So a couple of weeks ago I was shooting some video and photos for a local cover band called The Usual Suspects, which you can show them some facebook love (I mean like) by going to www.facebook.com/theusualsuspectsMN, and hitting the like button if you want to.
And this is not the first time I have shot them as a band playing, but this is the first time that I have written about some of the issues that I faced while trying to get good photos, video, and audio of a live performance situation in not so ideal conditions.
So, to start out The Pullman Club is a bar located in downtown Shakopee, MN, and like most bars they have a corner set up for bands to come in and play music for their generally intoxicated patrons during the weekend, but it is still a bar, which means that the lighting conditions are not ideal for shooting from a photographer/videographer perspective.
Now, I am not saying the photos I shot were all bad or that the video I shot turned out terrible either. I think that both the photos and video were a challenge to shoot, especially without additional lighting and not using the flash. So to start out with I’ll talk about the video.
When shooting video there are obviously some simple rules to follow, shutter speed at 50/60 depending on the environment, open the iris up as much as possible, and then of coarse don’t go above 800 for iso. The general rule for this is because if you go above 800 you are going to deal with a lot of noise and grain that isn’t appealing, especially when it comes from a DSLR. All of these factors lead to issues that may come up when shooting video of night clubs, and honestly the only way to combat this is to try and get closer to the subject when you are shooting and use whatever lighting you can.
Most of these things are true when it comes to taking photos as well, but at least with photos you can in theory lower the shutter speed, but that means you either need a really steady hand or a tripod to have your camera on to take pictures of the event. Something that isn’t a real option generally when it comes to shooting video, but at the end of the day it’s about getting the shots however you can.