Dance Photography

[brooke_renee]

<p>I currently have a Nikon D90 and a D3000 and am photographing a dance performance (no flash allowed but it wont be pitch black there will be a medium amount of light as its in a hall.).<br>

What settings would be best to have my camera set to?. I currently have the Nikon 50mm 1.4G and the Sigma 24-70mm 2.8.<br>

I can be as close as I want (3 meters away the closest or 10m away the farthest). I want the photos to be clear with no blurring effects.<br>

Yes you guessed it im very new to photography im only doing this as a favor for a friend. Comments appreciated. Thanks.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>i'd stick the 50 on the d3000 and the 24-70 on the d90. the d90 is about <em>one stop better </em>in terms of ISO. so you will need the faster aperture lens on the 3000. you'll also need fairly fast shutter speeds with both cameras. that's what freezes motion. somewhere between 1/125 and 1/250 should do it. in order to pull this off, you'll have to shoot both lenses wide open and probably raise ISO. the 3000 will be pushing it at ISO 1600, the d90 will be pushing it at 3200. use the center AF point and AF-C on both cameras, and set to continuous shooting for faster frame rates. if the pics are too dark even at those settings, switch the 50 to the d90 for the combination of fast aperture and better high-ISO.another thing here is WB. i wouldnt rely on auto WB indoors. you want to set it to match the type of lighting.</p>

<p>the thing is, the d3000 with the 50 doesnt really do too much for you other than subject isolation, since your two lenses overlap in focal length and what you'd gain from a faster lens is subtracted by the poorer high-ISO. usually in a 2-body set up, one lens is wider and the other is longer. since that's not the case, you may just want to forgo the d3000 to keep things simple, and stick with the d90. you might find that and the 24-70 is all you need.</p>

 

[jorish]

<p>I would take the best camera ISO-wise (apparently the D90?) and take both lenses with you. If you have the chance, try to scope out the venue beforehand and see what the lighting is like, try to fire a few test shots and see if you can get away with using the 24-70, as that is your most versatile lens. If you need the extra stops of the 50mm, then MY choice would be to use the 50mm and loose some wide angle shots; better to have the pictures you DO take to be correctly exposed, then to have all your shots nicely composed and underexposed.</p>

<p>As far as the actual shooting goes; for dance I am almost always at Shutter Priority, using shutter speeds of 1/125 or higher. I find that usually around 1/125 ~ 1/160 I have a nice combination of movement and freezing movement, and besides, I need that speed to counter camerashake; while following the dansers my camera is not always as still as I would like when I press the shutter.</p>

<p>Another thing would be to check how your autofocus works; I usually have my D300 on AF-C, and set to still fire when there's no AF-lock, because even blurred subjects sometimes render interesting pictures.</p>

<p>What a lot of people don't realise when shooting performances, is that a beautiful play/dance/scene does not always offer a nice picture, and that a scene which the performers think is not as important to the play, might render a nice shot anyway. I've sometimes shot rehearsals, and the pictures made the performers see their work in a new light.</p>

<p>Another thing -for me anyway- is that with dance photography I often don't mind as much if miss a hand or foot in my composition. <a href="http://www.pbase.com/puchelaar/image/100665782/original">This picture for instance</a> breaks all kinds of rules, but I still think it a nice picture (in fact, that whole shoot was full of this kind of shots, because everything was improvised, so there were no repeating dance phrases (which usually ensure a second chance for a great shot; if you missed the first phrase, the second one might soon becoming up)).</p>

<p>Which brings me to my last advice; look for repeating phrases; get to know the performance as much as you can (preferably beforehand, but also during the performance); know if there's a story and, if so, in which way the dancers tell the main chapters and the key moments.</p>

<p>Good luck, and have fun :)</p>

 

[pcnilssen]

<p>I take a lot of freestyle/discojazz dance photos. I use a D300, and 24-70, with settings manual @f 3.3, 1/320, Auto ISO (because there are large varieties in light whether the spotlight is on or off the dancer), spot metering, AF-C. Never flash. I prefer Raw (NEF). and do the final touch-up in Lightroom</p>

