How to Edit Concert Photos

Concert photography is all about highlighting the spectacle of the show – regardless of the type of concert you’re shooting. And the best way to do that is through a careful mix of good photography and highly intentional editing choices.

Today, I’m going to journey with you through some editing must-knows that’ll make your concert photos really pop. Here’s what you can expect:

• A short pre-editing checklist, with advice on how to shoot concert photos, how to optimize your editing setup, and how to prepare for an editing sesh.
• Then we’ll dive into the editing checklist per se, with a typical workflow and tips and tricks along the way.
• Last but not least, I’ll try to answer some common, burning questions around concert photography.

Pre-Editing Checklist

Jump to: How to Edit Concert Photos

For starters, to get killer concert photos, you should start with some well thought-out plans for how you will shoot. Of course, many photographers will go by feel and that’s perfectly fine. But a bit of research can make a real difference.

How to Take Concert Photos

1. Research:

1. Band and music. Listen to the band, find out the setlist if you can. Most concert photographers shoot only the first 3 songs, so get to know them and highlight areas of the songs by the emotions they evoke, try to match the vibes in your photography – from instrumental solos to meditative vocals, you should expect those and be ready and in position when the time comes.
2. Location and venue. The location of your concert will have a dramatic effect on your photos: is it outdoors or indoors? Are you shooting from the sound stage, pit, or backstage? Scout out the place in advance, maybe during rehearsals if your press pass allows it, and get your angles ready.
3. Time of day. Many outdoor concerts start towards sunset, so you can get ready to take advantage of that golden hour light. Conversely, you’ll need different camera settings or even different cameras depending on the time of day.

2. Prepare:

1. Adequate camera gear. Be smart about the equipment you bring with you. You need to prepare for scenarios where you would need a telephoto lens, such as shooting from the sound stage. A simple DSLR camera will do for most concerts, but a lot of photographers have highly specific preferences and bring multiple cameras with multiple lenses, so do your research and bring what feels right to you.
2. Camera settings. Once you know the location, time of day, and have scouted out the area, prepare your camera settings, but try to shoot as raw as possible, as editing is where your photos will really shine.
3. Backup drives. If you’re hired to take photos of a concert, you should ensure you’ve got backups, in case the worst comes to pass and your filesystem gets corrupted. So bring an extra hard drive or two with you while traveling.

3. Remember:

1. It’s all about the vibes. Never forget you’re there to immortalize a moment in time. Look at how the public is reacting, listen to the songs and the emotions of the artists, and capture as much truth as possible.
2. Compose your shots. Likewise, while you can crop photos to obtain better composition, nothing beats intentionally composing your shots according to some simple rules: practice a variety of angles, place the subject front and center, and use your own style.
3. Don’t be an a**hole. Only shoot as much as you’re allowed to, don’t block fans, don’t be disrespectful to other photographers, don’t use your flash, and try to capture every member of the band, even if you’re tempted to focus on the vocalist or the lead instrument.

Ensure Your Editing Setup Is Professional

Concert photographers often edit on the road. As such, you’ll have wildly varied setups and places where you hunker down and get to work. To make sure you get professional results, be mindful to:

1. Edit on your computer. While Lightroom Mobile works great, it becomes slow and annoying when you’ve got 300+ photos in your phones’ camera roll to edit.
2. Ensure there’s no glare on your screen. Glare will change your perception of the colors on the screen. 
3. Make sure you’re in a dark space. Sometimes, photographers’ biggest challenge is finding a place dark enough to edit professionally. Bright rooms force you to maximize screen brightness, which in turn lowers color accuracy and also ages your display.
4. Calibrate your monitor. Most graphics professionals recommend calibrating once a month. With the help of our monitor calibration app TruHu, it takes about 1-2 minutes to complete a calibration and all you need is your phone and your computer! Furthermore, if your editing environment changes dramatically, it might be a good idea to recalibrate your monitor. Thankfully, TruHu allows you to do that quickly and easily.

Make Your Life Easier by Selecting Your Best Photos Beforehand

If you’re just starting out with photography and are trying out concert photography – first of all hi, welcome! This is a wonderful community & we’re happy you’ve decided to try it out. Second of all, don’t forget to make a selection of the best photos you want to edit before actually editing them.

Once you’ve found your settings for one photo, it’s much easier to get through a set by simply applying the preset to the entire selection, then making subsequent adjustments to each one.

How to Edit Concert Photos

Concert photography can fall into a few categories, each with its respective editing standards:

• You were hired by the band. In this instance, ask the band what level of editing they’d like and try to match their expectations. If they don’t say, go for a balanced edit.
• You were hired by a print magazine. Print magazines will have requirements, but most times they don’t impose a particular style of editing.
• You were hired by a news organization. You should go for a photojournalism style – minimal edits while still making the photos look good.

Remember – each angle, photo, set, concert is different so what works for the example photo below might not work for your shot. However, the most important thing to respect is the order of the edits I go through.

1. Start with Your Presets

There are plenty of editing presets online specifically made for concert photography. If you’ve got a bit of time, do some research and find some inspiration, if not some actual Lightroom presets you can download.

Don’t spend too much time on this part, you’ll soon have your own presets (if you don’t already have them).

