Dance Work

Keltic Ice Man

Keltic Ice Man

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Allan
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I've been asked by my sons dance studio to go down to rehearsals tomorrow and take some shots, and again next week at the show- come on guys can I have some pointers, No Flash allowed - so I assume ISO is up high (800 ?) - I assume put it in shutter mode (Tv) but what sort of speed shutter to get clear pics of faces when they are dancing?

I assume use RAW - but then do I convert to Tiff and then noise reduce? or do all the work and then noise reduce?

So many questions :)

Thanks

Allan
 
Canons handle high sensititvity really well, so I wouldn't be afraid to use iso 800 or above, shutter speed depends on the effect you're after, sometimes a bit of blur can be good to help convey the movement. I wouldn't worry about noise too much, if you nail the exposure and don't have to push it then all will be grand.

I'd use Av mode personally, use a largish hole to help isolate the dancers from any distracting backgrounds.

Experiment and have fun, once you find something that works, take some shots and try something else. Tis the only way to learn.......
 
Well not too good a day shooting :(

I had to use ISO800 due to being indoors and under standard flourescent lights in a sports hall, and with the Kit lens the lowest aperture I could get to was F4.5 with 1/50th shutter.

This in some cases has stopped the action (which is what I wanted to do) but there isn't the background blur that I hoped for, and there is a lot of noise on the pics.

I'm doing the stage rehearsal next week - so any more ideas would be useful.

Thanks

Allan
 
Personally I would not think twice about using 1600 iso. There will probably be less noise in a correctly exposed 1600 iso shot than an underexposed 800 one made brighter.

Simple answer is you can't do what you are asking properly without a large aperture lens. Beg steal or borrow a 50mm 1.8 ?
 
so any more ideas would be useful.
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Well in terms of getting the background blurred, f4.5 should be plenty open enough if you can get close enough to the subjects. Obviously, the nearer you are to a subject the smaller the DoF.

You will get more blur if you go in closeer though. A leg swinging accross the body 15 feet away is going to move across a small(ish) number of pixels during the exposure but at 5 feet away will, move across pretty much a whole frame in the same time.

Sorry if I'm spouting the bleedin' obvious, just trying to give you some options to think about. :)
 
RobertP said:
Beg steal or borrow a 50mm 1.8 ?
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Or even better a 1.4
 
busterboy said:
Or even better a 1.4
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Now the 1.4 looks a bit costly - but I can see it would be good. -

1.8 looks more in the line of a christmas prezzy - but until then I'll have to soldier on trying ISO 1600 :( - just used all my funds on the 350D.

Don't suppose anyone would like to lend me a 1.8 for next sundays show?
 
You really need the 1.8 mate, but don't forget that'll restrict you options with it being a prime. Have a look at your images to see what focal length you were using.
 
This is classic prime territory, F/4.5 is a real struggle. As said F/1.4 and say up to F/2.8 only thing you have to worry about then is getting the subject with in the shallow depth of field you'll have

But you have not got that option, so you haven't really got the tools to do the job right i'm afraid

I always shoot manual, but av tv or manual will not be of much use to you with such a slow lens for the conditions.

There is no real solution with out a fast lens. Best you can do is what you've been doing, lens wide open iso 1600/3200 there is noise ninja and neat image to deal with the noise, if you get the exposure right the noise will be less

If you're going to shooting in these condition in the future then you are going to need a fast prime
 
You can always "cheat" ;)

on full image resolution

Noise reduction

mask the back ground

apply blur/softening to background (gives it that out of focus / low DOF look)

Reduce resoloution by 20-30 %

apply sharpening to taste.

Doesn't always work but I've had some pretty good results even when printed 10x8 :)

I've got a 50mm / F1.8 you could try but I think Hertfordshire is a bit far for you :(
 
same as it does at all other iso's

if its anything like my music photogrphy i like to stick in the 1/60-1/200th teritory, any quicker and i can notch the iso down a stop, any slower and movement starts to become a problem so i have to up the iso a stop
 
whitewash said:
same as it does at all other iso's

if its anything like my music photogrphy i like to stick in the 1/60-1/200th teritory, any quicker and i can notch the iso down a stop, any slower and movement starts to become a problem so i have to up the iso a stop
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Cheers Jamie - thats what I'd hoped you'd say. Thanks for keeping me right though
 
Try using the movement to enhance the images - a bit of 'creative' blur never hurts.
I never go past 200ISO if I can help it (Nikons are diabolically noisy beasts at the best of times).
Pick your moment carefully - with every dance move, there's a split second where all movement ceases and the dance is static for a heartbeat - that's the moment to take the image (a fraction beforehand so the shutter lag is taken into account).
If all else fails, shoot film as the film grain is often more pleasing to the eye than digital 'noise' and you can get really soft, muted colours from the fast Fuji and Kodak neg films.
Aslo don't forget that memorable images can be had from detail shots - people tying shoes, doing hair, costumes and make-up etc. Studies of choreographers and other dancers watching the others move. Try and work around the subject rather than hitting it head-on and only concentrating on the action. A good shot of a pair of discarded ballet shoes can say more that a shot of the dancers themselves.
 
Arkady said:
Aslo don't forget that memorable images can be had from detail shots - people tying shoes, doing hair, costumes and make-up etc. Studies of choreographers and other dancers watching the others move. Try and work around the subject rather than hitting it head-on and only concentrating on the action. A good shot of a pair of discarded ballet shoes can say more that a shot of the dancers themselves.
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Thanks Arkady, I'd forgotten about those sort of shots - in getting myself geared up for the show. Thanks for the reminder

Thanks for the advice.:)

On the metering - I'm assuming I should set it to Centre Weighted Average Metering - I take it this is another term for Spot?
 
Sean_Mcr said:
Centre Weighted Average Metering is not another term for spot metering Allan. The 350 does not have spot metering

I use evaluative or partial myself and i often shoot in pretty difficult light. I always shoot manual

Don't be afraid of noise
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-july31-05.shtml
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Ah didn't realise it was a different thing - thanks

Tar for the link as well - v interesting
 
Sean_Mcr said:
Don't be afraid of noisel
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Embrace the Noise ......


Feel the Noise.....


Be the Noise......






Just don't buy a nikon.






runs and hides in a dark place:help:
 
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