📷 Wish Music Awards 2018: Concert Photography for Beginners (Part 2) 🎇

Here are Some Important Photography Lessons I learned that Evening:

Timing is King.

Hands up, eyes closed, facing your way (even slightly), and the lights produce just enough glare at the corner. -Get all factors right and you'll be teary-eyed while viewing your photos!

High-Contrast Wins

Resist the temptation to over-brighten your images. Concert lights are designed to make performers stand out and hide the staff. It's OK to have dark shadows in this context.

Portrait Orientation

If many shots call for portrait orientation, it can be tiring. Switch to portrait when cropping your photo instead of shooting with the camera on its side. It saves time in composing your image (unless you're used to it and it doesn't hurt your wrist).

Post-Production Really Matters

Many of these photos don't even pass my own standards given the fact that I'm on a learning curve with my first DSLR. Editing can save the day if you know what you're going for.

The Worst Enemies and Solutions:

Over-cropping in editing: Zoom all the way in and frame every shot as you intend it to be (do not second-guess final cropping) to reduce reliance on digital zooming/cropping.

Color Noise: Use Auto ISO but set the maximum to 1600 for an entry-level DSLR (at least for this model).

Motion/Camera shake blur: Practice adjusting the shutter speed on-the-fly. Pre-program your white-balance setting and be ready for sudden lighting changes. Use ISO auto if it's too hard to adjust two or three parameters for every shot.

Distance

Unless you have a high-end zoom lens and a tripod, shooting from the upper-box audience area is just too hard for a beginner, if one is to expect high-quality results.

Be an official photographer if you can so you can get closer or, make sure cameras are allowed at the venue and get a patron ticket for a better photo-shoot experience.

SD Card Full

I took more than 240 photos that evening and I had barely enough to last 'till the end of the show (even after deleting a few bad shots). -You know what to do: Buy an extra card.

Too Many Photos

Yeah, it's hard to choose which ones to share and which ones to leave behind. It might take several hours or days to edit them as well. It's just the way it is!

Proofs of Authenticity

I took all the photos from Upper Box B in Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Please check my previous post for the story behind the event.

Thanks for reading/viewing!

[Credits to the Author of Life]

Please stay tuned for my favorite everyday photos and the lessons I learned behind the scenes.