I get asked this question constantly. What aperture should I use? What shutter speed do I need? What ISO is too high? The honest answer is: there's no single right setting. Lighting changes by venue, by artist, and even by song. Your personal style matters too. That said, here's a solid foundation to build from.

There's a version of Wednesday night at TD Garden where Beartooth blends into the background. Middle-slot act on a three-band bill, tasked with warming up an arena crowd still finding their seats and finishing their beers. That's not what happened.

Tuesday nights don't typically belong to sold-out rock shows. Lights clearly didn't get that memo. Nearly two decades into her career, she packed Paradise Rock Club in Boston on March 10 with the kind of crowd that doesn't just show up out of curiosity or mid-week boredom. These were the faithful.

The Far Out turned a rainy Friday night into a full-on dance party at Off Cabot on March 6. The weather outside may have been dreary, but inside the small North Shore venue the mood was anything but.

A year into concert photography, here are 5 hard-earned lessons on shooting from the pit, managing FOMO, dialing in settings, and finding your style.

Red Bull Heavy Metal transformed Boston’s City Hall Plaza into a street snowboarding playground on February 21, featuring Zeb Powell and a packed winter crowd.

Roadrunner was packed to the rafters, and the energy inside felt more like a coronation than a typical concert. For a band that spent its early years winning over small Boston rooms, Couch’s sold-out hometown show at Roadrunner looked and felt like a moment the entire community had been waiting for. This wasn’t just a big night for the band. It was a collective victory lap for anyone who had been watching their rise from the very beginning.

When two of the most feel-good acts in modern music share a stage, a hootenanny is bound to form. On Friday night at MGM Music Hall, that hooteanny was all Boston’s. Allen Stone and Ripe’s co-headline show felt like a celebration from the jump, but for Ripe, it was something more. It was a genuine hometown moment that doubled as a victory lap.

Winter was quietly making its presence felt in New York City, and it felt only right that the Icelandic folk-rock outfit Of Monsters and Men arrived just as the season shifted. After postponing the first few dates of this American tour while frontwoman Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir recovered from vocal rest, the band landed in Brooklyn for the official start of the run, and the crowd let them know they were ready.

It might have been pouring outside, but inside MGM Music Hall the storm had already arrived. On the final night of their Neon Pill Tour, Cage the Elephant brought a high-energy show that reminded everyone why they’ve remained one of modern rock’s most consistently thrilling live bands. The crowd packed the venue shoulder to shoulder, shaking off the rain and ready for chaos.

Boston’s House of Blues was a full on hootenanny. The 502s, proudly billing themselves as “The Happiest Band on Earth,” lived up to the title in full, leading a roomful of fans through a nonstop celebration that spanned from the opening note to the final encore.

There’s sold-out, and then there’s really sold-out. On Wednesday night at Boston’s Roadrunner, The Beaches showed they’re the kind of band that makes a room feel like it’s about to burst at the seams. The last time the Toronto four-piece rolled through town, they topped out at The Royale. Before that, they were just another opener hoping for a few new fans. This time, they had the biggest club in the city on lock, and I’ve never seen it so packed.

On a cool fall evening in Cambridge, Coral Moons turned The Sinclair into their own personal living room. The local-roots indie quartet kicked off the fall leg of their tour on September 10 with a set that felt both celebratory and grounded. It was a proper homecoming for a band that’s spent the summer on the road.

On Wednesday, September 3, Portland, Maine, felt like it was showing off. The skies were clear, the air had just a hint of fall crispness, and Thompson’s Point was packed for the first night of Vance Joy’s American tour. Maine is known for bringing autumn in early, and this show made the season’s arrival feel celebratory.

By the time the sun dipped low over Thompson’s Point, the crowd was already moving. Portland’s waterfront venue was buzzing with energy Saturday night as Lake Street Dive returned for their annual summer stop, joined by the high-energy force that is Sammy Rae & The Friends.

“Brian Wilson was on my mind a lot with that song,” she says. “He lived a life always spotted by issues with his mental health, and it wasn’t fully understood. I was raised by very strong men, and the most beautiful moments were when they gave themselves permission to cry. That was powerful.”

It had been exactly eight years since Katy Perry last played Boston, a fact she gleefully pointed out at TD Garden on August 8, the eighth day of the eighth month. The symmetry didn’t stop there: her stage was shaped like an infinity symbol, and for much of the night she seemed suspended somewhere between pop concert and high-wire circus act.