Dancing in the light
Feb, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at a Dance Concert for my Daughters Performing Arts School.Time
The photo was taken at night during the perfomance at the Plenty Ranges Performing Arts Complex.Lighting
Lighting changed throughout the routine as it does with stage photography so it was a matter of making sure I was ready to hit when the lights came over the subject as it was otherwise quite dark.Equipment
Canon 5DMKII with a Canon 70-200mm EF :2.8 LIS II No Tripod, I never use tripods with live performance photography as feel that I don't have the creative flexability that I want.Inspiration
It looked beautiful and I felt like I was lifting with her towards the lightEditing
Yes, I kept the original in colour however made a copy and added a split tone to it. I then adjusted the tones to what I felt when I saw it as I was editing.In my camera bag
Canon 5DMark II, 70-200 Canon Zoom Lens EF 1:28 L, Canon eF 24-105 1:4 L, Canon 50mm EF 1:1.4m, Canon Macro EF 100mm 1:2.8 USMFeedback
When shooting live performance its finding a balance of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. You are dealing with low light so the more open the lense (lower the number F stop eg 2.5)the better, you are also dealing with movement so you need the shutter speed to be as high as you can so the images are not blurred (unless you want the blurred movement effect). I shoot completely manual, so constantly adjusting my settings (stupid, I know). With light changing so often and the pace of each dance going from slow to fast to jumps it is a challenge but one I love. When I first start the shoot I generally put the shutter speed on 300, aperture on 2.5 and ISO on 2000-2500. I can then adjust the exposure with my shutter speed or aperture. I know that on my camera I can shoot without to much grain on these settings and that if I need to quickly increase the shutter speed the ISO is at a level that I will usually be ok. I also shoot RAW as it give me the flexibility to save a great shot if the light changes too quickly. This is also how I shoot Live Bands. Its about feeling the performance and trying to flow with the performer so you can guess their next move, especially if you don't get to view a rehearsal or only get one go at it. I find shooting free hand with no tripod and on manual settings allows me to be more creative and have more control over what photos I get. The biggest asset to any photographer is Passion for what you are shooting.