<p>I have tried two bodies D300 and D70, the latter had a 50mm 1.8 mounted, but I lost too many shots switching cameras. The 24-70 should do the trick.</p>

<p>example: <a href="../photo/13103433">http://www.photo.net/photo/13103433</a></p>

[mariosforsos]

<p>Having shot dance events quite a few times, I would venture to say you're overestimating the amount of llight - I have almost always found that, in most cases, there is less light than I hoped it would be. Spot lights tend to only throw sufficient light straight down, throwing - in relative terms - everything else into shadows.</p>

<p>Furthermore, it all depends on what type of dances you would be shooting. For example, ballroom and mambo, you'd probably be okay with 1/125th speed, but for the cha-cha and the other of the "big five", 1/250th and above is more than recommended. You see, some of the clothes they were (especially the women) have various "tendrils" shooting off around them, so when they twirl, these develop much higher speeds than 1/250th, so if you're expecting to freeze those, you would have to go even higher.</p>

<p>Try setting your camera to AutoISO and set your cameras to Shutter priority at (my suggestion) 1/320. You should be okay. Setting your exposure compensation at -2/3 would take care of a lot of your noise problems. And as always, shoot RAW and post process.</p>

<p>You can check some of my images on: <a href="http://www.mariosforsos.com/gallery/6802799_4MyVe#434783588_n5FNi">http://www.mariosforsos.com/gallery/6802799_4MyVe#434783588_n5FNi</a></p>

[elliot1]

<p>I would use the D90 with your 50mm f1.4 with the following settings: Auto ISO on, M mode (manual), set the aperture to f1.4, set the shutter speed to 1/250. If the picture come out blurry due to your subjects moving too quickly, increase the shutter speed a bit and try again. Your camera should give you perfect exposures regardless of how the light changes with these settings. A monopod may help you get better results as it steadies the camera and eliminates camera shake.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>I would go so far as to bring both bodies and lenses -</p>

<p>Which ever you use - start with fixed ISO - 2400 at least...shutter speed of 1/320 min - shoot on Manual - and "Chimp". Aperture of f4 - so you get some background </p>

<p>I avoid auto ISO since it (for me at least) tended to wash out the details in the faces and costumes.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[ShunCheung]

<p>Elliot, do you really expect a monopod will help stabilize the camera with only a small 50mm lens on (or even a 24-70mm/f2.8) at shutter speeds faster than 1/250 sec? In this case subject movement and focus accuracy are the gating factors on sharpness.</p>

<p>Clearly there are many types of dancing, but 1/250 might not be fast enough to freeze most dancing motion. If it is too dark to use higher shutter speeds, you might try to shoot more during pauses to get better images. Both the D3000 and D90 use the same Multi-CAM 1000 AF module, which can be challenging under dim light. I would stick with the center AF point as much as possible; that is the only cross type on those cameras.</p>

<p>The D90 uses the 12MP CMOS sensor similar to the one on the D300 and D5000. The D3000 uses the 10MP CCD sensor from the D200/D80 era. The D90 should give you one more stop of high-ISO capability, but at their respective maximum rated ISOs, I would describe the result as acceptable.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>David, auto ISO should not affect image quality in any way. If the proper ISO is 2400 for example, what difference would it be if you selected it manually or if the camera selected it automatically, all other things being equal? As lighting can change during a performance, auto ISO will automatically keep the ISO at its lowest possible setting while giving proper exposure.</p>

<p>A monopod <strong>may </strong>help stabilize the camera for a beginner. Since we have no indication of what shutter speeds whe will be shooting at, there is no way of determining slow or fast shutter speeds will be used. A poster above recommended 1/125 on the low end. A monopod will certainly not hurt at any shutter speed and likely help a beginner at slower speeds. Also, as we are not sure how long the performance, if it is long, even a D90 can come heavy to some especially if you are not used to holding up a camera for long periods of time. Even though I can hold a camera pretty steady, I almost always use one [even with VR lenses] when when the lighting is poor and/or I am shooting for more than a brief period of time. Would I like to see VR on a 24-70mm? Absolutely! I don't think I am alone on this.</p>

