

Take LOTS of pictures. Use the flash if/when you can - yes it ruins the
"natural" lighting, but then at least the picture will have a good chance
of
coming out sharp. Also use stage lighting to your advantage; usually you
can
time the lighting choreography, as they will use the same sequence through
the chorus or the first/second verses of the song (in this case, it also
helps to be familiar with the artist/song), so on the brighter lighting
sequences it's possible to take very good pictures without the flash.
Knowing the venue also helps sometimes.

And probably more important than any of the above - get as close as you
can.
Sometimes it's possible (even if you're on the 15th row on a reserved
seating concert) to leave your seat for a short moment and make your way
near the stage to take a few close-up shots. Taking a good picture is a
no-brainer when you're 10-20 feet from the stage. Then you don't have to
rely on constantly using maximum optical zoom and longer focal ratios.

As far as settings go, try manually experimenting with different shutter
speeds and see how low you can go while still being able to take a picture
that is sharp enough for your needs. Most consumer digicams have very high
noise levels at higher ISO settings, so don't usually like manually
setting
it any higher than ISO 200. But that's something you can try out as well.
If
you don't mind a bit of post-processing, you can do wonders with
Photoshop/Elements i.e. USM, Neat-image.

hth,
Terence


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