Giselle - Ballet

[Chazs]

I was asked to take some photos at our local ballet, performing Giselle. Very awesome ballet (first one I've ever seen). The lighting in a theatre like this is challenging, but fun. Didn't know if they would come out, but was presently surprised. Shot with a 20D and 50mm f1.4 (and anOlympus 200mm). Here's a link to more of the shots:

http://home.wavecable.com/~stevensc/photos/index.htm

http://home.wavecable.com/~stevensc/photos/images/giselle02.jpg

http://home.wavecable.com/~stevensc/photos/images/giselle10.jpg

http://home.wavecable.com/~stevensc/photos/images/giselle15.jpg

[Noni]

The second one is awesome; graceful, complete, and well well done!

Thanks for sharing!

Best-
Noni

[Skip Souza]

Wow, that's awesome, especially under the circumstances.

[sixshot]

Very good photos here. No. 2 is breath taking.

[Carzee]

Well done. Number 3 with flight and the moonlight backdrop is the money shot so far. Could see it as a poster.

[Chazs]

Thanks everyone. I talked to the principal dancer from Russia yesterday before the last show; wants to order some and take back to Russia. Pretty cool. Here's another one from the end of the ballet that I like:

http://home.wavecable.com/~stevensc/photos/images/giselle17.jpg

[sugar_babygirli]

Amazing shots and you have a great eye for composition! Stage lighting is certainly very hard to work with at times. Could you please tell your EXIF info so I'll have a rough idea for future reference? Thanks so much! :)

[Chazs]

Amazing shots and you have a great eye for composition! Stage lighting is certainly very hard to work with at times. Could you please tell your EXIF info so I'll have a rough idea for future reference? Thanks so much! :)

Thanks, here's the full EXIF data for photo 11 on the website link I put in my first message.

File Name
IMG_7562.CR2
Camera Model
Canon EOS 20D
Shooting Date/Time
5/14/2005 7:59:02 PM
Shooting Mode
Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/250
Av( Aperture Value )
1.4
Metering Mode
Partial Metering
ISO Speed
400
Lens
50.0 mm
Focal Length
50.0 mm
Image Size
3504x2336
Image Quality
RAW
Flash
Off
White Balance Mode
Auto
White balance compensation
B2 G3
AF Mode
AI Servo AF
Parameters Settings
Contrast Mid. High
Sharpness Standard
Color saturation Mid. High
Color tone 0
Color Space
sRGB
Noise Reduction
Off
File Size
6729 KB
Custom Function
C.Fn:01-2
C.Fn:02-0
C.Fn:03-0
C.Fn:04-3
C.Fn:05-0
C.Fn:06-0
C.Fn:07-0
C.Fn:08-1
C.Fn:09-0
C.Fn:10-0
C.Fn:11-0
C.Fn:12-0
C.Fn:13-1
C.Fn:14-0
C.Fn:15-0
C.Fn:16-0
C.Fn:17-0
C.Fn:18-0
Drive Mode
Single-frame shooting

Also, here's what the histogram looked like. The histogram is useless in this type of setting. I found it better to underexpose by 1.5 to 2 stops. Getting anywhere nere a "correct" exposure blew out all the highlights. I was showed up two hours early and took about 50 test shots to get a feel for the lighting. Had I not done that, every shot would most likely have been way overexposed.

[sugar_babygirli]

Wow thanks SO much Chasz! I will review all that really well!

Just curious how you shot at 1.4 aperture and managed to get everyone in focus? I always seem to get very shallow DOF's when I shoot? :( It's great for stage lighting, but why do I seem to have problems?

[Chazs]

Wow thanks SO much Chasz! I will review all that really well!

Just curious how you shot at 1.4 aperture and managed to get everyone in focus? I always seem to get very shallow DOF's when I shoot? :( It's great for stage lighting, but why do I seem to have problems?

Focusing was tricky. Most of the shots that didn't come out good were due to the focus (I also tried to never have the shutter go below 125/s). I used a mixture of autofocus and manual focus. On manual focus, the little red light in the viewfinder flashes when focus is on (that helps to control the lens searching). And also, on autofocus, I have the focusing set to the * button. Once in focus it won't change when hitting the shutter button.

I did a quick calculation using an online DOF calculator. I'm guessing I was about 80+ feet from the stage. The online calculator says that at an f/1.4 with a 50mm lens (on a 20D) the acceptable in-focus range is 63.4 ft to 108.3 feet, enough to cover the stage front to back. The too-shallow depth of field problem increases for much closer objects.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Excellent Job!!!!

Yes .. stage lighting is very hard.. you have an excellent tool in that f/1.4.. that with High ISO and TIMING! can get you some great shots.

Very well done ;)