You're welcome!

Great, thanks for sharing!

You're welcome!

Robert Gay Awesome to hear!!

That's awesome - thanks so much!

Glad it was useful, mate!

No worries! Glad it was!

Thank you, Joe! The spot metering is only necessary if you have something on auto. If everything is on manual, you're all good!

Glad you liked it!

Thanks!

Glad you liked it, Zoe! I use autofocus, but if I use a lens that has a really slow autofocus, then I manually focus. When I autofocus, I lock the exposure and then reposition and focus on the subject by pressing the shutter halfway down, then reframe the photo again. So it's like a two step process - lock exposure, focus and reframe.

@@MattSimplified Awesome! Thanks for clarifying the process. Will work on the technique.

I find face detect to be way too slow and you also might not want to be metering on the face.

Ok I will try it w My Camera it does have a delay I always shoot Burst Mode, But I Shoot a lot Videos it is a old but one of the best point & Shoot Camera Lumix DMC

Sometimes I use Av, and sometimes I use Tv. Depends, really! It definitely is for speed, you're right. In fast-paced environments it's much easier to use these modes.

Thank you. And thank you again for this really most excellent tutorial. Liked and subscribed.

Thanks for the question! Each camera is different and I did a little bit of reading and found this might be helpful for you - learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/autoexposure_ae_lock_article.shtml Locking the exposure (also read your manual for references to AE and AEL) will definitely lock it until you press it again or don't take a photo for 15 seconds or so.

Thank you so much, you da' man! :)

The reason I prefer doing this is that it gives me a little bit more flexibility of the singer moving back and forth. Otherwise if the singer moves back (Wil of The Smith Street Band often moves his top half backwards after certain lines) and immediately is out of focus.

Vanessa Rivera no questions are dumb questions! I just estimate at roughly half of the light’s strength. Just look at the source of the light and then go halfway down the beam and expose from that. There’s no wrong way of doing it but your best guess will get you a workable final image.

@@MattSimplified Thank you one for making me not feel dumb and answering my question it makes sense :)

Dylan L That’s right - it sits relatively close to the middle as a balanced exposure and ignores all other areas that would read as over exposed or under exposed. As to what would happen when focusing on the face, the issue is that the face has so many bits of depth and shadows that it’s hard to get a read. There isn’t an answer for what it would read for this reason, but even in a situation where there isn’t much haze, the diminishing strength of light will still serve you well. Good luck!

@@MattSimplified One more question. I had a dark concert situation where I metered of a black shirt. In my meter I did not look for middle gray. I look for a shadow reading on the zone system, so while my black wasn't all the way to the left it was 3/4 of the way to the left (shadow) side. Is that how you'd meter in a concert situation with very little light. Sometimes I may even meter similar off a black speaker. I'm just looking for any color that's neutral when I can't find middle gray. Sometimes I'm on the money with finding it and sometimes I have to toggle my shutter speed setting to get there. I remember I landed on another item that was black (like the speaker) and toggled till I got to dark shadow, which I see as 3/4 to the left because I still want some detail in the speaker grill. Does all of this sound like the right way to go about metering. I look at my in-camera light meter as a zone system. I mimic that.

@@dylanl8070 Honestly, Dylan - it sounds like you've taken a pretty structured approach to learning photography. Finding a neutral grey works for times when you are out there and have time to mess about, but with concert photography you really don't have that luxury. The aim for 'close enough' is kinda what you should aim for and then fix it in post-processing. I know that sounds kinda lazy, but when you have very limited time to test your options (normally three songs), you are better off hedging your bets and making sure you have usable images in post-production. Always happy to chat more though!

dalstar yeah! But it can be used in either

Filter by Matt Walter thanks for the response. I am going to try this Saturday night at a show.

Thanks for the feedback, Hassan. Would you prefer no music, or more ambient music?