2. Crop, Rotate, Adjust

Next, you should adjust the angle and focus of the shot to match the vibe you want to emulate in your final photo. This might mean rotating the image and cropping it to an entirely different angle (see what I did to the sample in the next screenshot).

Of course, you might not want or need to, so this part is entirely up to you, but it should be done before the entire image is edited.

3. Edit Light

Now, start the actual editing like a pro by tweaking light settings. Some good tips to keep in mind:

• Concert photos are typically taken in darker environments, so increasing exposure might yield better results.
• Increasing contrast will make the image pop and bring the colors to life.
• Overexposing or underexposing stage lights is a subjective choice, usually controlled through the Highlights slider. If you want to eliminate background details, overexposing highlights might be the way to go. However, if you want to highlight the subject of a shot better, lowering highlights might be your best bet.
• Increasing shadows is generally a good tip for concert photos as it adds in light without increasing exposure.
• Then, adjust whites and blacks based on your feel. Move the sliders in both directions dramatically to notice the shift, then find a balance you like and leave it there.

4. Edit Tone Curve

Next, use the tone curve edits to achieve a look you’re comfortable with. For my example, I significantly edited the black and white curve to reduce some of the haziness and make the photo come to life a bit more.

5. Edit Color

Next come the color edits and here you’ve got to play by one rule: if your shot has a dominant color (for example red or blue from some stage lights), use that color to your advantage. How? Pick the specific color in the color mixer menu and increase luminance, then make small edits to the other sliders according to your artistic vision.

The example one I picked is more cyan-white, with warmer tones for some elements. So here’s what I came up with:

6. Final Tweaks

Finally, go to Effects and Detail settings and play around for your finishing touches. Some more advice:

• If your shot is in motion, use high Texture, Clarity, and Sharpening to accentuate the motion effect while keeping the subject in focus.
• If your shot is more static, try lowering Texture while increasing Clarity & Sharpening. This will help you add a bit of nuance to the shot, while of course keeping the subject nice and in focus.
• Adding a vignette is a good choice to quite literally put a spotlight on the subject – but you have to decide how much of the details in the background you want to sacrifice.
• If the stage lights are white, like in our example, go for a white vignette. If they are colorful, a black vignette will typically look better. 
• At this stage you might find you want to adjust the exposure and contrast a bit more – feel free to go back and do so, but be very careful as that might increase clipping (areas that are too dark or too bright) in your final photo. 

And here’s the final comparison:

A Few Notes on Concert Photography

After all this preamble, I’m sure many of you are wondering – can you make money as a concert photographer?

The answer, as with most things these days, is “it depends”. Here’s the hard truth:

• You can make decent money and get free passes to some really cool shows, but making a living will be hard and you’ll have to focus on taking pictures instead of taking in the show.
• If you know event organizers looking for photographers, you’ll likely make more money than most but that sort of gig is rare and you should really take advantage of it.
• Most beginner concert photographers don’t get paid – they do it for exposure, a free ticket, and food / lodging in some cases.
• If you’re able to leverage your media relations, it’s probably the simplest way to make more money than most concert photographers. However, few publications hire a photographer solely for a concert, it’s usually a job involving multiple types of photography.
• Despite the lack of money, many concert photographers still choose to do it because of the overall experience and exposure to the band’s audience.

Some Extra FAQs on Concert Photography

1. Can you take pictures at a concert?

If you have a press pass, you can take professional photos from a specific spot that’s either reserved for photographers, or at your discretion (especially for smaller venues). Other than that, the general public can typically take photos with their phones. 

A few big don’ts for concert photography:

• Don’t pull out a big DSLR camera with a telephoto lens if you don’t have a press pass – particularly if you’re in the front rows. If you do want to take a professional shot or two, do it quickly and then enjoy the music, and preferably do it somewhere in the back where you’re not getting in the way of fans trying to enjoy the show.
• Don’t shoot lengthy videos. Capturing videos with your phone is fine so long as you don’t do it for more than a song at a time and you’re respectful of the fans around you. Remember you won’t get better results than the professionals hired by the band to shoot the concert, so at most it’s just a nice memory to have in your camera roll.
• Don’t ever, for any reason, at any point use an iPad or tablet to film videos. You might get away with one photo or two, but more than that and it becomes very frustrating for the people behind you trying to watch the show. 

2. How do you take concert photos on an iPhone?

To make the best of your experience and still capture some good photos, use the RAW camera mode and edit later. If you arrive early, take a few test shots and tweak your settings. But remember: you’re there to enjoy the show, you can worry about how to edit the photos later (or follow our guide above).

If you’re a professional whose camera broke down and want to know whether your iPhone will do – the answer is yes! iPhones have fantastic quality for photography. You can even use Lightroom Mobile for more control over the settings of your shot.

3. How to edit concert photos on an iPhone?

Simple, use Lightroom Mobile – which is free on the AppStore with most features available without a subscription. Other alternatives like Snapseed or Photoshop Express also work. However, if you’ve got a full set of 20+ concert photos, we recommend editing on a computer to be more efficient.

Conclusion

And that’s it for my deep dive into concert photography and how to edit those photos for optimal results. As always, feel free to keep the discussion going in the comments and don’t forget to check out TruHu – our fresh tool for monitor calibration designed to make color accuracy accessible to all the color professionals around the world.