photos at a dance competition

[chris_markiewicz]

Hello. I'm going to a ballroom dance competition and plan to take a bunch of

photos. I expect I'll be at the floor level and I'll be able to get relatively

close to the person I'm shooting.

 

First, my question. I'm hoping someone can provide ideas/instructions for

unique-ish shots. Blurred motion, tricks with the flash, etc. (Please feel

free to post any examples.) Generally, left to my own devices in these

situations, I don't plan beforehand, so I mostly just point and shoot.

 

No clue about lighting, etc - don't know anything about the room, windows,

lights. (Also, I'm just doing this for fun - a friend is in the competition and

I enjoy photography.)

 

I will have a bunch of rolls of tri-x (400) and tmax 3200 - i will choose at the

time depending on the lighting. Nikon f100, sb-80 flash, 50/1.8, 105/2.8, and

70-300/(something high). (I assume flash photography is allowed, but not certain.)

 

Thanks so much for your time.

Chris

[stefanie1]

I saw a great series once that was motion blurred photos of a dancers feet twirling. The dancers skirt just skimmed the top of the frame (just a little more than the hem, of course this only works with long skirts). The skirts of any twirling person will make for some cool motion blur photos. Could also be cool if you can drag your shutter so that the dancer(s) is/are lit by flash and but the skirts and any other fluttery stuff are billowy. There might be some cool lighting too if it's a glitzy competition.

[j.kivekas]

I did a dance photography workshop .. about a year ago. The key observation was the lack of light. Yu could see well, but the camera needed more and more aperture. I shot mostly with 80/1.2 and 70-200/2.8. The range needed is really 50 ... 150 and the aperture you need is definitely less than 2.8. I was using ISO 640 ... ISO 800 and still constantly underexposing with RAW. Flash was not preferred there. I think your 50/1.8 and 105/2.8 are ok for the case. I'd say you need ISO 800 film too or the you have to push 400 to 800. 1/250 pretty much stops motion, 1/focal length keeps it sharp, longer time and it is statistical.

[willhl]

<p>So much depends on what sort of shot you want, what the lighting is like and how close you can get. I've been playing with dancing photos at swing (as in swing dancing, lindy hop, jitterbug etc.) events. I've played a lot with dragging the shutter and occasionally get a good result. I've been using anything from 1/10s to 1/60s depending on how much blur you want and how fast they are moving and you set the aperture to approximately underexpose them by 2 stops without the flash but you have the flash power set to give a normal exposure (leave it on auto for my 430EX except I go for second curtain sync). Does that make sense? I have digital so I just play and I have instant reply to see what works to begin with.</p>

 

<p>Anyway if you can get close then you can create some cool angles with a wide angle lens but you didn't list one and in a comp you probably won't be able to. Otherwise just play with the 50mm and the 105mm as the wider aperture will help get the exposures you need and will help with focusing. Make sure you at least try metering with the high speed film and no flash to see what you can get. </p>

 

<p>If you have servo auto focus then you will probably want to use it and always try and get expressions or poses like a dip or a lift or in swing: aerials or air steps!</P>

 

I've got a few photos online in these folders:<br>

 

www.willsphotography.com.au/wang/ (as in Wangaratta Jazz Festival)<br>

 

www.willsphotography.com.au/mlx/<br>

 

www.willsphotography.com.au/m/ (from 3158.jpg down)<br>

 

www.willsphotography.com.au/fitzroy/<div></div>

[willhl]

<div></div>

[klaine]

Hi,

 

I've been shooting Dance competitions for some years. Some articles describing the basic technicues can be found at http://www.dance-corner.net on the left side menu there is a link to Photography articles.

 

Examples of photos can be found at http://photo.dance-corner.net

 

Some thousand photos are available, international IDSF competitions, Blackpool and local competitions are covered.

 

Kim :-)