dance recital need c&c badly

[jarhead2042]

here is the story, my wife belongs to a dance group and i got volunteered to take pictures while they danced...it was in a pretty big auditorium, and they had a fog machine on...my question is...would the fog machine make the majority of the u see in the pictures noise in the pictures?...i cant remember the exact settings on the camera but here is what i can remember

nikon d3000
sigma 18-200mm wide angle lens
f10
iso 1600
and i think the shutter speed was between 1/20 and 1/50

here is some of the pictures....and this is my first time attempting pictures like this so please go easy on me with the c&c lol

1.

2.

3.

4.

 

[Moe]

Not bad, considering your equipment. These are tough conditions, and you need some serious equipment to do these really well. So, you did what you could. One piece of advice would be to increase your aperture (lower f number) so that you can either have a quicker shutter speed (thereby freezing motion) or decrease the ISO (less noise). Judging from your EXIF data, your aperture was 7.1, giving you some room to increase it, depending on your focal length. Also, your shutter speed was a little slow, given the focal length. I think this was contributing to softness more than the ISO. There is a general rule of keeping the shutter speed 1/focal length. But, you have a crop sensor, so it really should be 1/1.5*focal length. So, if you are zoomed in to 200mm, your shutter speed should be 1/300. Granted there is some wiggle room; it's a general rule.

The first three don't really do much for me, but the fourth gives off an MJ vibe. With that one, though, most people would not center the subject.

 

[Dominantly]

Very tough to do with the D3000's CCD sensor..

Your file info is there, this is the info for the last shot

Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Image Date: 2010:02:13 04:57:44
Focal Length: 200.0mm (35mm equivalent: 300mm)
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure Time: 0.0050 s (1/200)
ISO equiv: 1600
Exposure Bias: +2.00
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No
Color Space: sRGB

 

[jarhead2042]

thanks for the help guys...i figured having the iso cranked would be a big contributor towards the noise, with it being the first time taking pictures in a environment like this i was trying anything i could think of lol...i was thinkin next time im going to try and get alot closer to the stage so i have some more light to work with, most of these pics i was sitting about 14 rows back

 

[bigtwinky]

here is some of the pictures....and this is my first time attempting pictures like this so please go easy on me with the c&c lol

In that case, they are great shots. Really nice job considering your lens and camera. Amazing! They could be better, but man, its your FIRST time, so its totally ok.


Seriously, do you want to learn? Best way to learn is to get honest, straight up CC on images, pointing out as many flaws as possible, while still being helpful and professional. None of this "its my first time, be nice". While first times are often harder and offer lots of opportunities to get better, there is still a minimal amount of research you can do into the style of event prior to shooting. And making sure you have some basics down pat before shooting. I shot my first dance show last year in April and had spent a good amount of time looking up pictures out there to get an idea and inspiration from.

There was no reason to shoot at f/10. Why did you chose to shoot at f/10? If you don't know why, then you definately have some reading to do on the basics of photography.

The ISO on a low end sensor is something that would contribute to noise. Opening the aperture from f/10 to f/4 or f/5.6 would allow you to drop that ISO to either 800 or even 400.

So technically, these images lack sharpness, clearness and even the colours seems to be muddy. There is definate room for improvement.

As for artisitic merit (composition and so on).
1- For shots like these, you want to be in front to get the full effect of the cast in a line. Its hard to pull something like this off when you are on the side. For those that you do manage to get in the shot, try and get their entire body in the shot and not cut off arms and legs

2- Not sure whats going on here. A guy's back isn't too interesting as you don't get the interaction between the dancers. The dark shadows make it so that my mind can't really reconstruct the scene.

3- Seems you have someone's head in the shot, something else to try and avoid. When someone asks if you can shoot their event, ask them if you can get front rows seats or have reign to move around the front. Don't block people's views, but if you are going to spend your time shooting and processing, the least they can do is give you a good vantage point.

4- This is pretty much the only shot I that like in the set. The center composition is great, I would of liked maybe you being slightly higher (not always possible, I know) to emphasize the shadow she is casting on the stage. Good timing in snapping the shot. Technically, its not nice...her hands are blurry, the noise and all...

 

[Dominantly]

I'm not certain he shot them all at f/10, the last one was f/6.3. So it probably ranged a bit, ESP considering it was Shutter priority.

 

[jarhead2042]

thanks for the truthful incite bigtwinky...in all honesty i wasnt sure on what settings to use for this, or what might look good(i mainly do landscapes and cars,and planes), my dad used to take wedding pictures way back in the day so i only used him as a reference, and the idiot button on the back of the d3000, need to break the old books back out and do some reading under low light

 

[bigtwinky]

Keep in mind the limitations of your camera as well. While better than a P&S, its a low end dSLR that is not made for shooting in low light.

Typically, you need to try and find some areas where the light is a bit brighter and wait for the action to be in that light. Taking wide shots with lots of black and empty space can often result in noise.

Getting in during a rehearsal to be able to do some test shoots to see what works is also key so you can know what settings work, instead of just leaving it in auto or semi auto. When something is moving, remember that if you are seeing it happen in the view finder, you most likely missed the photo...so you have to anticipate what is going to happen...add to that where its going to happen to get best exposures possible, it then becomes quite hectic....but damn fun IMO.

Keep on shooting though, nothing is better than practice and just being out there and shooting. I've had some bad shoots as well, and thankfully it wasn't for any compensation. Learn from it and get better next time around.

And find a place you can rent lenses from. So next time you have something like this that you are volunteered into, at least you have a resource to pick up a decent f/2.8 zoom or some 1.4 primes to allow for a better end result.

 

[jarhead2042]

what about sitting back stage right where the front curtain is? u would be in front of the action still and i would think the light would be alot better?

my uncle is the person that puts on most of the dancing events in the area so getting back stage isnt a biggie

 

[bigtwinky]

You wont know until you try