How to shoot a piano recital

I'll show you how to photograph your child's piano recital. At the piano recital, you cannot move your seat after you are seated, so preparation in advance is one of the most important shots.

[Point] When the audience seats are dark, use the viewfinder to take pictures

When it comes to mirrorless cameras, the number of cases where people shoot while looking at the rear LCD has increased. However, if the audience seats are dark, surrounding customers may be concerned about the light on the back LCD.
Therefore, when the audience seats are dark, it is necessary to be careful not to look into the viewfinder if it is a camera with a viewfinder, or set the brightness of the LCD to dim if it is a smartphone.

[Point] Shoot the camera with manual settings

Basically, the brightness is fixed on the stage for piano recitals. Therefore, if you are used to it, if you set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity manually, the brightness of all the photos in the series will be uniform.
If you don't know the manual settings, set only the shutter speed within the range where camera shake does not occur before shooting.
To set the shutter speed, switch the camera to “Shutter Speed Priority Auto (Tv)” and determine the shutter speed. If it's a piano recital, there is no big movement, and considering the lens's image stabilization function, etc., there will be no problem with about 1/160 to 1/250.
If you set the shutter speed too fast, the ISO sensitivity will increase, and the overall noise of the photo will increase, so be careful. (It depends on the camera model, but an upper limit of ISO sensitivity of around ISO3200 would be good.)

[Point] Use a telephoto lens to shoot

At piano recitals, there is a certain distance between the stage and the audience seats. Therefore, be sure to prepare a telephoto lens such as “70-200mm.” There may be cases where a standard lens makes it difficult to zoom enough to shoot the presenter on stage.
For example, if you stand at the front of the stage, I think it's possible to shoot with a standard lens, but since the stage is often raised by one step, there is concern that in that case the back of the piano will be shown, and the keys and fingers will not be visible.

[Point] Do not use flash (strobe)

Flash photography is illegal on any stage.

[Point] No tripod required, shoot with your own hands

The audience seats in the hall where piano recitals etc. are held are expected to have a narrow sense of front, back, left, and right, and it would be difficult to fully equip them with a tripod.
Also, if you only take photos and videos at the timing of your child's presentation, there is no problem even if you have it on hand.

However, if it is a place where bringing in a tripod or monopod is not restricted, there is also a way to attach a small video camera to a freestanding monopod and shoot without permission. If this is the case, it is possible to shoot images without camera shake.
However, even though it can stand on its own, using a monopod in this way is not originally recommended, so let's respond while being careful, such as whether the monopod falls over due to something.

[Point] Take a picture of the keyboard and face at the same time

The ideal way to shoot a piano recital is to take pictures of fingers hitting the keyboard and facial expressions at the same time.
It depends on the structure of the stage, but if it is in a mortar shape, it will be possible to take ideal photos and images by positioning it slightly above the position where the piano is located (right side with the stage in front).

When presenting on a stage where the audience seats are flat and only the presenter is raised one level, the inside of the piano is basically reflected, and if seated, it would be difficult to take a clean picture of the keyboard and hands.
In such cases, depending on the zoom range of the lens used, we recommend taking a short distance from the stage and shooting with a telephoto lens.
Also, if possible, you can shoot nicely by standing on the upper side of the stage (right side facing the stage).
(There are many cases where people are asked to sit during recitals, so be careful)

[Point] Keep your hair tied

Finally, when your child attends a piano recital, we recommend tying your hair, such as putting it in a ponytail if your child has long hair.
In the case of a small child playing the piano, there are cases where they drop their face and play while staring at the keyboard instead of the score. In that case, if you have long hair, you can think of cases where your hair covers your face and your expression becomes invisible, so be careful.

summary

The above is how to take pictures at a piano recital.
I hope it will be helpful for parents and dads who decide to shoot their children's piano recitals.