Dancing disasters

[little green]

Exif:
Camera: Nikon D5000
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure: 1/160
ISO: 3200
Focal Length: 34mm

I love taking piccis & I'm luck that my dd dances flamenco so I have lots of chance to practice but for every picture that's ok I have at least 20 that I delete. My biggest problem is that usually the lights are low & my piccis always look to me slightly blurred rather than pin sharp. i haven't used a flash gun, is it worth trying? This picci has been cropped & rowan sharpened a little. Any help in improving my technique as would where you think I'm going wrong would be greatly received.

[wulf]

The background looks nicely sharp; I suspect that what has happened is that you have used autofocus and the camera has picked up the dancer behind your subject. It might be worth investigating the idea of zone focusing. Put your lens into manual mode and set focus based on distance. You can use a depth of field calculator to check that you have a usable sharp zone. Search for "zone focusing" online and you will find plenty of hints.

BTW, there is another problem with that dancer in the background; it is very hard to figure out how to distinguish the two figures in the static shot. It was only when I spotted the extra arm that I realised there were two people in the shot! When framing your subject, it helps to get an angle without distractions between her and the background. Flash could help a bit here (if allowed in the venue) - the light would drop off quite quickly so your subject would be better illuminated (allowing a faster shutter speed or narrower aperture) while people and things further back would be relatively much darker.

Wulf

[little green]

Hi Wulf,

You are a star. I'll try altering the zone of focusing in AF or consider manual & I'll definable do an online search I'm also going to try taking my flash gun next time & have a play with it - luckily they don't dance anywhere where flash is banned. I'll have another go on Saturday when they're next dancing but I have a funny feeling my scrapped quotient is likely to go up before the numbers come down.

lg x

[wulf]

Don't worry about scrapping a lot. If you keep one in twenty, you are probably keeping too many. Better to try a couple of hundred shots and then keeping the one or two that really stand out. If nothing else, the dancers will probably thank you when you show them as you will only demand their attention for a minute or two but in every shot they will look their best.

Wulf

ps. I'm not advocating snapping away mindlessly but, since you can't stop the dancers and pose them, you are looking for the moment when their positioning and your settings come together in harmony.

[little green]

Hi Wolf,

Thank you again - I think one on my problems is because this is a close knit community I know the dancers so I'm probably trying to keep the cr@p so I have something. I'm going to be more ruthless!!

lg x

[little green]

Right then, flash came out last night - this is my fav shot. I can see I have a long way to go & a lot of practice to do to get it right. Waiting for the flash to recharge is annoying as the girls move too quick...... not as pretty back drop as the church was last week either but I see what you mean now about the front subject being lit & the others dropping away. I've done a slight crop but that's about it.

Exif:
Camera: Nikon D5100
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/60
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 50mm

[wulf]

I think that is moving in the right direction, with the lead dancer cast in the spotlight. The flash looks quite directional (the light drops off towards her feet); I wonder if something to diffuse the light would be useful?

Also, do think about how each person in the photo looks. The lighting and focus are improved here but the dancer at the left of the frame probably wouldn't be keen on the shot as you have caught her mid-blink. That is why pro's, who (generally) know a lot about getting the technical details of the shot right, still fire off lots of frames - they want the perfect one where everyone is caught at a good moment.

Wulf

[little green]

Hi Wolf,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply back - it's really useful I'm wanting to improve my technical side as well as my composition - I don't like that some days it all goes great & others it's a pig - I'll have words with Paula about keeping her eyes open next time

I haven't used the flash much before - mainly because I'm a bit daunted by the instruction book but it looks like it will be worth the effort in working out how to use it properly I'll go hunt out the diffuser & have a play.

I've a few weeks before the girls dance again so I'll play around with the camera & flash before hand & hopefully I can put some of your tips into practice.

Many thanks again

Lg x