Hi I am fairly new to digital. I'd like to know what to pay attention to in shooting people dancing. Specificaly, the settings & flash. Any expert help deeply appreciated
Taking dance pictures
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Dances (depending on choreography) can be fast or slow. So settings should be made accordingly. As a general, what you should pay attention to are
1) The entire dance choreography - this is to time your shots so you know when to frame your pictures, otherwise you'll be getting a lot of shots where the hands or legs looks awkward and even weird
2) Focus on faces - capture emotions as dancers tend to exhibit strong emotions,e.g. faces of agony, passion, strength, dynamism, etc.
3) Use Continuous focus - your subjects are not likely to stay still in one position for long so its more convenient to use continuous focusing. Auto-focus in this mode will help you "stay focus" on the dancers
4) Framing - I personally like to frame from close-up then zoom out, i.e. from about 200mm then zoom out to 70mm or even 50mm depending on lens. If its a PnS then frame from tele, zoom out to wide. This is to put your subjects into perspective otherwise later you may be questioning "What was actually happening?" when you looked at your close-ups. This is known generally as establishing shots (as used in events coverage)
4) Shutter speed - anything less than 1/200 will most likely to produce blur image. Counter this by using flash if permissible (rear- or front-sync it's up to your creative control). Otherwise shoot in high ISO together with wide apertures to attain fast shutter speeds in order to capture motion. IGNORE THIS IF YOU INTEND TO HAVE BLURRED EFFECT.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope this will set you on the right track for your shoot next time
1) The entire dance choreography - this is to time your shots so you know when to frame your pictures, otherwise you'll be getting a lot of shots where the hands or legs looks awkward and even weird
2) Focus on faces - capture emotions as dancers tend to exhibit strong emotions,e.g. faces of agony, passion, strength, dynamism, etc.
3) Use Continuous focus - your subjects are not likely to stay still in one position for long so its more convenient to use continuous focusing. Auto-focus in this mode will help you "stay focus" on the dancers
4) Framing - I personally like to frame from close-up then zoom out, i.e. from about 200mm then zoom out to 70mm or even 50mm depending on lens. If its a PnS then frame from tele, zoom out to wide. This is to put your subjects into perspective otherwise later you may be questioning "What was actually happening?" when you looked at your close-ups. This is known generally as establishing shots (as used in events coverage)
4) Shutter speed - anything less than 1/200 will most likely to produce blur image. Counter this by using flash if permissible (rear- or front-sync it's up to your creative control). Otherwise shoot in high ISO together with wide apertures to attain fast shutter speeds in order to capture motion. IGNORE THIS IF YOU INTEND TO HAVE BLURRED EFFECT.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope this will set you on the right track for your shoot next time
Hey ioriroger thanks.
I just bought a Nikon CP8700 from a forummer here. I feel that's what suit me best at the moment in terms of skill level and finance.
Sorry for the ignorance but what's slow sync. Does my CP8700 have that?
I just bought a Nikon CP8700 from a forummer here. I feel that's what suit me best at the moment in terms of skill level and finance.
Sorry for the ignorance but what's slow sync. Does my CP8700 have that?
flash set to slow sync...to capture motion & more creative shoot;p but ofcoz if u want to freeze it...just use normal flash.
Hey thanks moriahphotos,
I understand ultimately it's practice, practice and more practice. Hope to put all the points into practice.
Oh yes, one of the problem is lighting. Often lighting is dim and you can't get too close to the subject as that would interfere with other dancers??
Dances (depending on choreography) can be fast or slow. So settings should be made accordingly. As a general, what you should pay attention to are
1) The entire dance choreography - this is to time your shots so you know when to frame your pictures, otherwise you'll be getting a lot of shots where the hands or legs looks awkward and even weird I know what you mean. With my recent attempts on a compact the results were much like that.
2) Focus on faces - capture emotions as dancers tend to exhibit strong emotions,e.g. faces of agony, passion, strength, dynamism, etc. Great suggestion!
3) Use Continuous focus - your subjects are not likely to stay still in one position for long so its more convenient to use continuous focusing. Auto-focus in this mode will help you "stay focus" on the dancers Continuous focus?
