Alpha Collective member Greg Noire’s live music and portrait photography bottle both energy and atmosphere in equal measure. In order to capture the pulse of concerts and festivals, he relies on two Alpha camera bodies, a variety of G Master lenses and smart accessories. Watch and read below as Greg shares what you’ll find in his bag for concert photography.
Shop Greg's Kit:
Cameras: Alpha 1 II, Alpha 1
Lenses: 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master, 28-70mm f/2 G Master, 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II, 35mm f/1.4 G Master, 135mm f/1.8 G Master
Cameras
Alpha 1 II: My workhorse. The A1 was already a masterpiece, but this camera here – this is like my new everyday because I shoot music all the time. I'm able to capture so many frames per second on this bad boy and on top of that, the resolution is amazing. I’m a real big cropper. I have no shame in that. And that fact that I can crop into an image and make something that was like somewhat wide seem like almost like a portrait-style shot is amazing.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1 II.
Alpha 1: This is workhorse B. I pretty much love these two bodies like my two children. I typically carry two cameras in the photo pit.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1. 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/640-sec., f/5, ISO 640
Lenses
16-35mm f/2.8 G Master: Really great for crowd shots and getting the scale of a performance.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 7 III. 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master. 1/160-sec., f/2.8, ISO 2500
28-70mm f/2 G Master: It’s like having a prime lens at each focal length. So it’s really cool for shooting an artist directly, or getting really cool, isolated moments from the crowd.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1 II. 28-70mm f/2 G Master. 1/1250-sec., f/2, ISO 100
70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II: This is my favorite lens of all time. Version I was originally my favorite lens of all time, but this is just lighter which is a huge help for me because I do carry two lenses on my body at all times. during a lengthy festival or a two- or three-hour show. So having that weight cut down is excellent. And I just love that I’m able to get really cool, tight intimate moments of artists because that’s the number one thing I’m looking for when shooting performances. I need to get some kind of emotion. I feel like I didn’t succeed if I’m not having the viewer feel what the artist is trying to convey in that photograph, and this lens allows me to do that. Also, I have some gaff tape on here because a lot of people shoot Sony at festivals and I don’t want to get my gear mixed up. And also sometimes the artist will see these little highlighter tape pieces. So sometimes it’s helpful to get directly at the camera.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1. 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master II. 1/800-sec., f/7.1, ISO 250
35mm f/1.4 G Master: I have this in here just in case I’m trying to get even more buttery bokeh on a member in the crowd.
135mm f/1.8 G Master: This lens is beautiful. I typically use this when I feel like I got what I needed, and I need a little bit more. So if I have a checklist in my mind of things that I need, once all bases are covered I’ll whip something like this out and get some more dreamier portraits. Because this thing at f/1.8 creates some of the most beautiful types of images I’ve ever had the pleasure of capturing. So this is something that doesn’t ever leave my Pelican case.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1. 135mm f/1.8 G Master. 1/800-sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200
Accessories
Flash: I typically don't use flash when I'm focused on shooting the artist, but I found recently that using a flash on the crowd is actually pretty cool.
Rocket Blower: To blow the dust out of my camera bodies.
Confetti Filter: I might pull out a confetti filter, which is really awesome. It kind of streams light in different directions based on the placement of the artist. If there’s a spotlight, I’ll typically try to place myself in a position that has the spotlight right behind them and it kind of pushes out different types of colorful rays around their head. It’s a really cool look.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 1. 135mm f/1.8 G Master. 1/500-sec., f/1.8, ISO 2500
Star Filter: I use a star filter every now and then if I’m trying to show off specific details about an artist or an artist’s accessories – like maybe really cool shiny earrings or a guitar.
Earplugs: A very necessary piece that will never leave my Pelican is my earplugs. Tinnitus is real and having custom molds is kind of expensive but hearing loss is probably a little bit more expensive. So I never enter a photo pit without having these in both ears.
Photo by Greg Noire. Alpha 7R III. 70-200mm f/2..8 G Master. 1/500-sec., f/4, ISO 3200
Other: Extra Batteries, Battery Charger, Memory Cards, Memory Card Holders, Gaff Tape, Camera Body Caps, lens wipe, handycam, rain sleeve.
See more of Greg Noire’s work on Instagram @gregnoire and at gregnoire.com.
See inside the kits of more of your favorite creators at alphauniverse.com/wimb, and catch more videos like this one on the Alpha Universe YouTube Channel.
