Am I trying for the impossible?

[rlemert]

My son's high school graduation was yesterday, and it was almost impossible to get a decent shot period, let alone one with any artistic merit. The stage was brightly lit - with white sheets on the first row of chairs and white flowers along the front, while the rest of the auditorium was very dim. No one except the professional photographers (the official one plus two from the media) were allowed near the stage.

I tried both my EFS 55-250 and my kit 18-55, but most of my shots were 1/20th or slower at ISO 1600, so I had a lot of problems with blurred pictures. And if I tried to include the stage I burned out most of the stuff up there while barely getting a decent exposure elsewhere.

This is one of the few halfway decent "panoramic" shots, and everyone on stage is over-exposed. (Shot at f/3.5, 1/13th, ISO 1600, with -0.67 ev. Sharpened and de-speckled in gimp.)

I realize I am probably exceeding the limits of my equipment, and I'm definitely pushing the limits of my ability. However, is it even possible to get decent pictures under these circumstances?

 

[MK3Brent]

You need to determine what you want to expose for.
The stage?
The crowd?
Both?

If you want it all, you'll need to control your supplemental lighting.
By the grain I'm seeing here at 1600, I'm guessing you're shooting with a sensor similar to my D200 or equivalent.

Your shutter speed is slow for the lens/focal length you're at.
If you were allowed flash, you could have exposed for the stage, which would have sped up your shutter, and a light fill with a hotshoe flash at like... 1/8 power or so. (You're not going to expose more than 10' from you with the 1 flash however, but it still would have made for a decent photo.)

Frankly, there is a lot going on in your photo (lighting wise.)

 

[scorpion_tyr]

For events like this with stage lighting indoors I get the best results by using spot metering. A good f/2.8 or faster with USM would also allow you to use faster shutter speed and lower ISO.

 

[rlemert]

Part of the reason I posted this particular picture was because it's probably the most challenging. I do have some decent shots of some of the people on the stage when I zoomed in to them. I never did get any good shots of the audience because I could never get a fast enough exposure.

Would a flash really have made that much of a difference in this shot? I would have thought it would lose effectiveness at anything beyond 15-20 feet. (BTW - all I have is the Rebel XSi with its built-in flash. I haven't tried getting an external flash yet. Maybe that should be my next purchase.)

 

[Josh66]

Last graduation ceremony I went to, there wasn't any point trying to take pictures inside. Too dark for pictures of the crowd, too far away for pictures of the stage. They really do a good job making sure you have to buy their pictures.

Got plenty of pictures outside, but that was it.

 

[MK3Brent]

Part of the reason I posted this particular picture was because it's probably the most challenging. I do have some decent shots of some of the people on the stage when I zoomed in to them. I never did get any good shots of the audience because I could never get a fast enough exposure.

Would a flash really have made that much of a difference in this shot? I would have thought it would lose effectiveness at anything beyond 15-20 feet. (BTW - all I have is the Rebel XSi with its built-in flash. I haven't tried getting an external flash yet. Maybe that should be my next purchase.)

You wouldn't get the whole crowd. A tighter shot with the seats with a large aperture to bring parts of the stage in DOF and a fill light would have looked nice.

For a whole crowd shot, you didn't do a bad job.

I recommend a wide angle lens to help you get more in the frame at closer proximity. Great all around indoor lens as well.