covering concert - need some info - :)

Hi all

Tommorow I will be covering a small concert using my nikon slr / t-max 400 B/W.

When it comes to measuring light...what should I consider. Being that its a small stage most definetily the only source of light avaible to me will be whatever the 5-6 "concert-spots" can give me. Any basics that I should know about?

best regards, kim

Kim Catton said:

Hi all

Tommorow I will be covering a small concert using my nikon slr / t-max 400 B/W.

When it comes to measuring light...what should I consider. Being that its a small stage most definetily the only source of light avaible to me will be whatever the 5-6 "concert-spots" can give me. Any basics that I should know about?

best regards, kim

Click to expand...

Based on your description you will most likely not have much light to shoot with.

I would reccomend shooting with Ilford 3200 or TMAX 1000 if possible or plan on push processing TMAX 400.

Don't worry about getting great detail in the shadows. Spot meter the performers faces if possible.

My 2 cents,

Use a spotmeter for the performers. Let everything fall off to black. You'll be fine with 400 ISO if you don't have to use too long a lens, and the theater lights are bright enough, but bring so faster film just in case.

use a spotmeter on the performers faces, thats what im going for then

Take a look at Tony Egan's work in the APUG galleries. It's just plain top drawer excellent. Perhaps if you ask him by PM, he may help you with suggestions based on his considerable experience.

I wrote this about a decade ago...maybe there's something useful in it.

http://smallproblem.com/jamtv/column14.html

http://smallproblem.com/jamtv/column15.html

So....I went to the concert, shot some rolls of T-Max 400 - The light avaible was really really limited so I exposed as if 1600. I used a spotmeter and went for the faces of the performers. Most of the time I went for 1/60 / 2.8 and even when exposing like this the metre told me that I needed more light.

Next comes the neg-development. Ive got a bottle of Tetenal Ultrafine Plus (I think thats the name?). Could this do the job? When it comes to developingtime and agiation... any suggestions?

Thx a lot all of you. I really appreciate the help ive been given through this forum.

Kim,
It's a bit late now but I would not recommend T-Max films! I invariably shoot TriX (TX400) and develop in xTol 1+1. XTol is great for controlling the highlights when you overexpose/push and does wonders for shadow detail in concert lighting situations. Most of the work in my gallery was in larger venues when I had the luxury of f2/2.8 at 1/60th due to strong stage lighting.

In really low light venues I favour Fuji Neopan 1600 rated around 800 if possible. I have tried Ultrafin SF with this film and got some reasonable results although I would always fall back on XTol as my main developer.

I have tried the superfast films 3200 etc but did not like the tonal quality of the prints.

As for development - be daring based on what you've told me about the lighting situation. Give the film 25-50% more time than recommended. If you have multiple rolls do one at a time and adjust as you go. Digital Truth recommends 7.5 mins for TMax 400 at 1+4. I'd give it about 10 mins. You'll probably get high contrast negs with poor shadow detail but you can tame this to some extent with low grade printing and selective grade 5 burning.

Good luck - it's a lot of fun and immensely satisfying when you get it right! If you have any other questions happy to take a PM.

p.s. John, thanks for the nice feedback - much appreciated.

Thx alot for the advice... T-Max was the only film I had laying around. Tetenol the only developer. At the moment at least...so.... to get the most out of this... could you give me some advice ?

As said before ive exposed as if 1600. Should I use tetenol diluted 1:4 and develope for 10 min ? What about agiation? Could you give a quick walk-through? I really want to get the most out of what ive got.

When I order my next badge of photo-stuff I think ill go for some Tri-x and Xtol.

Best regards, Kim.