advice for circus photography

[Anna7]

Hello,
I am new on this forum,still a learner and very keen to learn how to handle my Camera.
It is a Canon 5d Mark 2.
Tonight I am going to a circus show and want to take my camera.I am going to use the 70-200mm zoom.
Does any of you exports got some good advice for this kind of shoots?I do not think I will be allowed a tripod.
regards Anna

[DC Fan]

Depends onthelight.
Indoors or under a tent, you want to make sure the camera is set to handle the available light: an example using manual camera exposure settings and a light meter to measure the light falling on the performers. In this case, there was more light from the edges of the open tent. So exposure settings had to be adjusted to properly handle the performers on stage. Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens was used in this example.



Focal Length: 70.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500)
ISO equiv: 1600
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal





Focal Length: 170.0mm
Aperture: f/5.0
Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: program (Auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB


For outdoors or where there's plenty of light, concentrate on the best images,

Originally Posted by Anna7

Hello,
I am new on this forum,still a learner and very keen to learn how to handle my Camera.
It is a Canon 5d Mark 2.
Tonight I am going to a circus show and want to take my camera.I am going to use the 70-200mm zoom.
Does any of you exports got some good advice for this kind of shoots?I do not think I will be allowed a tripod.
regards Anna

[eerfmaps]

I've had some issues with poor lighting at circuses, but hopefully yours will be better. For most acts, you'll probably want a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action, which can be an issue if you don't have enough light. With your 5d2, you can crank up the ISO a fair bit and still be ok (like DC Fan's is for his indoor shot). Just curious, which 70-200 do you own?

[PhotosGuy]

Originally Posted by Anna7

Tonight I am going to a circus show...

I wish you'd have given us more time, because I expect that you'll have some questions that we won't have time to answer?
I'd use manual exposure, find something white in the ring under their "normal" lights, & shoot as much of a close-up as I could get. Look at the histogram & adjust the exposure to get that white as close to the right as you can. Use that exposure setting until you see a change in the lighting.
If you find that confusing, this might give you some hints. Look at the text above the image of the ref's white shirt in post #1:
Need an exposure crutch?

Shooting RAW for more latitude in processing would be a good idea, too.

[Anna7]

thank you for the hints and help.
Guess what.-I was not allowed to take any pictures inside the tent.Big dissapointment.

[watt100]

Originally Posted by Anna7

thank you for the hints and help.
Guess what.-I was not allowed to take any pictures inside the tent.Big dissapointment.

well phooey .... Barnum & Baily ?