They Were Dancing In The Dark
Bryce Wilson
Registered Users Posts: 1,586 Major grins
A friend of my daughters was participating in her last dance recital prior to heading off to college. I was asked if I could get a few shots of her in this event. The only fast glass I had available were primes, but I have shot dance with them once or twice before and, in the right location, did pretty well.
Had a curve thrown at me. People weren't allowed to shoot from their seats or anywhere near the stage. An area at the rear of the theater could be used. Well, a 50mm and 105mm wasn't going to work from there. To add to my chagrin, whoever was in charge of lighting certainly didn't do it with photography in mind. Most times the rear curtain or screen was lit much brighter than the dancers and only the middle of the stage had any lighting from above. Anything in front or behind this middle area was pretty much in the dark.
I ended up using a 28-200mm 3.5-5.6 "walk around lens" from the rear of the theater as it was my only other available option. With 350 sec ss to prevent most motion blur and even at 6400 ISO things were grossly under exposed in most cases. Thank god for the ability to post process from RAW and a little noise reduction software. I was lucky enough to salvage a few shots from what could have been a disaster.
This was my favorite of the night.
1
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/5852402863/" title="Dance Recital by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5852402863_5ed6c215fb_b.jpg" width="840" height="600" alt="Dance Recital"></a>
This wasn't really salvageable as a photograph, so I played around with it a bit by adding soft light and a brush filter. It kind of reminds me of an old saloon painting. Not sure if she or her mom will like it, but it is what it is. This or nothing.
2
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/5852877880/" title="webrecital100 by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/5852877880_935cec6a34_b.jpg" width="840" height="600" alt="webrecital100"></a>
Had a curve thrown at me. People weren't allowed to shoot from their seats or anywhere near the stage. An area at the rear of the theater could be used. Well, a 50mm and 105mm wasn't going to work from there. To add to my chagrin, whoever was in charge of lighting certainly didn't do it with photography in mind. Most times the rear curtain or screen was lit much brighter than the dancers and only the middle of the stage had any lighting from above. Anything in front or behind this middle area was pretty much in the dark.
I ended up using a 28-200mm 3.5-5.6 "walk around lens" from the rear of the theater as it was my only other available option. With 350 sec ss to prevent most motion blur and even at 6400 ISO things were grossly under exposed in most cases. Thank god for the ability to post process from RAW and a little noise reduction software. I was lucky enough to salvage a few shots from what could have been a disaster.
This was my favorite of the night.
1
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/5852402863/" title="Dance Recital by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5852402863_5ed6c215fb_b.jpg" width="840" height="600" alt="Dance Recital"></a>
![http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5852402863_5ed6c215fb_b.jpg"](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5304/5852402863_5ed6c215fb_b.jpg"){kind=link}
This wasn't really salvageable as a photograph, so I played around with it a bit by adding soft light and a brush filter. It kind of reminds me of an old saloon painting. Not sure if she or her mom will like it, but it is what it is. This or nothing.
2
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60399337@N06/5852877880/" title="webrecital100 by Bryce Wilson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/5852877880_935cec6a34_b.jpg" width="840" height="600" alt="webrecital100"></a>
![http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/5852877880_935cec6a34_b.jpg"](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2688/5852877880_935cec6a34_b.jpg"){kind=link}
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