July in Janetville - Tips for Taking Concert Photos

I am by NO means an expert in photography but after taking several thousand concert pictures over the last few years, I have come up with some of my personal ideas on the subject.  I should also say that these ideas/tips are with the intention of scrapbooking the pictures, not for trying to get them published in a magazine or anything (unless of course someone sees them and thinks they are fabulous and wants to buy them from me - LOL).

Tip #1 - GET GOOD SEATS!  It is much easier to take good photos if you have good seats.  If I can't get close seats, I try to get in a section where I can see the big screens clearly.

Tip #2 - Have a good camera.  When I first started taking pictures my camera did not have a very powerful zoom lens.  I find that makes a big difference, especially if you can't accomplish Tip #1!  Most venues will allow simple point and shoot cameras.  Mine fits in a pocket of my purse so I rarely (never so far) have had an issue with it.  It is a Canon Power Shot SX 700 with a 30 x zoom.  I would not be able to take pictures if I had to manually focus, so having an easy camera to use is important for me.  It also has a good setting for taking pictures without a flash, which is generally not allowed.

Tip #3 - Take LOTS of pictures.  The artists generally move back and forth across the stage so there are many times I can't get anything more than a blur.  If I have a lot of pictures, I can pick and choose the best ones for my pages.  Sometimes I'll have a lot of mediocre and then one or two good ones.  This spread I did with Tina Turner is a good example.  It was before I got my Canon and the zoom was terrible but by putting together some not so great pictures with some okay ones, I am pleased with the way this came out.

This is one of my favorite layouts from the Adele concert.  She didn't have a lot of costume changes, our seats were up in the second level and she does not do a lot of moving around when she sings but I think I was able to capture her here.

Same with Stevie Nicks.  When she sings "Gold Dust Woman" it's almost like she goes into a trance and even though the pictures are not that clear, I can see her getting into her song. 

 

Tip #4 - Take pictures of the venue itself.  Shots of the building or the marquee help to document dates and times.  Some of my favorites are:

I took the above two pictures and combined them to make the bottom one for the album.  They almost match up perfectly.

Tip #5 - Take pictures of backgrounds.  A lot of times the performers use the screens behind them to add "embellishments" to their show.  Those shots can also be "embellishments" on my pages.  They also serve as titles sometimes. 

Behind Blue Eyes - the Who

Scorpions

Neil Diamond

Lights on the vine wall at the Mountain Winery, Heart concert

Tip #6 - Don't forget the shadows.  At first I waited until the lights went on so I could get clear pictures of the performers but then I noticed that sometimes the shadows were the best shots.  I am SO glad I got the ones of Prince!

Prince

Sade

Cher

Backstreet Boys

Tip #7 - The crowd.  While I don't necessarily want pictures of a bunch of random strangers in my album, still there are times when the crowd is definitely part of the show.

Journey singing "Lights" and a shot of the AT&T Park crowd showing their "lights" made for a pretty magical moment.

Lights at the Adele concert.  She is the tiny figure on stage at the bottom left of the picture.

Tip #8 - Expect the unexpected.  We were watching Heart at Shoreline singing "Reign O're Me" and it started raining.  Middle of summer.  Heart didn't realize what was happening until they went backstage according to the article I read about it.  Fortunately we were under the overhang so we didn't get wet.

Rod Stewart kicks signed soccer balls from the stage!  We didn't actually get any but one went really close to us and on the BART trip home, two people near us had gotten them so they let my husband hold them while I took this picture.

Tip #9 - Stay until the end of the show.  After all, you paid your money, may as well get all you can for it.  I know it is tempting to leave to get ahead of the crowd and out of the parking lot but really, what's the rush?  Savor the moments!

We got some of the confetti from the Who show.

Mick Jones handed out some picks!

It's a good way to get a picture of the whole band when they take their final bow.

Adele's confetti had special messages written on them!

Tip #10 - Don't forget YOU!  You were at the show too!  I try to make it a point to get a shot of my husband and I and whoever we are with.  

