How to shoot Lion Dance at night with FZ-10?

[wattky]

Hi folks,

Does anyone here know what setting to use for shooting Lion Dance esp during the night with strong lighting from the overhead lamps? And any tips or know-how on shooting Lion Dance events eg, What angle is nice? Ground level or try to go higher ground and shoot?

1st time trying out with my FZ-10 on the finals held at Cheng San CC for the North zone elimination round. I set it to Shutter priority 1/30sec and the pic looks dark, so I set the ISO to 200 and even increase the EV value to the maximum and still it was kinda dark. Also I can't seems to be able to capture a sharp image of a subject while he is leaping at the same time having the background blurred? What I get is the opposite? As in background ok, subject blurred.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by wattky Hi folks, Does anyone here know what setting to use for shooting Lion Dance esp during the night with strong lighting from the overhead lamps? And any tips or know-how on shooting Lion Dance events eg, What angle is nice? Ground level or try to go higher ground and shoot?

setting wise depends on condition of shoot, angle depends on the photographer him/herself. there is not definite standard or nice angle. sometimes it is nice to go from lower but sometimes it not.

Originally Posted by wattky 1st time trying out with my FZ-10 on the finals held at Cheng San CC for the North zone elimination round. I set it to Shutter priority 1/30sec and the pic looks dark, so I set the ISO to 200 and even increase the EV value to the maximum and still it was kinda dark.

, this sounds weird to me, after increasing EV still looks underexposed. the only reason i can think of is that the reflection made by the shiny scale on the lion "skin" + the strong headlamp have fooled ur camera metering.

maybe some pro might wish to advise noob like us

Originally Posted by wattky Also I can't seems to be able to capture a sharp image of a subject while he is leaping at the same time having the background blurred? What I get is the opposite? As in background ok, subject blurred.

as for this, i think you are not used or not doing the panning technic. if im not wrong you are just clicking the shutter without panning ur camera with the jumper. do join us for any outing PLUG outing and you will learn some pro tips from the PRO CO.

[metallilan]

you probably need a flash i think...

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by metallilan you probably need a flash i think...

where can flash... later the lion jump u flash 1 time he tot kena flashbang

[dragos]

do agree that it is hard to take...but must use flash, the person is under the lion, will not kena bang wall one...haha...

i tried once, did it at ISO800 and 1/40s at TV

[Hexlord]

Originally Posted by dragos do agree that it is hard to take...but must use flash, the person is under the lion, will not kena bang wall one...haha... i tried once, did it at ISO800 and 1/40s at TV

The FZ-10 can go up to ISO800 ah?

[wattky]

Originally Posted by dragos do agree that it is hard to take...but must use flash, the person is under the lion, will not kena bang wall one...haha... i tried once, did it at ISO800 and 1/40s at TV

Ehh....the organiser specifically said just before the start of the competition that for safety sake, no flash is allowed. In any case, will the flash of FZ-10 be enough? hehe cause I dun've any external flash.

[wattky]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ setting wise depends on condition of shoot, angle depends on the photographer him/herself. there is not definite standard or nice angle. sometimes it is nice to go from lower but sometimes it not. , this sounds weird to me, after increasing EV still looks underexposed. the only reason i can think of is that the reflection made by the shiny scale on the lion "skin" + the strong headlamp have fooled ur camera metering. maybe some pro might wish to advise noob like us as for this, i think you are not used or not doing the panning technic. if im not wrong you are just clicking the shutter without panning ur camera with the jumper. do join us for any outing PLUG outing and you will learn some pro tips from the PRO CO.

Wahh u said it man!! I was really just clicking the shutter without panning my camera with the jumper. Oh ok...now I know hehehe

Eh....what is PLUG outting?

[wattky]

Originally Posted by Hexlord The FZ-10 can go up to ISO800 ah?

Ehh....nope FZ-10 can only go up to ISO400.

[dragos]

paiseh...me using canon...hehe...:P

[wattky]

Originally Posted by dragos paiseh...me using canon...hehe...:P

Haiya! hehehe whats a canon user doing in a Panasonic section? hehehe juz kidding lah. What canon model are you using?

[dragos]

Originally Posted by wattky Haiya! hehehe whats a canon user doing in a Panasonic section? hehehe juz kidding lah. What canon model are you using?

canon 30D

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by wattky Wahh u said it man!! I was really just clicking the shutter without panning my camera with the jumper. Oh ok...now I know hehehe Eh....what is PLUG outting?

haha, pretty obvious from the picture actually. anyway [P]anasonic [L]umix [u]ser [G]roup... but now most of us who always meet up as PLUGer were using nikon/canon

[FZ5owner]

Originally Posted by dragos do agree that it is hard to take...but must use flash, the person is under the lion, will not kena bang wall one...haha... i tried once, did it at ISO800 and 1/40s at TV

the higher the ISO more noise.
try f5.6, 1/125 with ext flash ISO100 or ISO200 and not built in flash
u are shooting outdoor, there be other light source
do a few shoots to compare which is the best setting, adjust higher or lower F-stop if over or under.

me 2 cents

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by dragos do agree that it is hard to take...but must use flash, the person is under the lion, will not kena bang wall one...haha... i tried once, did it at ISO800 and 1/40s at TV

, the dancers would still have to look out thru the mouth (front person) and if at that poor moment, ur flash pop right at his face... guess what happen urself

[wattky]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ haha, pretty obvious from the picture actually. anyway [P]anasonic [L]umix [u]ser [G]roup... but now most of us who always meet up as PLUGer were using nikon/canon

Wah biang , all sounded like having a DSLR like that leh hehehe

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ , the dancers would still have to look out thru the mouth (front person) and if at that poor moment, ur flash pop right at his face... guess what happen urself

Yup, I hate to be the only one who flash and then 1 lion lie on the floor with everyone looking at me and the rest of their clan wanting a piece of me and my camera hehehe

[obewan]

Under such condition a DSLR and a fast lens is recommended to give reasonable
shutterspeed to freeze the action. 1/30s is still too slow.
A FZ10 is unsuitable in this kind of condition.
You can use a tripod and set to a slow shutterspeed of 1/10s or less to get a good exposure. But of course to freeze the leaping lion dancers is impossible.
Blur motion shots sometimes can be great though.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by obewan Under such condition a DSLR and a fast lens is recommended to give reasonable shutterspeed to freeze the action. 1/30s is still too slow. A FZ10 is unsuitable in this kind of condition. You can use a tripod and set to a slow shutterspeed of 1/10s or less to get a good exposure. But of course to freeze the leaping lion dancers is impossible. Blur motion shots sometimes can be great though.

, how about panning with a monopod?
if success, the result might be very dynamic cos of all the panning shots

[wattky]

Originally Posted by obewan Under such condition a DSLR and a fast lens is recommended to give reasonable shutterspeed to freeze the action. 1/30s is still too slow. A FZ10 is unsuitable in this kind of condition. You can use a tripod and set to a slow shutterspeed of 1/10s or less to get a good exposure. But of course to freeze the leaping lion dancers is impossible. Blur motion shots sometimes can be great though.

I am once again being seduced by the dark side again....to get a DSLR....

[wattky]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ , how about panning with a monopod? if success, the result might be very dynamic cos of all the panning shots

I did catch a glimpse of someone with a DSLR and something which look like a monopod. Cause I was busy walking around so I didn't really pay attention to what he was really carrying.