Dance Pics

[Warren]

Ok, here is my second attempt at some dance photos. Some of you may have remembered I tried some back before the holidays and was pretty disappointed at the fact they were pretty blurry. These I think could still be a bit better, but am not sure if I can achieve better results given the lighting conditions and the fact I have a slow lens.

#1


#2


#3


#4


What do you guy's think?

[Dave Humphries]

Ok, here is my second attempt at some dance photos. Some of you may have remembered I tried some back before the holidays and was pretty disappointed at the fact they were pretty blurry. These I think could still be a bit better, but am not sure if I can achieve better results given the lighting conditions and the fact I have a slow lens.

What do you guy think?

Hi Warren,

These are much, much, much better, but I can't see the EXIF and not sure what PP you've done.

Cheers,

[arith]

I like them; very good.

[Donald]

Warren

Like Dave, I believe these are indeed a step up in the quality stakes. I'm not a people photographer (much prefer stone walls and trees - they don't complain!), but I think the key needs to be about getting the face, especially the eyes, sharp. If you're going for movement and blur, then it has to be very obvious that this was the objective; i.e. not blur created through a failure in trying to get a sharp image.

I think in #2 and #4 you have achieved what it seems you were after. Indeed, #2 is an excellent capture. That young person should really feel happy with that picture. I feel #1 and #3 still have too much movement in them.

[Warren]

Yes my goal here is to freeze the action with as little blur as possible. This EXIF info that you guys are referring to, how to get that to go with the photos? As far as PP, I did some real quick and simple touchups. Blurryness and sharpness were the items I touched up on. I will be more than happy to provide you with EXIF, just help know how and where to get it.

Warren

[Amberglass]

Warren, highly recommend that you invest in one of the following primes to save you a lot of aggravation. AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G or AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G so you can achieve the speeds necessary to freeze action. You're currently zooms are not fast enough (apertures too small) to accommodate your needs. Stop the aperture down to f2-2.8 (close the aperture down), do not shoot wide open because it will result in soft images. Watch your shutter speeds while shooting in manual mode.

[Warren]

Ok, there is a dance competition this weekend, and I am hoping to have the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 here in time. My question is this, I see an aweful lot of talk about filters. Is there any kind of special filter that I should be using for the low light indoor shooting that occurs at these competitions?

[Dave Humphries]

Is there any kind of special filter that I should be using for the low light indoor shooting that occurs at these competitions?

In a word; no.

Well I can't think of anything that's going to help, anyone else is welcome to enlighten us both if I'm wrong

Good luck,

[Shadowman]

Warren,

Of all of the shots I think #1 could utilize a bit of panning with the dancer's movement.

Ok, there is a dance competition this weekend, and I am hoping to have the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 here in time. My question is this, I see an aweful lot of talk about filters. Is there any kind of special filter that I should be using for the low light indoor shooting that occurs at these competitions?

[Amberglass]

In a word; no.

Well I can't think of anything that's going to help, anyone else is welcome to enlighten us both if I'm wrong

Good luck,

Sorry for the very late reply, been absolutely swamped with work and family.

Precision glass UV filters are what I recommend and use, not ground glass filters. B+W and Heliopan multi-coated filters are the two brands that I pretty much use; never had an issue with IQ or degradation like cheap ground filters will often do. Since you're seated and pretty much safe from any oncoming lens assault, recommend that you leave it off but keep the hold on. Panning is necessary when targets are coming across your viewfinder, but not necessary if line of sight.

For more informative help - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_1CpHja26k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1dorRVdPuw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbanzFj-JxY