At Huey Lewis & the News

Us at Tina Turner

My daughters and I at Backstreet Boys

Thanks to Karen Siegel Fitting of Photos Kept Alive for giving me the idea to write this blog post.  I'm always looking for new things to talk about!  

What do you think?  Good tips?  Any other suggestions or questions?  Love to hear from you!

April 2017 - #Atozchallenge - Wow it's W

W is for The Who --

We got a chance to see them when they had a make up show in Oakland.  They had had to cancel an earlier show because Roger Daltrey got sick.  Being another one of those iconic groups, I felt it was important to see them before they stop touring.  We take BART over to Oakland and my husband was having such pain in his leg from a blocked artery that we had to stop every few steps to let him rest.

My daughter, Amanda, came over to visit and helped me decide on the background papers.  Then I added the "extras."

Even though this was just a couple of days before our anniversary, I forgot to take our usual concert picture so I used the owls to represent us.

My husband didn't think they really put their all into the show but I thought it was good. 

It was Peter Townshend's 71st birthday so it was a bit special.

Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey, is their drummer.  He did a great job.

They pretty much covered their hits and talked about the last 50 years.

There was a good write up in the paper the next day and I am happy when I can include that in my album.

So, better late than never I say.  I only have two more letters to cover and then I really will have completed the challenge.  I have ordered the pictures so it will be a bit, but I'm sure you don't mind waiting :)


The challenge is officially over for this year but you can still click over to the main A to Z Challenge page to see what other participants have come up with for this letter.

December Reflections - 2016

December 13 -- Soundtrack of 2016

Anybody who knows us, knows that we are concert crazy.  Here are the bands/singers that made up our soundtrack for this year:


May 19 - The Who

We had never seen them before so it was a good way to start off the concert season.  Our anniversary was the next day so this was our present to ourselves, as if we needed an excuse!

Behind blue eyes

July 3 - Foreigner

This was our first concert at the Mountain Winery this season.  My biggest highlight was when Kelly Hansen came and stood next to me and then when he climbed over the seats as he usually does during the show because he climbed right next to me so I was able to help hold him steady as he climbed back to the stage.  Star struck!

July 9 - Boston     Another new band for us.  They sing the song "Amanda" which is our daughter's name. 

July 14 - Sting and Peter Gabriel  

This was an interesting concert as they sang each other's songs and were both on stage the whole time.  

August 2 -- Adele

I was afraid that we were not going to be able to see her as the tickets were so hard to get and sold out within minutes.  I got lucky and got a text message from Ticketmaster that seats had become available so I grabbed them.  They, of course, were not our usual up close and personal seats but just being there and hearing her sing was such a great experience.

August 24 -- Pat Benatar and Melissa Etheridge

 We have seen Pat Benatar many times but never Melissa Etheridge and were quite surprised that we enjoyed her so much.

They really have a chemistry together that is fun to watch.

August 26 -- Peter Frampton

There was a sign up right by the stage saying that pictures would only be allowed during the first three songs so that everyone could "enjoy the show."  I've never been good about following directions when it comes to taking pictures at concerts.  I am respectful about not using the flash but when I'm paying $150+ for a seat, I'm gonna take what pictures I can.

September 4 -- San Francisco Fest -- Tower of Power, Doobie Brothers,  Steve Miller, Santana, Journey

What a day this was!  Santana and Steve Miller were the highlights as far as we were concerned.  

September 25  -- Tesla, REO Speedwagon, Def Leppard

Tesla and REO were great but the sound on Def Leppard was so bad that we left early.  We had really good seats too so that was disappointing.  

December 14 -- Stevie Nicks

Ms. Stevie is tomorrow night.  I'm charging my cameras and getting ready.  She is my idol.

I do have some videos that I took at most of the concerts but it would take too long to load them up on YouTube to get them ready for posting here now.  Another time for sure.

How about you?  What does your playlist for the year sound like?