Concert shoot! Yay ... wait what?

Hi'yall

Ever ponder what lenses to bring with you on a concert shoot? Well, I thought it would be nice to share you my take on a concert shoot in about what lenses to bring.

Of course it depends on what your assignment is but this is what I usually bring with me on a concert shoot. First and foremost good ear plugs! I cannot stress enough that it is very important to protect your hearing from the loud music or even loud fans (in some cases lol). Now let's see my take on lenses I bring along.


Lenses
14-24 f2.8 or 24-70 f2.8
70-200 f2.8
300 f2.8

It is not uncommon that you only have  a short period of time around 2-3 songs to do the assignment in the shooters pit, elbowing other photographers.  Hence I usually bring along a 300 f2.8 - because when my time is up in the pit  I can continue to work from a distance - in headhunting for fans and the band playing. Further more depending on the stage or pit area I bring along a 14-24 f2.8 or the 24-70 f2.8 - but keep in mind that the 14-24 f2.8 is a specialty lens! Thus, if I know that there would be a band playing, I would lug my 14-24 f2.8 otherwise I will bring my 24-70 f2.8 for wide shots. My work horse would be the 70-200 f2.8 - enabling me to make tight headshots capturing the emotions of the artist.
 
If I have the luxury to shoot the whole concert without any restrictions, I would only bring my 24-70 f2.8 and my 70-200 f2.8. That would cover most of the shots I usually make.

All in all planning and preparation is crucial here, make a plan before you shoot the concert, watch the band music videos, how they move, for solo moments, how many shots you need, what type of shots you need, workflow. Then you should be able change accordingly and have a Zen moment in a highly stressed environment. What rest for me to say is keep on shooting

---