Help shooting dance recital

LRussoPhoto

My daughter dance recital is coming up and I am looking for some pointers on shooting it.
This what my epuiment consists of: D300s with a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8, D90 with the 18-105 kit lens and an sb900.
During the dress rehersal the parents are allowed to take photos. The recital will be in a high school auditorium and I iwll be able to get pretty close.
What equipment should I use? I was thing the d300s with the sigma because of the low f stop the sigma has and the sb900, but I could be wrong. Should I use the flash in commandar mode and set it on the stage? If so where abouts on the stage should i leave it? Or just leave it on the camera itself? What shooting mode should I use and what settings? I'm guessing the lens should be wide open and a shutter speed of around 200 might be good? What about iso setting?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

ARKreations

I shoot dance recitals with a D300 70/80-200 f/2.8. I never use a flash (largely because it's distractive to the dancers and usually prohibited by the venue) but the most important item is a tripod. Aperture is certainly wide open, try to keep the shutter at least 1/320 or faster. Any less and you will get blurred hands and feet on all but the little dancers. ISO can go up to 3200 if you've got decent noise reduction software. The biggest challenge is usually white balance. With changing lights and colors, your skin tones are likely to be all over the map. Shoot in RAW with Auto White Balance and be prepared to correct in post. Start with 1/400, f/2.8, ISO 2000, continuous auto-focus, spot meter and go from there.

LRussoPhoto

Great info, thanks. Photos will bright enough without a flash? What focus mode, auto, dynamic or spot focus? And I'm guessing shoot in manual exposer mode correct?

ARKreations

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

Great info, thanks. Photos will bright enough without a flash? What focus mode, auto, dynamic or spot focus? And I'm guessing shoot in manual exposer mode correct?

I shoot in either manual or shutter priority, spot focus (pay attention to and use your focus point control).
Exposure will depend on your lighting and settings. Use shutter sped and ISO to adjust as needed.
If you haven't shot dance before, it's going to take some practice to get used to harsh and dynamic conditions.
This is about as tough as it gets...