Its a first, and I need advice - night photography

As Tofuboy adviced, practice before the day comes. It would be fairly easy to recreate the conditions you will encounter, and also shoot RAW and process.

Try to rent a 70-200 2.8IS.
I shoot with a 10D+300 2.8IS (IS On Mode 1), f2.8-3.2, ISO800, Manual, jpg, monopod, no AWB, no flash.
Depending on how the stage is lit, the only thing I adjust throughout the show is the shutter speed. I try to keep the SS above 1/90, it it goes below that, I'll either open up the aperture or bump up the ISO (last resort). Every now & then, I check the histo for blown highlights (lost detail), easier to lighten things up than the other way around.
Here are some shots, batch processed using breezebrowser.

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If you are able to get close enough to the stage, pick up a 50mm F1.8, they are cheap!

Finally I was able to get some time to download and do some post-procesing.

Here are some of the photos. Most were shot at ISO800 as it was very dark. I was sitted in the front row centre sit. The stage was quite high so most of the shots are from a very low looking up angle.

My sons dance item was the very first one (suppose to be third but some program coordination mishap place his time first - just my luck!). For the kids dance I was still experimenting with the correct setting. By the time I figured it all out my son's dance was over. I manage to get some shots - albeit slightly blur.

However, for the adult dance I manage to capture sharper images.

(I roamed around the whole of town to look for a 50mm 1.8 lens. Unfortunately, I did not find one. Now I have started to look out for the lens so that next time I get better photos.)

All photos were shot as RAW. I have adjusted these photos in Photoshop by applying Neat Image to remove noise, adjuested levels, curves and white balance.

Anyway here are the photos. Please let me know what you think, and please provide your comments on how to improve my photography skills and/or these images.

What lens and what settings did you end up using? Looks like you got things ironed out as the night went on. Picture number 3 turned out pretty good

Nice Work! The only thing I might have done differently would have been to try to keep the feet in the picture . . .

I had included the settings but I may have over written them when including the photos.

Here are the settings I used with Canon EFS 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens:

Photo 1: ISO-800, Focal Length-41mm, AV-f/5, TV-1/8
Photo 2: ISO-800, Focal Length-41mm, AV-f/5, TV-1/8
Photo 3: ISO-800, Focal Length-55mm, AV-f/5.6, TV-1/8
Photo 4: ISO-800, Focal Length-55mm, AV-f/5.6, TV-1/80
Photo 5: ISO-800, Focal Length-54mm, AV-f/5.6, TV-1/80

I was intending to use TV 1/80 to start with but somehow (I think in excitement) ended up with 1/8. This caused the photos to come a bit blurred.

For the ones with 1/80 they are good with slight blur. I should have increased the shutter speed to 1/100-1/125 to get more sharper image and then adjust the brightness in Photoshop.

Well, definetely learnt something with this experience.

Chets

I certainly was trying to get full body shots but I was in the centre sit of the first row, and the stage was atleast 3 feet above me at sitting position. Couple of time I stood up to take photos and the audience behind me almost let their soft drink bottles leave their hands and projectile it toward me! So I decided to be seated!

I appreciate your comment. Cheers!

csondagar - I have taken similar stuff on film... using my Minolta and an 80-210 lens I had (gave it away when I got the DRebel)... I generally would stand in the back for smaller auditoriums (i.e. Schools), with a tripod and zoom in as much as possible.

I've also found that when doing hand-held shots, raising the camera while seated and blindly shooting has worked