Dance Recital Ideals.

Hey everyone, I have been taking pictures of my daughters Dance Recital for the last 3 years and I am always looking for new ways to improve. What I really want to know is the best settings to us. Now i am usually in the back of the theater/Auditorium so i have to use my telephoto lens 55-200mm On A Canon T3i on it's closest setting. I am on Manually mode but there is some motion blur. I have the ISO Set to 800, the F-stop is set to 2.8 The First Recital i used the Shutter @ 1/125 I think that was my issue.

On the 25th of june i have the finally 3 recitals sessions to do. I will be moving midway up towards the stage to get closer.

But i am still looking for Advice on the best settings, i can not use Flash.

Thank you.

Up closer, the 55mm end of your lens has a larger aperture than the 200mm end of your lens. So you pick up more lens light transmission.

I looked up the 55-200, and it is a variable aperture of f/4.5-6.3. So you can't be shooting at f/2.8. Unless your lens is different than the one that I looked up.

Check the EXIF info on the shots to see what focal length you shot at. And figure what you would use closer up. Because a better lens for your dim light situation would be a fast prime; 50/1.8, 100/2.8, 135/2.8.

Crank up the ISO to 1600 or 3200 or 6400. When the light level is LOW, you have to crank up the ISO and accept the noise, or you may not get the shot. You are handicapped by a slow lens, so you have to make up with higher ISO.

Depending on the type of dance, you may need a faster shutter speed. In most dances, there are places where the dancer pauses for a fraction of a second. If you practice, a LOT, you can learn to catch the dancer at those pauses. Go to her practices and look for those pauses and practice shooting them. You need to anticipate the pause, as there is eye->brain->finger lag and shutter lag before the camera shoots the shot. And do NOT 'jab' at the shutter release button, you will will shake the camera. nice smooth press is what you want.

If you shoot during the movement part of the dance, you will need to crank up the shutter speed, and you need to crank up the ISO level to do that.

 

Thanks for the advice, I should have mentioned the Lens i am using a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (link removed)

It is a canon Pro lens. With a F-stop of 2.8. I am not just taking pictures of my daughter, i am doing all the dancers.. :)

 

I don't like going above 800 ISO, but i think i might start having too..

 

THank you.

I agree with Gary, but I'm going to be a bit more direct: stop being obsessed with pixel hygiene! If you want clean shots at ISO 6400, buy a Sony A7s. Otherwise accept noise. It's beautiful thing, really. I would also recommend shooting in b&w if you like it.

BTW can you attend dress rehearsals? That will give you not only more photos to choose from, but it will give you a better idea of what will happen and in what order.

You are light limited, so you have to do what you have to do, to get the images.

And one of your few options is to crank up the ISO level.

On a print vs. pixel peeping on a screen, the parents are unlikely to see the electrical noise in the image.

I shot my niece's wedding with a D70 at ISO 1600 (the highest it would go). The altar images turned out just fine.

 

I can and I am Attending the dress Rehearsals.

 

Thank you.

Sometimes you just have to accept one or the other:

motion blur OR higher ISO

"You can't have it all"

Canon T3i (600D). . . I have been taking pictures of my daughters Dance Recital for the last 3 years and I am always looking for new ways to improve . . . I am on Manually mode but there is some motion blur. I have the ISO Set to 800, the F-stop is set to 2.8 The First Recital i used the Shutter @ 1/125 I think that was my issue. On the 25th of june i have the finally 3 recitals sessions to do. I will be moving midway up towards the stage to get closer. But i am still looking for Advice on the best settings, i can not use Flash. . . . I can and I am Attending the dress Rehearsals. . . . i am using a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

If you have a Subject Motion Blur at F/2.8 @ 1/125s @ ISO800, then you either need to use a faster lens or bump the ISO or both.

As already suggested, you should use the Dress Rehearsals, NOT the performances, to get the main set of image of all the dancers.

During the Dress Rehearsals you should have the ability to MOVE ABOUT. Being able to move about is of significant advantage as it allows the Photographer to get many quick, different Camera Viewpoints on the Performance and the Performers. Additionally shooting during the Dress Rehearsals allows you to get a closer viewpoint to the action; shooing from the rear of the hall is extremely limiting.

Typically for this type of task, I would use two (‘full frame’) cameras, each with a Prime Lens usually a fast 35 and a fast 85. I think, as you are renting a lens and have one camera only the best lens to rent would be an EF-S 17 to 55 F/2.8 IS USM and you need to get much MUCH closer; (NOT just halfway up the hall).

You also need to know the choreography and the lighting changes and then you can plan your moves to the best Camera Position for each shot of a dancer and each of the group shots – be that at Audience Front Row and you move across it; or from either of the Stage’s Wings.

You also need to bump the ISO, probably to around ISO3200.

Without knowing the dances involved in the production (i.e. the speed and type of dance) and your skill and experience level, it is difficult to suggest a shutter speed which would be considered as 'safe'; but it is a reasonable suggestion, based upon your Opening Post, that you do need to be pulling shots with a faster Tv than 1/125s - so I think that the aim would be to get as close to 1/500s as possible.

A monopod can be useful for a telephoto lens, but if you are using a standard zoom lens, especially with IS, it is a little bit redundant.

The other consideration (when knowing the choreography) is to time the Shutter Release for the point of minimum Subject Movement: in any dance or play there will be times when for a split second the pose is 'held' and it is your job to know those when those times occur.

But in really low light, sometimes you just have to put up with a little bit of Subject Movement. This is when the lighting is so low that you run out of ISO and Aperture.

In this example, made around 2005, I was using an a pair of EOS 5D and on one I had an EF 85/1.8. The shot was pulled at F/1.8 and ISO3200, the shutter speed was around 1/50s: and you can see that although the Actors are reasonably crisp, because most of the action was paused for that split second, - the evil one's hand is still moving:

WW

William, Thank you for your reply, Thank everyone for there views. I was unable to to see the practice for the first show as they didn't have one, this was just for Solo's, Trios, and Duets. The next Show(s) is June 25th, with the Practice being on the 11th, of which i will be attending and taken pictures. Of which i hope to sell during the recital. (Print out 4x6's, and such and put on tri fold board)

I turn IS off as i am using a tripod. And i do plan to move closer then i have been in he past. This recital is 3 Session on the same day. Some 98 Dances. My wife who knows most of the dances will be taken some pictures as well once she is done getting my daughter ready for her dances.

I just got done uploading the pictures i took for the first on to my sight, Unedited as the studio director wanted.