Finished editing Polish Folk Dancers' performance

Steve S · Jul 15, 2005

This was the 1st time I've seen a stage performance since I was in H.S, and the 1st time I've shot anything like this. Sure wished I could've sat back & enjoyed it, instead of having my eye glued to the camera's eyepiece

They performace was absolutely outstanding, and they really danced their a$$es off!
But I'm pretty disappointed overall with my results though. Needed a much faster shutter for this kind of action. I went to manual exp based on a couple test shots in A mode. This was a big mistake.
At any rate, here's a few of the better ones out of the 6 gigs of shots I took, even though their kind'a soft. Many were motion blurred & unusable. They're also fairly small since I wanted to keep them dialup friendly. Any comments welcomed. A couple more here, with more added as time permits:
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/polish_folk_dancers_05

Backstage just before curtain call:

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mike mac · Jul 15, 2005

These look good Steve, shooting performances can be real hard unless they have some pro lighting involved. It makes a world of difference. Think what you posted here looks great maybe the WB seems a little off.
When I shot a high school play last year with the D2H this was the exif from my shots and it seemed to get good exposure. So next time refernece these and give them a try
Date/Time 13-Nov-2004 21:28:29
Make Nikon
Model NIKON D2H
Flash Used No
Focal Length 180 mm
Exposure Time 1/640 sec
Aperture f/2.8
ISO Equivalent 800
Exposure Bias -1/3
White Balance
Metering Mode center weighted (2)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Program aperture priority (3)
Here are the results

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MontyDog · Jul 15, 2005

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

Steve S · Jul 15, 2005

Wow Mike, now that's the type of results I was *hoping* for!

mike mac said:
These look good Steve, shooting performances can be real hard unless they have some pro lighting involved. It makes a world of difference. Think what you posted here looks great maybe the WB seems a little off.
When I shot a high school play last year with the D2H this was the exif from my shots and it seemed to get good exposure. So next time refernece these and give them a try
Date/Time 13-Nov-2004 21:28:29
Make Nikon
Model NIKON D2H
Flash Used No
Focal Length 180 mm
Exposure Time 1/640 sec
Aperture f/2.8
ISO Equivalent 800
Exposure Bias -1/3
White Balance
Metering Mode center weighted (2)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Program aperture priority (3)

I see you were @1/640th here, and I was shooting from between only 1/80 on the wider end to only 1/125th on the longer end with a monopod. I brought both my 28-70 2.8 and my 70-200vr 2.8. Also, I stopped down to f3.2, thinking I needed greater DOF, since the dancers were frequently paired up. Shame I wasn't able to see they were looking so soft with the few I reviewed in the LCD, but that's the learning experience, I guess. :?
PS, I see what you mean re the WB. These shots were preset @Incandescent -1. I went into NC and redid them setting the grey point. Thanks!

PhotoDawg · Jul 16, 2005

Well done Steve!!

twig · Jul 16, 2005

Mike, that high school must have a solar flare for a spot light, 1/640th at f/2.8! Holy cow, I can barely get those shutter speeds under stadium lights at ISO 800.

mike mac · Jul 18, 2005

Twig
Wit the background so dark I used center weighted and it read a much higher shutter speed as the same exposure using matrix metering. The lights are very nice this auditorium is brand new