Help? Theater lighting...

I'm posting a REALLY bad photo here because I'm having lots of trouble getting my settings correct for theater shots like these and I'd love some help.

5D MII, 24-70 (55mm), ISO 6400, 1/80 sec at f/3.2 (I used camera meter to get this comb.)
No flash, no tripod, AWF.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

If you can make the RAW file available, we might be able to do something with it...

regards,
/alan

Didn't do RAW- I know- BIG MISTAKE. I will in the future. But as far as settings... does anyone have any ideas for getting the settings right to begin with so I don't have to fix it in pp?

Try opening up to 2.8. A faster shutter speed will help some by limiting motion blur.

Be careful what you focus on. The female dancer's outfit has no areas of high contrast for the AF system to pick up, and that's not even accounting for the reduced AF performance due to the poor lighting.

Use AI Servo.

Also, use spot metering and shoot manual. Matrix and center-weighted metering will try to balance between the very bright costumes and the very dark floor and background. That seems to be what happened here as there is some detail in his tux and the background, but her face and dress are blown out. Use your histogram. You may have re-meter for different numbers as the lighting and costumes change.

Finally, shoot RAW

I take the ISO down and open to f2.8. That seems to help. Also, you should do a WB check, doing a manual adjustment as stage lights are often too warm, the reason why you have to get there early to make sure the temperature is right.

I would suggest a slightly different technique from SuzyView; I'm by no means saying that hers is wrong, but what has worked for me is a little different.

1. Shoot at a high ISO - it's easier to remove noise than motion blur in post processing

2. Shoot with a large aperture - so long as the shallow DoF doesn't kill you (dancers can move fast!)

3. For metering, I tend to use (mostly) evaluative metering, but with -2/3EV exposure correction. When there's a really bright spotlight on the star, I'll zoom in, exposure lock, then zoom out, re-focus and shoot. Might be better to use spot metering (I've not had that luxury up until now) but be very careful where your spot is!

4. I use Av mode. Stage lighting varies too much and too quickly for me to get consistently good results in M mode

5. You must shoot RAW, and you must expect to post-process every shot. Stage lighting is meant for the moment on-stage, it does not necessarily look good on the computer monitor or the print. Therefore, you may have to use your judgement about how much you will "moderate" the lighting designer's work in post-processing. This can be quite controversial.

6. Shoot wide and crop. As I said before, dancers can move very quickly and it's easier to crop than to create a hand or foot that you inadvertently cut off...

regards,
/alan

PS The proof of this method is at http://www.stagepics.c​o.uk. However, the site seems a little flaky just now - my domain host is doing something weird!

Image is overexposed by almost 2 stops I'd say.

Use EC and / or a different metering method.

If lighting is constant, use M and chimp till you get the exposure right. Otherwise, use Av and chimp till you get the EC setting dialed in (will depend on subject, lighting, background, whatever)

IMO ISO 6400 was okay. Correct exposure would have been something like 1/250 to 1/400s at f/2.8. You might have gotten away with ISO 3200. Not lower.

Fantastic advice, everyone. Thank you so much. I am amazed with this forum.