Dancers

moment caputred in time.

I tried to use as wide an angle as possible without showing the

audience behind me. The composition had to be centrally weighted (I

tried other shots while the children danced to the swing band but

none worked) and used the benches to highlight it. The speed was

1/15th, I'm not sure about the f-stop.

I have to agree that there is nothing that speical here. The children are too blured and take up too little of the frame. And then there are the people on the benches at the back and they just make me wonder "Why are they there?" they seem to add very little to the piece. I would also like to see the faces of the children.

Take 10 steps forward. Be ballsy. Stop down. Pick one thing to photograph, and weight that object in your frame.

 

This to me is just a blur of stuff... my eye is not drawn to anything. You've got a great location, but push in and capture a moment.

You've captured the children at the perfect moment, but they're too small. Getting closer would help, if permitted. It seems to me like you could get a bunch of (separate) successful images from this scene if you could get close or had a zoom: the children dancing, the band, the spectators on the benches.

 

In terms of composition, I don't like that you've centered the children as if they are to be the focus of the photo, because to me they are too small in the frame for this to work. There is also too much distraction in the background. Maybe try a different angle or use shallow depth of field to blur the background.

I think your intention here was good, and I appreciate how hard it is to capture a moment such as this....but...I find this to be a bit cluttered; the children, who are o me the 'focus' are too far away and o.o.f. ... the band I did not even notice at first as they blend ito the stage behind them....mostly I guess this shot would work if you got in a lot closer to the two children and were able to position yourself higher... which brings me back to your position as a candid shooter...and that you did well under the circumstances, I work in conditions with control more in my favor.

Probably what seems "out of focus" is the blurring of the children's hands and the girl's left foot, but the full-sized shot is sharp. I used 1/15 to try to have some movement (shots at higher speeds were too static). The children were not posing, but they danced for a while, which let me try a few shots. Finally, with the wide angle I tried to give a feeling that the band were playing just for them, not the 150 people behind me.

The moment is perfect, the location is pleasing and the spirit or mood is delightful however the overall blurriness of the image is distracting. Also I think it should be cropped tighter on the children and band. I realize it is hard to capture these moments and after the fact it is to late to redo the shot but nevertheless a shot taken that is not perfect is still useful as a great learning tool.

I like the idea, but I think it could have been executed better. Imagine for a moment how it would have looked if you had shot from floor level, and zoomed so that the band in the background look up all of the Frame. Then the children dancing in the forground would have been nice and large in the frame, and you really would have that feeling that the band was there just for the two kids and no one else.

 

By shooting at about f/4 you could have had the kids in sharp focus, but the band still recognisable, if blurred, in the background. That would have given the dancers the impact they deserve. I also would prefer to see the dancers faces rather than the back of their heads.

 

Definatly worth seeing if you can find the band playing again with someone dancing and try to redo ;-)

Just for comparison, I tried a crop closing in on the children and the band. Any additional comments on both images more than welcome. (Seems the upload function is not working, will try later.)

This is a great moment lost in the background. Had you been lower with a longer lens or closer to the children that would have made a big difference. The longer lens would have reduced depth-of-field showing the dancers (sharp) against the source of the music (out-of-focus). The spectators in the background do not add anything.

The background is pretty distracting but the kids are adorable. I think that without being able to make them the obvious center of the action it hurts the picture. This is a case where a telephoto lens is a lifesaver! The red of her shorts against the grey slate is _fabulous_ - don't you wish you could have been a bit higher and a bit closer and maybe gotten some motion blur?

 

mjr.

Perhaps you might want to consider who are the subjects here. The bad part is they make up what 5% fo the busy scene. The 2 benches of by standers is not helping any.

 

Since your subjects are children, have you considered the reason why you are shooting down from a standing angle to capture them? Pictures of people's backs are not normally very engaging -like the geuture "I turn my back on you" this visual message is carried over here.

 

There is great potential here but it appears that you may have made in appropriate decsions - suggest that you review what you have captured, look around from exapmles of pictures similar that catch and hold your attention and really look to see the differences.

Object trovait!

I don`t see too much of the author in this photo, all the above said is right - even in dance shots, the faces of persons are the most important thing! Look at a similar subject of ms. Liu!

If you shoot in color you must take care of the color composition too - the band has two purple posters on each side and even if you crop out the bystanders that will be a problem.

And when you shot children step at their level (get on your knees if it`s needed)!

Keep trying however.

I have to agree with the comments about the need to focus on something. Pulling back this far gives us the two benches of people leading up to the band, but that doesn't compensate for such a busy and partly out-of-focus image.