NOT belly dancers

Granddad · Dec 10, 2013

Last Friday I was asked to shoot some young people in their dance school's annual dance show. I came out of Lightroom with 361 useable shots out of 917 (really pleased with such a high proportion in a live stage production). For once the lighting was relatively excellent with no dark and moody and no coloured lighting.
Sharing just a few of my favourites.

C&C are always welcome.

1.

2.

3.

4.

frommrstomommy · Dec 10, 2013

That bumblebee is adorable. The boy running is a neat shot for sure! Dancers I'm sure really love #1 and mom and dad love #2.. that one seems pretty OOF to me though, but like I said.. mom and dad love it I'm sure!

tirediron · Dec 10, 2013

"Relatively"????? I'd say you won the lighting lottery with that one for sure! Very nice series.

Granddad · Dec 10, 2013

slightly OOF is always a problem in these productions. I try to keep the ISO down as low as I can to minimise noise which means I have to have the shutter speed fairly low (1/125 in most of these). I was using my 28/300 lens which at 300mm only gives me f5.6. I'm still trying to find the right balance, improving and gaining experience but not there yet.

Yes, these are for the parents and they'll produce a decent print for the price, certainly better than their iPhones will do.

Next time I'll have to try using a higher ISO and a faster shutter speed but what I'd really like to do (and am trying to arrange) is get some of these dancers in a controlled stage shoot with strobes. Some of the girls in #1 do decent flying leaps and I'd like to try (among other shots) a slow shutter speed with rear curtain flash.

Granddad · Dec 10, 2013

tirediron said:
"Relatively"????? I'd say you won the lighting lottery with that one for sure! Very nice series.

Thank you John, yes, amateur production in a school hall with limited lighting resources so no-one was trying to set an artsy fartsy mood or win a lighting Oscar.

lizheaemma · Dec 20, 2013

Why that lense? I know reviving old threads.... I do quite a bit of stage stuff and you have some nice equipment. I'd try with your 80-200 2.8. Don't get so stuck on the ISO, push it. Where did you have it for these shots?