Newbie ISO/shutter/lighting question

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Before getting my digicam (Panasonic FZ5) I read an introductory book
on the subject. The one recommendation that sticks out in my mind is...
if in doubt, underexpose. You can always brighten an underexposed shot
with almost any image-manipulation program. But if you get "CCD bloom"
(what's referred to as "blown highlights" on this group) you can't
salvage it, at least not easily.

I want to try my hand at some photos of a "concert in the park" Sunday
evening ( http://www.toronto.ca/special_even [...] events.htm ). I
called the City of Toronto contact number, and they said cameras were
OK. I took a few test shots today at the site. Daylight should be
so-so at the 7:30 PM start, but deteriorating rapidly by the 9:00 PM
finish. I found that I could easily get the underexposed shots up to
snuff with a bit of tweaking in GIMP. The results were a lot better
than what I got by going to ISO 200 and 400 (fuggedaboutit).

My current plan is to take photos in Aperture-Priority mode, i.e. wide
open, to maximize available light, at ISO 80 or 100. I'll also cut down
the exposure by 1 full EV, to cut down blur. Unlike today, I assume
there will be stage lighting on the bandshell. Any hints from people
with experience in this type of situation?

--
Walter Dnes; my email address is *ALMOST* like wzaltdnes@waltdnes.org
Delete the "z" to get my real address. If that gets blocked, follow
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