Pictures in a school hall in the dark....!

D

Dimension

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Name
Andrew
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Hi All,

I am charged with taking pictures for my sister in laws dance school. She runs a show yearly and I get to try and get some good shots of the kids dancing for her website.

I wondered if anyon has any tips for me?

I have a Canon EOS 450d, 18-55mm starter lens, and a Sigma APO telephoto zoom lens too.

Trouble is I can't really use a flash ( I only have onboard at present) and I am not allowed to use that.

I am wondering the best way of getting good quality images whilst in the dark quite a way away from the stage which will be lit?

Any ideas? do i need a different lens? Is there a particular setup?

Any help or guidance would be most appreciated.

Cheers
Andy
 
If your zoom is 5.6 at the long end, you probably could do with a faster lens. Can you borrow a 2.8 from anyone? and then also crank up the ISO to 1600 and you should get some useable images (depending, of course, just how dark it will be off centre stage).
 
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You are going to need a fast lens, f/2.8 or below.

You are going to need a fast shutter speed so you are going to need to push the ISO right up too.

Shoot in RAW as this will give you a little room for adjustment post processing.

It really depends on the lighting though, if they have strong spot lights then you should be ok, if not then you may struggle.
 
Shoot the dress rehearsal with flash so you don't upset the audience. Drag the shutter to take in the ambient.
 
I think your sister-in-law is either going to have to let you use flash (dress reherasal is a good idea), or stump-up so you can hire a fast prime lens or two. Even going the fast prime route, that throws a lotof pressure on you to get it right first time. Use the dress rehearsal and then you've the performance night for either a second chance or audience reaction shots.
 
This is the problem. I have very few lenses and of course they are on not the fastest of lenses.

So I have a 35-70mm, 18.55mm and a 70-300mm F4 -5.6 APO.

I will be high up on a balcony a fair way away. So I guess fast as I can do - no flash and big ISO......
 
I echo the dress rehearsal shoot if you can do it. This is the way I often shoot school plays & concerts, as you can move around more freely and often it's lighter. Dance and plays are a nightmare if the lighting changes a lot - it's a bit of a lottery really but...

However, if you are in the balcony and it's dark, its going to be tricky with your kit if the light is bad. However...here's an approach to use:

- The lights on the performers can actually be quite bright - dont underestimate this.
- Camera in manual mode
- Aperture wide open
- Use RAW for max post-processing flexibility
- Spot meter on the dancers using your longest lens at max zoom.
- Set your shutter speed to 1/300th or so (faster if you can) to get the right exposure from the spot meter, and up the ISO accordingly to get it.
- If you aren't comfy with the higher ISO, slow the shutter speed but be prepared for blurred movement. A sharp noisy pic is better than a blurred non-noisy pic.
- Hopefully the light wont change :)
- Shoot away - keep the camera as steady as pos as the shutter speed goes down.
- Maybe try for some "arty" motion blur shots if all else fails. A lightweight tripod to keep the camera steady, a cable release, and you can get some lovely slow shutter speed stuff.

I was shooting a concert last week from the back of the hall. OK, I was using a 400 2.8, but I was getting 1/400th at ISO2500. You could drop the shutter speed to 1/200th at f/4 and get the same shots.

Edit - 450D may be tricky at ISO2500 :D but you'll be amazed at what you can get. Just dont underexpose the shots as the noise will look horrible if you try and increase the exposure again in post.
 
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doing photos at a show, whould restrict your creativity . the best position is infront of the stage or possibly on the stage.

to be honest f2.8 is about minimum for the job, i have just done a high profile event and used a 28-70 and 70-200 both f2.8
and got 200+ good photos

if you do it good luck

Cheers Steve
 
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Dimension said:
Hi All,

I am charged with taking pictures for my sister in laws dance school.

Cheers
Andy
Click to expand...

Andy - you have it all wrong - why is she cahrging you.

Surely you should be charging her.

:bonk:
 
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