For those of you who take pix at the concerts, do you use your flash?  Do you notice if it bothers the performers at all?  Is there an etiquette about this?

 

I’m always concerned using flash will temporarily blind someone, & that concern seems especially pertinent in a largely dark concert setting.

 

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Never use flash at concerts!  With so many people taking so many pictures at shows, flash would drive them and the audience crazy.  You can set your settings appropriately and get great pics with no flash.  I have a simple digital and I am able to get some pretty good shots.  The guys are very accomodating and allow cameras all the time, even when some venues say no. Have fun!

I don't use flash at concerts generally, and my camera instructor told me that flash only works at 9 feet anyway, so it's not worth it, unless you're really close.

If you have a fireworks setting on your camera, try that with the stage lighting for some cool effects.

I don't know how effective a flash may or may not be, and at what distance; but I do know from having been on-stage frequently myself that the flash probably won't make any difference. The stage lights tend to be bright enough that all you can see are indistinct shadows where the audience is and a flash is hardly noticable behind the lights. That's just my experience and opinion, others may disagree.

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I think it depends on the stage lighting itself.  With how a lot of the shows seem mostly side/back lit there is a chance that the flash from a camera can still be distracting.  Something like a play is generally lit from front of stage and ceiling pots...at least that is how we used to do it.

I'd err of the side of caution and avoid use of flash.  It's just politer.

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Leprrkan, I know from painful, embarrassing experience that they can, indeed, fully see the audience, at least the first several rows, from the stage. 

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Yeah, they can see the audience, I've had a couple of embarrassing moments myself. I wouldn't dream of using the flash, because my onstage experience has been quite the opposite - I landed in the orchestra pit during a show in high school because someone's mother didn't heed the 'no flash photography' rule. The drummer was a bit surprised. Because of the way the stage is lit, a flash isn't necessary, really. Cheers, Kati

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Sharneliz:

Leprrkan, I know from painful, embarrassing experience that they can, indeed, fully see the audience, at least the first several rows, from the stage. 

and they can hear us

nova:

and they can hear us

And read your signs! 

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BetRx:

And read your signs! 

I know this from personal experience!

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Don't feed the idiots or they'll continue being idiots...

Has anyone gotten a definitive answer on whether we can bring cameras to the HOB ?

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i dont use flash, except when sometimes i forget to change the setting and i get one with a flash and then i feel bad...but i think that pictures come out better without the flash anyway, at least from the few shows i've been to where i took pictures. I'm just so gad that they dont mind the pictures and stuff. its cool. I'm a big hanson fan (haha :) ) and i know they dont want anyone taking pictures and i know they were requesting that people remove videos from their shows from youtube at one point. people still bring cameras of course and no one stops them usually while the shows going on, but i do know they dont approve. which i think is crazy. no one is actually using these pictures to sell or anything. they wish! lol

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seaworthy:

Has anyone gotten a definitive answer on whether we can bring cameras to the HOB ?

I believe Lyndz called HOB and it was a definitive NO. 

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At one show a few years ago, Alan stopped the show and asked for people in the rows in the front of the venue NOT to use flash. And the lighting isn't always good at GBS shows. I have been to some where the lighting was downright lousy. You're just not going to get wonderful photos all the time. ANd without taking a camera, you might be abl to enjoy the show more fully. I bet some people will have cameras though. Probably not me.

Anne

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It's rare to see me enjoying music without a camera around my neck.

However, it's almost as rare to see me using flash.  At night or indoors, a flash throws light from the camera, thus eliminating the shadows you'd normally see when the light comes from other directions, so I don't like to use flash because the pictures are worse!  Besides that, flash annoys the performers and the rest of the audience.

My newest camera has a flash that needs to be pulled up to function, so I never have to worry about it going off unintentionally.

There's only one time to use flash: when we're outdoors in the daytime and the performers are in the shade while everything else is brightly sunlit.  Filling with flash in those circumstances can improve the photo by highlighting the subject of the photo.  Such daytime use is hardly ever noticed by performers or audience.

The rule then is to use flash only when its bright out, never when it's dark.  Counterintuitive?  Yes.  Good photography?  You bet.
 

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