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You are here: Home / Galleries / The Pet Shop Boys ‘Electric’ Tour – Using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 for concert photography

The Pet Shop Boys ‘Electric’ Tour – Using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 for concert photography

29/07/2014 By Heather

I’m not really what you would call an avid concert goer, but as soon as I heard that one of my favourite groups, the Pet Shop Boys, would be holding a free concert in Turin’s enormous Piazza San Carlo during the Traffic Festival, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I had seen them in concert over ten years ago with my mum in downtown Toronto, and while the experience was unforgettable, from where we were sitting, Neil and Chris appeared to be no more than two tiny moving specks off in the distance.

E-M1, 1/250, f/ 28/10, ISO 200
E-M1, 1/250, f/ 2.8, ISO 200 – An enthusiastic fan in the audience
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 1600
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 1600 – Testing the lights and sound

This time was different. Having arrived at the venue an hour early, Mathieu and I were able to sidle up to the front and position ourselves to take some photos with the Olympus OM-D E-M1, which I had brought along just in case. The weather wasn’t being overly cooperative, dousing us with downpours every half an hour or so, but the energy from the stage and crowds was enough to push the foul conditions far from our minds.

E-M1, 1/80, f/ 28/10, ISO 500
E-M1, 1/80, f/ 28/10, ISO 500 – Umbrellas up for the warm-up act Planning to Rock
E-M1, 1/80, f/ 35/10, ISO 200
E-M1, 1/80, f/ 3.5, ISO 200 – Neil and Chris (the Pet Shop Boys) finally take the stage
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 1250
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 1250 – Chris at the keyboard in one of the group’s wild costumes

Paired with the E-M1 was the longest lens we own, the Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8. I could have rented a longer zoom but it wouldn’t have given me the bright constant aperture of the 35-100mm, which was necessary as night closed in very quickly due to the rain clouds, and the stage wasn’t very bright at times.

E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 1000
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 1000 – Time for a costume change
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 1600
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 1600
E-M1, 1/50, f/ 28/10, ISO 250
E-M1, 1/50, f/ 2.8, ISO 250

We set the Auto ISO limits of the E-M1 to 200-1600 to make sure that the files were relatively clean, and the shutter speed to a minimum of 1/50 to avoid blurring. The aperture naturally held fast at f/2.8 for most of the shots except for when the light became intense on stage.

E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 320
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 320
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 800
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 800
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 640
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 640

The only mistake we made was not to bring a second memory card. In all honesty, I hadn’t expected to get so close to the stage, so I had figured that one memory card would be plenty. However, halfway through the concert, that ominous warning started to blink on the screen. At that point, we decided to immediately go through and delete the bad shots, and switch over to Fine JPG format. This allowed us to capture the rest of the concert, but at the expense of having flexible raw files to work with later on. In the end, it didn’t really matter as the JPGs from the OM-D are perfectly useable as long as you get the exposure and white balance right.

E-M1, 1/100, f/ 45/10, ISO 200
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 4.5, ISO 200
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 800
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 800
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 28/10, ISO 640
E-M1, 1/100, f/ 2.8, ISO 640

After this experience, I feel that concert photography is a genre I could really become passionate about. Capturing the perfect moment is often a challenge, especially when the lighting is so variable as in the case of this concert, but a fun exercise nonetheless. Now I just need to figure out when I can see them perform again! 😉

As a final note, I’d like to thank the Pet Shop Boys for choosing Turin as their only Italian tour date. It was such a pleasure to dance the night away to their amazing music!

Filed Under: Galleries, Olympus Gallery Tagged With: electric tour photos, micro four thirds, Olympus, olympus om-d e-m1 concert photography, om-d e-m1, pet shop boys concert photos, pet shop boys electric tour 2014, pet shop boys torino, pet shop boys tour 2014, pet shop boys tour photos, pet shop boys traffic festival, pet shop boys turin

About Heather

Heather Broster was born in Canada, has lived in Japan and Italy but currently calls Wales home. She is a full-time gear tester at MirrorLessons. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter or Facebook!

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© HEATHER BROSTER/MATHIEU GASQUET AND MIRRORLESSONS, 2013-2024

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