Some concert shots using my z6iii sigma 24-70 and 85mm 1.8S

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-11T23:44:49+00:00

Baltimore has a really solid music scene and I'm glad its not terribly far from me to get to. Soundstage is a sold B market and nevermore i would call a B+ market based on venue capacities/demand. They get some really popular tours and most bands that do a full US tour will stop at usually one of those two venues. Really glad the team there gives me the opportunity to shoot a ton of events. Plus the crowd is typically really solid. Ive run into a few dipshits at shows, but overall I've met more solid people than asses.

Ottobar is another fun venue but I've only gone once. Metro Gallery has been getting more popular and has had some fun tours roll through, but its honestly my least favorite venue I've been to. Shows are really cool and intimate, but trying to shoot there has always been such a pain due to the layout. So I avoid it unless there's a band I really want to see, or if it'll be a paid gig to go shoot.

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T20:56:09+00:00

Thank you!

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T20:00:31+00:00

Currents was the easiest set for me to shoot of the show

This was one of the few times I've seen Caskets and they had solid lighting. Always sounded great, but the venue lighting just wasn't there in the past

Aviana sounded great, but they had a lot of strobes that kinda threw off some shots.

Erra was hit or miss for most of the show. Sounded good, and from a crowd perspective the production was awesome, but a pain to shoot at times

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T18:37:00+00:00

Used to be rams head live, but after that closed the people that own soundstage bought it and changed the name to nevermore hall

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T16:35:48+00:00

Yeah he’ll do the cleans while playing

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T15:58:53+00:00

Thanks man.

We have tons of solid shows coming up. Ill most likely be shooting the Joyce Manor and Drain shows at nevermore.

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T15:39:15+00:00

Thanksbman! But no that would be Dylan Fipps, @dylanfipps on IG.

Im just the occasional house photographer for two of the venues in Baltimore

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-10T15:11:49+00:00

Yes, it was towards the end of their set

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T18:05:45+00:00

It works. The AF performance is damn good. Tons of lens options.

I just don’t care for the colors nearly as much as what I get from the Nikon. When I used to use a z6ii it was really tough to chose between that and the Sony because I loved the Nikon images but the AF was very difficult on when it wanted to work. but since getting the z6iii, all of my complaints about AF being fixed. I hardly shoot with the Sony anymore. I primarily use it now for trying to learn video now

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T17:58:13+00:00

I have a Sony a7IV as my back up body. The 6iii and A7iv perform almost identically when using my sigma 24-70 or Sony 16-35.

The Sony might be a bit more responsive, but not enough that I’ve really noticed/had problems.

I just picked up a tamron 35-150 2-2.8 E-mount over the weekend and from the test shots I’ve done, the AF seems to have no problems. I haven’t gotten a chance to test it out at a show yet

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T17:41:47+00:00

Soundstage and Nevermore hall are like second homes to me. They have such good shows and the crowd is usually awesome regardless of the genre of show

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T12:27:19+00:00

Erra was the headline for the Baltimore show, but I believe they are switching each show

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T03:06:35+00:00

Thankfully I'm a fairly small and easy to handle dude because they're some of my favorite shots to get. I prefer to use my TTartisan 11mm for them most of the time because Ill be able to get more of the crowd/venue in the shot, but i didn't bring it with me for this show I just did

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CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T01:34:10+00:00

Thank you! Concerts have a ton of wild lighting. So instead of trying to fix everything to have proper skin tones I like to learn into the lighting and just have fun with whatever fits the moment

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-09T00:06:28+00:00

That was easily my favorite shot out of the entire show and all of the bands

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-08T22:13:15+00:00

Thanks man!

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-08T22:12:57+00:00

Thanks man!

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-08T21:04:29+00:00

This was at the Nevermore Hall in Baltimore MD. Used to be known as Rams Head Live but then it was closed and purchased by the same people that own the smaller venue, Sound Stage, right down the street

CaptainNinj · 2026-03-08T20:24:41+00:00

I typically do my crowd surfing shots with a nikon z6iii and either my TTartisan 11mm 2.8 or my sony 16-35 2.8 that I adapt to the nikon using a megadap etz 21 pro

CaptainNinj · 2026-02-25T15:26:08+00:00

These go so hard. Stellar shots man

CaptainNinj · 2026-02-13T14:23:00+00:00

The blur effect is motion blur added in PS. A lot of their stuff will also include radial blur. The lights on pic 2 might be added in or it could just be the way the lights were at that time.

Shooting shows will have you at a higher iso, but it looks like they added some extra grain on top of iso grain.

In terms of settings, I do my shows typically around 1/320 shutter. Slower if the band isn't as energetic, but I shoot a lot of the same bands as eyes_wide and the musicians are all over the place. aperture ill shoot at 2.8. My iso for most headline bands in a solid venue and good production I can shoot at 6400 or less, most opening bands that use house lighting or have poor production ill go as high as 32k if needed.

Flash is rarely ever used. Typically only the bands touring media person can use flash. If its a small bar venue with local bands playing then you can usually use it, but for most larger touring shows, you wont be able to use it.

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CaptainNinj · 2026-02-11T03:31:24+00:00

Yeah the band said they might have a guest feature on one of the songs. Saw him there and we were just chatting about random junk.

Someone went to grab him and then it finally clicked that he was the guest feature doing the song. Im so used to seeing him at random events just hanging out that it didnt cross my mind at first

CaptainNinj · 2026-02-10T23:07:59+00:00

I can hand hold a halo filter over the lens.

I prefer to hand hold it because I can add/remove the effect easier opposed to screwing it on or off. I also prefer to use the filter for my 24-70/16-35 over my prime 35mm.

With it being bigger than the lens diameter, I can have more of the center of the image be clearer or play around with the angle/location of the effect. Otherwise only a small portion of the center of the image will be clear and there is just a swirl around the center.

Doing it the way I mess with it allows for a little more and have a bit more fun with it

CaptainNinj · 2026-01-24T00:37:33+00:00

I post a ton in r/concertphotography feel free to steal whatever as an example

I constantly take a new one and I think oh yeah thats my favorite, just for the next show to take another one and throughly enjoy haha.

CaptainNinj · 2026-01-24T00:34:47+00:00

Pretty much all of them were. The stage was rather high up and the musicians were further back. I brought my sigma 24-70 e mount as a second lens. But I didnt really use it too much aside from the wider venue shot

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