[david_brooks6]

<p>VERY IMPORTANT:<br>

Make sure that you meter once on the subject and leave your camera in manual. Because, everytime you or the dancers move, you could be metering on a shadow. Also, if you want to stop the action, you ar egoing to need at least a 250th of a second shutter speed. You should therefore push the ISO as far as you can stand, relative to noise (insert D3s at ISO 6400). But short of the D3, if you can get a reasonable ISO of about 1000 or so, you could be okay--you see, the spot light is usually pretty bright--you will loose the shadows, however.<br>

Enjoy!</p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>A poster above recommended 1/125 on the low end. A monopod will certainly not hurt at any shutter speed and likely help a beginner at slower speeds. Also, as we are not sure how long the performance, if it is long, even a D90 can come heavy to some especially if you are not used to holding up a camera for long periods of time.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Even at 1/125 sec, I don't think a monopod will help stabilizing a 50mm lens or a 70mm lens at all. As I said, I kind of doubt that 1/250 sec is fast enough to freeze dance motion in general. There is no point to consider slower shutter speeds unless you are after the blur effect.</p>

<p>On the other hand, a monopod can be a big hinderance indoors when you need to move around, as you will be carrying not only the camera and lens but also the monopod attached. You are making it very difficult to shoot vertical compositions or tilt the camera up and down. If people shoot a 200mm/f2 or 300mm/f2.8 indoors from a fixed position, I would certainly use a monopod, not with a 50mm lens. Those big lenses have tripod collars, which makes switching to vertical easy.</p>

[brooke_renee]

<p>Thanks very much for all the responses.<br>

Its a mixture of Jazz, Hip hop and contemporary so some are slow and some are quite fast paced. I wont be using a tripod or monopod as ill be moving around and I just think it will be too annoying. I think my best bet it to get there early and take test photos and set my camera accordingly. It looks like its time to upgrade cameras if im going to be doing dance performances regularly. Thanks everyone!</p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>Good luck, Brooke, and don't forget to post pictures here, so we can see how it is going!</p>

 

[chris_leck]

<p>Pretty much what Per-Christian and Marios say. I tend to shoot aperture priority, matrix or center, and dial down 1-2 stops, depending on lighting contrast. Spot metering and manual seem too complex for this old guy in this situation, so I'll question it until I see the results.</p>

<p>For hip-hop and no blur, good luck. This image will show that 1/250 is too slow.</p><div></div>

[eric_arnold]

<p>i'm not sure why elliot keeps insisting a monopod is a must for dance photography. but anyway, it's really all about shutter speed here. the reason i suggested 1/125-1/250 was i doubt you'll be able to shoot at faster speeds under those conditions and still keep the ISO manageable. shooting stuff like this is why people go for FX cameras. even so, i find a little bit of blur on a arm or leg can be ok (suggests/implies movement) as long as you get the face in focus. and learning the routines and their timing can help with picking the right moment to shoot, so even a relatively slow shutter of 1/125 can still work if timed correctly. basically, there's a rhythm to dance as well as a rhythm to shooting dance.</p>

[jorish]

<p>^ What Eric says. I completely agree with him.</p>

[chris_leck]

<p>Yup, shoot on the beat. There's often a peak of action there. I sometimes use a monopod, sometimes a tripod with gimbal head, but I prefer hand-held. Pictures with blur sell less well. With auto-ISO, sometimes one can get a bit higher than 1/250. ISO 6400 is no problem with a D700 and a little de-noising.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<blockquote>

<p> ISO 6400 is no problem with a D700 and a little de-noising.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>chris, the OP has a d90 and a d3000.</p>