4) Framing - I personally like to frame from close-up then zoom out, i.e. from about 200mm then zoom out to 70mm or even 50mm depending on lens. If its a PnS then frame from tele, zoom out to wide. This is to put your subjects into perspective otherwise later you may be questioning "What was actually happening?" when you looked at your close-ups. This is known generally as establishing shots (as used in events coverage) Can't quite comphrehen?
4) Shutter speed - anything less than 1/200 will most likely to produce blur image. Counter this by using flash if permissible (rear- or front-sync it's up to your creative control). Otherwise shoot in high ISO together with wide apertures to attain fast shutter speeds in order to capture motion. IGNORE THIS IF YOU INTEND TO HAVE BLURRED EFFECT. rear- or front-sync it's up to your creative control?I don't have a flash other than the pop up on the camera. Please suggest a suitable one and price (new and secondhand). I understand ISO and aperture usage.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope this will set you on the right track for your shoot next time
I understand ultimately it's practice, practice and more practice. Hope to put all the points into practice.
Oh yes, one of the problem is lighting. Often lighting is dim and you can't get too close to the subject as that would interfere with other dancers??
u would have to take the speed of the dancers as a consideration. the light condition is also a main factor.
if low light and the dancers are fast, lets say salsa(not sure this spelling is rite), would would hav to hav a very powerful cam, even so, noise is a sure one, slowly learn and you could play ard. as for the sec reply of using slow sync, i dun think it would be a good idea cos i did that on a runway shoot, it produce rather lot of blur pix
if low light and the dancers are fast, lets say salsa(not sure this spelling is rite), would would hav to hav a very powerful cam, even so, noise is a sure one, slowly learn and you could play ard. as for the sec reply of using slow sync, i dun think it would be a good idea cos i did that on a runway shoot, it produce rather lot of blur pix
Thanks guess will have to read up more and thanks for the link.
and thanks for the link.I also not sure about that...but i think nikon 8700 got slow sync flash.. can check ur manual.
i just found this web but dont know help u or not, this is how u get the efect when using slow sync flash....here
u also can search the web urself about slow sync on dancer or whatever.
One of my interest is dancing, specifically Latin Ballroom - Chaha, Rumba, Samba and I go to vaious tea dance and places, sometimes competitions. Competition very often forbids cameras. other than that flash shouldn't be an issue.
other than that flash shouldn't be an issue.Thanks again. The Canon link provided me with some good education there. Clarified my lack of understanding on "noise". The link on dance photography is ok.
extract:
Noise becomes noticeable at ISO 1600 and 3200
Changing the aperture affects the depth of field, while changing the shutter speed affects the freezing or blurring of motion. And changing the ISO speed affects the picture quality. See photos above, the ISO speed affects the graininess of the image. The higher the ISO speed, the grainier the picture will look. Lower ISO speeds produce less grain.
This grain is called noise. High ISO speeds result in more noise in the image. The latest digital SLR cameras use various technologies to reduce this noise, so the image quality is still quite good even at very high ISO speeds.
extract:
Noise becomes noticeable at ISO 1600 and 3200
Changing the aperture affects the depth of field, while changing the shutter speed affects the freezing or blurring of motion. And changing the ISO speed affects the picture quality. See photos above, the ISO speed affects the graininess of the image. The higher the ISO speed, the grainier the picture will look. Lower ISO speeds produce less grain.
This grain is called noise. High ISO speeds result in more noise in the image. The latest digital SLR cameras use various technologies to reduce this noise, so the image quality is still quite good even at very high ISO speeds.
Still hoping for some more inputs. In particular the ideal settings and lightings. Assume:
- it's an indoors event
- two type of available lighting situation - well lit (for teadance) and Dim (for night parties)
- Dance movements - not a Sprint perhaps close to BigWalk.
That's just some considerations I can think of. Any others? Please advise;p
I don't have a flash unit right now other than the pop up on the camera. Also need advise.
- it's an indoors event
- two type of available lighting situation - well lit (for teadance) and Dim (for night parties)
- Dance movements - not a Sprint perhaps close to BigWalk.
That's just some considerations I can think of. Any others? Please advise;p
I don't have a flash unit right now other than the pop up on the camera. Also need advise.
there is no ideal setting...we will not know how the place lighting is really like...
at less 1/250 and above...but again...we do not know what you want to achieve...
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