My light meter died at a punk show last weekend and I had to guess everything

I was shooting a show at the Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle when my old Sekonic meter just went blank halfway through the first set. Had to set my aperture and shutter speed based on the stage lights and gut feeling, and honestly some of those shots came out better than when I meter carefully. Does anyone have a go to method for reading light in dark rooms without a meter?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamies451mo ago

Set your ISO to 1600 or 3200 and then pick a shutter speed that freezes the band, like 1/125th. Open your aperture all the way and just guess based on how the stage lights hit the subjects. Overexposed shots usually look way better in punk shows than underexposed ones anyway. Did you end up with any blown out highlights or did it work out alright?

kevin_bailey1mo ago

Used to think underexposed was safer but you're totally right.