Dance Recital

[Drozz119]

This is my first time shooting a dance recital. I bought my first Dslr in Dec. The lighting in Crazy in this place! It must change 10 times on each dance. I tried to use Av and TV mode, but it would miss exposure every time. So, I ended up shooting M and adjusting the SS every shot. Is there an easier way to get correct exposure with the constantly changing lighting?

These are all straight from the camera, no cropping (I was hoping for some advice) All shot at 1600 or 800.. C&C welcome. I have another shot at it tonight.. Thank you

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0563.jpg
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0547.jpg
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0519.jpg
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0449.jpg
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0400.jpg
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0364.jpg
I have to rotate and crop this one
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/psaunders119/Recital%2009%20Sunday/IMG_0159.jpg

[johnstoy]

Looks like all of these pics are at ISO 800, taken at f/2.0 with the 135mm prime... Great lens, with complimentary backgrounds...

There is room for more variable settings.... Most of your shutter speeds are around 1/350th... somewhere between 200, 250, and up to 1/400th.

The 50D handles noise very well... I'd consider bumping the ISO up closer to 1250 and use a center point instead of pattern for metering...

Looks like the stage lighting is relatively good, in terms of brightness... after all, you got these results at ISO 800 and pretty fast shutter speeds...

Shoot in RAW, and post process your exposure... or shoot bracketed... and post process...

Most of us are lucky to get this kind of lighting... and instead are shooting wide open, at shutter speeds of around 1/60th -1/100th and use ISO 1600.

[Drozz119]

Thanks John! I'll try that tonight.
When I use the center point for metering, should I set my ISO, f-stop wide open, and shoot in AV mode?
Also, should I use the lens hood indoors, does it affect the light gathering?
Thanks again

[alessandro2009]

I like especially 5-6.

Very cute dress.

If it's possible the next time try to go on the centre.

[johnstoy]

I adjust the Shutter speed or the aperture, on the fly... Constantly... depending on the mode I'm in...If you stay in AV... adjust the aperture if the shutter speeds get too high, or as needed...

On the 50D, adjusting the ISO is also pretty easy... first top right side button, and a turn of the top right side little wheel adjusts it quickly... just be sure to later, return to the ISO you intend to do most of the shooting at.

... I think you won't have a problem with noise, even at ISO 1000 - 1250... I nearly always use ISO 1600 in low light shows... (some noise reduction in post processing, is usually applied)...

Center point focusing and metering is usefull when the stage lighting changes a lot... Aim the spot on the face, or closest eye, as the faces are most important...

Also, when intending to focus, consider swiching to upper or lower center spot, or right or left side center spot, cause that way you will be able to frame the image, to include more of the subject, and that helps eliminate the empty spaces...

The idea of using RAW is like added insurance... But will require some post processing to convert to Tiff, or jpg...

Try to check back here a few more times before you go... Maybe, Rene, or Narlus or Dwight, or Black Shadow, or Skifurther, and some others, (the most regular of shooters here), will have some more tips.

[Drozz119]

Great Info John! I'll try to apply it tonight!
Thanks for taking the time.. i apprecitate it

[Lutefisklover]

You may want to try using safety shift (it's on the 40D and I presume the 50D) to deal with the fast changing light. I can get by with fast lens by leaving ISO at 1600, and setting shutter speed to 160 or 200 in Tv mode. If the light is really low, the shutter speed drops--if the light goes up, I get some depth of field.

[alan_potter]

These look great. My suggestions would be to

1) remember to shoot in RAW; you can recover from a lot of bad situations that way

2) keep the shutter speed up by using high ISO; it's easier to remove the effects of noise in post-processing than to remove motion blur, and

3) shoot wider than you might think necessary - dancers can move fast and it's easier to crop in PP than to clone in a hand or a foot.

I've taken the liberty of tweaking the white balance in a couple o fyour images; as I said in another Dance Recital class I really prefer more natural-looking colours.

1. I took the white point from an area where the white top had a couple of layers one on top of the other; the thicker fabric gives a more reliable white
371650

2. This was just "tweaking the sliders till it looked right", but you'd need the RAW to recover the highlights.
371651

regards,
/alan

[Drozz119]

Thanks Alan.. they look good!

[Drozz119]

A couple more from last night.. All the advice definitely helped!

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/musiccuts/IMG_0703.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/musiccuts/IMG_0776.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/musiccuts/IMG-0774.jpg
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/musiccuts/IMG_1011.jpg

[alan_potter]

I don't think I've got much to say about these except "they're great - love 'em!"

regards,
/alan

[bobbyz]

Very nice.

[DwightMcCann]

Beautiful ... aren't all the hundreds of Spring recitals just grand!? :-) I have three years worth of images so I guess I should finally try to get at least one little gallery up but how do you choose from 2000 "selects" from each year?

[bull]

Nice capture !!