Your greatest asset will be the ability to spot meter - make good use of it, get your reading from the lit portion of your subject. The monopod is a good tool, it will help you get slower shutter speeds and higher f-stops for better depth of field. I think you will be surprised how many exposure combinations you will have, especially if you use a high-speed film (above 400). I recall shooting arena concerts and small club bands with shutter speed/aperture combinations something like 1/125th and f/5.6 or so, using 400 film (slides). I never used flash because it would have altered the way things looked in real life compared to what I got on film. It also is not very considerate of the performers. You might have too many lenses. If the zoom has a decent maximum aperture, you might want to stick with that, and your wide-angle, especially if it is a small club, and given that you will be able to get so close. Don't be afraid to get in real close, hold the camera up over your head, aiming it in the general direction of the performers, using a wide lens and shooting. This will get you shots that don't look like they were shot from a man-hole looking up nostrils etc. Watch out for mikes in the faces, anything that would obstruct good views of the performers, etc. Avoid stage lighting hitting the lens unless you want the flare that comes with it (it can be very interesting). Don't forget to shoot vertical (portrait format) shots as well as horizontal shots. Try to remember that the pictures will not be supported by the music you are hearing, they need to stand on their own merit. Don't make a spectacle of yourself. Remember that the paying customers came to see a show, not you taking pictures. Get in close, it never looks as close when you get the pictures back. Paul M. Provencher - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
