Use whichever lens gets you the in-camera cropping you desire..

Use the camera's "P" or automatic mode, trhen review the setrtings the camera computed ...and go to Manual mode to fine-tune. There's no *right* settings for perfectly exposed images...there's plenty of room for creativity..

MarkYac wrote:.

Hi folks... heading south to a blues festival and hope to get someshots of performers in daylight and outdoors/indoors at night. I'mpretty new to this and have a Pentax DSLR K100D w/ the kit lens 18-55and a 50-200. I don't know if I'll be able to use a flash or not. Anythoughts on settings or approach that may help?.

Daylight and outdoors, things won't matter much. Leaving it on auto would suffice, really. If you want to get creative, put it on Aperture Priority mode (Av?), and play around with adjusting aperture. Larger aperture (smaller f-number) will create a shallower depth of field, and vice versa..

For indoors and at night, you'll probably need to boost your ISO, and maybe open up your aperture all the way. You want to pay attention to your shutter speed to make sure it's not too low - usually the rule is 1/fl. So, for 50mm (which is 75mm equivalent, since the focal length crop is 1.5x), you'll want 1/75s or faster shutter speed. At 200mm (300mm equivalent), you'll want 1/300s..

You can raise shutter speeds to ways, one by opening up your aperture all the way (go to Aperture Priority and set it to the smallest f-number possible). The other is boosting ISO. I can't say without knowing how the lighting is like, but you'll probably need ISO800 at least, if not ISO1600 or ISO3200. See what's the lowest ISO you need to get the right shutter speed...

MarkYac wrote:.

Hi folks... heading south to a blues festival and hope to get someshots of performers in daylight and outdoors/indoors at night. I'mpretty new to this and have a Pentax DSLR K100D w/ the kit lens 18-55and a 50-200. I don't know if I'll be able to use a flash or not. Anythoughts on settings or approach that may help?.

HiI use the K100d (and IST*D) for festivals and live music gigs quite often..

Try and get a fast 50 before you go...even if it's a cheap old manual one...you can pick someting like a 50 1.7/1.8 etc quite cheap...or an old 50 1.4 for a little more..

If you are going to do this more often you will want faster lenses...though the kit lense should actually do quite well in all but the worst light..

To start with just put it on P and up the iso as the day goes to evening...you can experiment from there. Max the iso at 1600.....3200 is useable if exposed correctly but you may need more time to get it right..

Try and get access....if you sign up for a music website or the like you may be able to get accreditaion....will make thing so much easier....you can get in front of the stage (on the corner for instance and use the kit lens at the wide end to get all band members in shot..

Take 1 more set of batteries than you think you will need..

Take a couple of plastic bags....you can punch holes in them and keep shooting if it rains..

Do not forget to enjoy the music..

Dusty days festival (2007) shot with the k100dhttp://photos.fasterlouder.com.au/nsw/070317-dd/.

Groovin the Moo festival (Albury 2006) shot with the Ist*Dhttp://photos.fasterlouder.com.au/nsw/061125-gtm/.

Metalstock festival (day 2 2006)....did not go this year...getting to old and was too broke.http://photos.fasterlouder.com.au/nsw/060416-Metalstock/.

Neil..

I suggest for the low light shots you:.

1. Shoot RAW2. Use ISO 16003. Set your cam on Shutter Priority.

4. Dial in a minimum of 1/80th or 1/100th even if the cam says you are underexposing.5. User the wide end of your lenses for a lower aperture..

If you enjoy the experience you really need an f2.8 constant zoom (or some f1.8 primes) to do better next time..

Chris Elliott.

*Nikon* D Eighty + Fifty - Other equipment in Profile.

Http://PlacidoD.Zenfolio.com/..

Welcome to the wonderful world of shooting in horrible light. .

Chris Elliott gave you sound advice and I'd like to add a little more to his..

Why you shoot in RAW is so you can adjust things easily afterwards. Stage lighting can throw things off in a split second and by shooting in RAW you have the best chance at an easy correction later on..

ISO 1600 when you need to. Don't be afraid of high ISO as a grainy photo is better than no photo at all. I start off at 400 and bump to 640, 800, and keep going to what the situation calls for. Depending on your camera's capabilities has a lot to do with what you need to shoot at..

Shutter Priority is a good place to start. Being new that is probably the best place to start..

Spot meter is KING in this kind of shooting. Set it at matrix or even center weighted on be prepared to be disappointed in the results..

The reason for spot metering over the others is you want their face correct (if shooting the person verses the instrument or the likes) and by spot metering you'll have it right.. let the other light fall where it may. If you use matrix the stage lighting confuses the camera's meter and tries to even everything out and you end up with junk..

Shoot wide aperture, yes, but not for everything, but to start with your shooting shutter priority and letting the aperture fall where it may. But remember you STILL want a fast/wide aperture to shoot in stage lighting..

Constantly check your settings to make sure you didn't change something or had left it on a previous setting that is not correct for the present..

Lenses... You need to get close... really close, unless you are doing a full stage shot. I'm talking right up to the edge of the stage close. One camera will limit you to one lens at a time so don't expect to be knocking off tons of different photos while it's happening. .

Up close I use a 50 mm 1.4 and a 35 mm 2.0 (depending on what I see) or either the 50 or 35 along with a 70-200 2.8.Just one lens? Dump me there with a 50 1.4 and I'll get all the photos I need..

Now for the final suggestions....

Let's say you jump on a nice 50 mm fast lens and somehow the stage lighting is pretty darn good overall. You weasel your way up to center stage and everyone up there looks great! Now you're going to want some pictures.... or do you want some photographs?.

If you want photographs here some shooting techniques to concentrate on. Isolate your subjects, shoot tight, click the shutter just before you think that expression is going to happen. Don't second guess, shoot!... Background is part of the picture.. EVERYTHING in the background either adds to a photo or takes away... GET RID OF THE JUNK!.

Frame the shot in the camera, cropping later is just trying to make a photo that probably isn't there to begin with..

Don't be afraid to move to get a better angle. Don't be afraid to turn the camera to whatever angle it calls for..

What it comes down to is not the equipment. Any decent camera and lens will get you the photos you want. It ALL comes down to you..

One of my best/favorites came in one of the worst overall conditions and it was taken with a hundred dollar lens at 1600 ISO with one red light above a guy wearing a hat..

Have a blast and don't have anything to drink until after your done shooting or you just wasted all my typing. .

Jim..