I’ve been meaning to try some concert photography and last night’s performance of Balla Tounkara et Groupe Spirit at the free Fête de Marquette festival in Madison provided the perfect opportunity.

The band is from Mali and played some very infectious afro-pop. I enjoyed their music a lot. At times when I was shooting, I had to remind myself to stay still for a good shot. It was really hard not to move while they were playing.

Balla Tounkara plays the kora, a West African instrument.

Concert photography presents its own challenges, especially with the lighting. Using a flash is out of the question (you don’t want to annoy, and you do want to capture the stage lighting). So you need to shoot with a higher ISO, which can make things a bit grainy (example below).

Digital Photography School has a good tutorial: the basics of rock concert photography.

I liked the next photo even though it was a bit out of focus. Hopefully I can improve my technique by shooting more concerts.

Toward the end of the show there was this young girl “dancing” with a hula hoop in front of the stage. Balla enjoyed her technique so much, he brought her up on stage to hula hoop during the encore. The crowd really cheered her on. After the song he introduced her and gave her a big hug.