Having seen the thread "Belly Dance Competition" on this forum, I looked to see if there was a similar competition in Scotland. And there was! With the autumn amateur theatre season over, this was a great opportunity to try out my 5D and get used to using it.
The hall was not ideal. The platform on which the dancers were performing was raised about a foot above the floor; the seating was not raked and there was quite a large audience so any good shooting positions would be blocking the view for some audience members. Event the aisles didn't work, as there were tables between the front of the audience and the platform.
So, I went to the balcony. That unfortunately tended to foreshorten the dancers, and for some reason camera angles that make ladies look short and fat don't tend to be popular...
I had two lenses with me - the 24-105mm and a 70-200mm. Both f/4.0. I felt that the 24-105 gave better chance for space around the dancer in case she moved suddenly... probably not a bad choice with 21Mpixels to use.
Other learning - I need a couple of 32GB CF cards. I used a CF to SDHC adapter to let me use my 16GB SDHC cards, but it is way too slow...
Hey, I learned a lot, and that's always a good thing! And I managed a few decent shots. More may come later; I've only processed my first card.
1. There were vendors here, and I loved the richness of the colours of the fabric:
2. Adjudicators' equipment!
3. The beautiful Fereshteh, the organiser of the event
4. Before the competition started, there was a fashion show including thes models from the BSFX model agency
5. The First dancer, Jonko
6. Jonko again
7. I moved downstairs before Kimberley started...
8. I didn't catch this lady's name
The rest of the pictures can be seen at http://www.flickr.com …p/sets/72157622874510852/
I feel annoyed that I messed up with these pictures, but also there are a few decent ones...
regards,
/alan
