Saturday's Entertainment

jeffreaux2

We had a little road trip Saturday to watch my youngest perform with her dance team in a marching band competition. I had spent a little time finding a way to get on the sidelines and snuck down there just before they came on. I used my 70-200 in all of the shots. THe skies were crystal clear, and they took the field at 3pm, so....some very harsh shadows resulted....but we had a great time none the less. I was actually happy to get these as usually when the dance team and band perform together it is on Friday nights at half time in quite the opposite lighting conditions.

1-Taking the field...




2-Taking their places...



3-REady to begin...


4- My daughter...of course...



5- There is also a flags team....


6-More...of the dancers...


7- Some of the band members...


8- I will be shooting this young man's senior portraits next weekend....Drum Major.

JulieLawsonPhotography

wonderful color and clarity. Nice series.

jeffreaux2

JulieLawsonPhotography wrote:

wonderful color and clarity. Nice series.

Hey! Thanks Julie!:D

SitterS

Really nice Jeff She is a beautiful girl. Thanks for sharing.

jayegirl

great shots. I miss being on the sidelines.

Swartzy

Nice Jeff. Really makes one feel like they were there.

divamum

What I want to know is how you turn harsh, contrasty, broad sunlight that for MOST of us would result in the bright-garish-snapshot look into these warm, glow-y, magical pictures. How do you do that?!?!? (I know - years of practice, technique, and downright TALENT!!! But if you wanna share any of the pixie dust you sprinkle on your pictures with the rest of us lesser mortals, please do!!

What a fun set of pictures (and your daughter looks beautiful - as usual!)

zoomer

Nice photos! Looks like you were having almost as much fun as your daughter.
I bet she was very happy that you were there participating and getting these great shots she can share with her friends...

jeffreaux2

SitterS wrote:

Really nice Jeff She is a beautiful girl. Thanks for sharing.

Thank You!!!....for commenting!:D

jeffreaux2

jayegirl wrote:

great shots. I miss being on the sidelines.

My older daughter was a cheerleader up until she began college. I have a good bit of experience "moment catching" with cheerleaders. A marching band, dance team, and auxullary squads performing is quite a different act. There is much more action going on at the same time. To really "cover" a show like this one would need several photographers working together. Some of the kids at the far sidelines were out of my reach and line of sight. A 400mm from the stands...up high...might have gotten them. Shooting action is quite different than the norm for me. I am always stuck there looking through the finder saying" shucks I shoulda gotten that!".

Soon, however...football season will end and basketball will begin. Freezing dancers in high school gymnasium lighting has it's own challenges, but is actually much easier to "cover".

jeffreaux2

Swartzy wrote:

Nice Jeff. Really makes one feel like they were there.

...are you saying you weren't there?.....I thought everyone was...

Thanks Swartzy:D

jeffreaux2

divamum wrote:

What I want to know is how you turn harsh, contrasty, broad sunlight that for MOST of us would result in the bright-garish-snapshot look into these warm, glow-y, magical pictures. How do you do that?!?!? (I know - years of practice, technique, and downright TALENT!!! But if you wanna share any of the pixie dust you sprinkle on your pictures with the rest of us lesser mortals, please do!!

What a fun set of pictures (and your daughter looks beautiful - as usual!)

I think you are giving me more credit than I deserve for this set of photos. I think part of the "magic" is from the realative shallow depth of focus. That always helps. I guaged my exposure by metering off the sunlit green grass...a midtone that got me pretty close. Once the kids took the field, I snapped a few off that contained the white parts of the uniforms as well as those silvery costumes.....again...dropping the exposure a tad to protect highlights as indicated by the histogram. This way I am sure that I am not blowing highlights while at the same time capturing as much detail as I can in those stark shadows. Oh yeah.....shooting RAW helps....as I did boost the shadows a touch in a few shots in Lightroom. Beyond that....really...just insured my white balance looked solid and then played with Lightroom vignettes in some of them. Thats really all......no pixie dust......promise!

jeffreaux2

zoomer wrote:

Nice photos! Looks like you were having almost as much fun as your daughter.
I bet she was very happy that you were there participating and getting these great shots she can share with her friends...

Yes, she was happy we were there, and...you are right....she isn't the only one who expects me to be there capturing their events.

Thanks for commenting!

divamum

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I think you are giving me more credit than I deserve for this set of photos. I think part of the "magic" is from the realative shallow depth of focus. That always helps. I guaged my exposure by metering off the sunlit green grass...a midtone that got me pretty close. Once the kids took the field, I snapped a few off that contained the white parts of the uniforms as well as those silvery costumes.....again...dropping the exposure a tad to protect highlights as indicated by the histogram. This way I am sure that I am not blowing highlights while at the same time capturing as much detail as I can in those stark shadows. Oh yeah.....shooting RAW helps....as I did boost the shadows a touch in a few shots in Lightroom. Beyond that....really...just insured my white balance looked solid and then played with Lightroom vignettes in some of them. Thats really all......no pixie dust......promise!

I dunno, I think you're too modest! I'm beginning to think of this "glow" quality as your trademark use of/way of handling light..... Thanks for the breakdown - anything which helps me improve my understanding of exposure and manipulating light conditions is A Very Good Thing!