Aisha was the star at a recent party where she performed as a belly-dancer. Through several dance routines, I had the luxury of having enough time to move from just the safe shots, to playing around and getting more diverse images …
The ‘safe shots’ would be where I used flash to light her up, and help freeze action somewhat. This would give representative photos, while still retaining most of the ambiance:
Switching the flash off, or just turning the power down .. and concentrating more on the ambient light, gave me much more interesting images. Of course not every image worked now, but I was pleased with the wider range of images. I felt they were more intriguing, like the opening image at the top.
Without flash, it was a little tougher, with focusing not being as sure in the dark, and excessive subject movement spoiling some images … but for some, the movement added to the mood ..
[ 1/1ooth @ f2.8 @ 25oo ISO ]
equipment:
Nikon D3; Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 AF-S or Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR; SB-900 at times.
settings:
all at 1600 ISO, except as noted for the 3rd image at the top.
apertures f3.2 – f2.8 // shutter speeds ranged from 1/30th to 1/100th
The photos are amazing and so is she!
I found the backlit photos more interesting and the flare and ghosts in my opinion adds more drama to the image and accentuates her figure.
I have tried dance photos in similar lighting condition, but my 20D and 24-70 F2.8 L does not always lock focus confidently in similar lighting condition. My approach has been to use rear curtain flash sync…flash bounced behind me , f2.8,ISO1600 and shutter about 1/10 to 1/15 and center focus point but still i have to shoot a substantial number of shots to get one well focused. Is that normal or i still need a lot of practice?
Maybe 1 series camera would solve it but thats an expensive solution for a student. :) But would it ?
Neil,
can you tell us how many flashes you use and what is your flash placement?
thanks
Nice photography there, Neil. The lighting condition this dancer was in is somewhat similar to what I was trying to do for stage photography for a convention (low ambient light, spots of light that changed in intensity). Unfortunately, my D300 could go past ISO 1600 without a lot of noise being introduced, and no flash was permitted in that instance. Or my technique was just really bad.
By the way, the second photo from the top (the safe shot) doesn’t seem to have your watermark on it.
Hi Neil,
I really had no idead that 20D/5D etc were in low light AF better than 1 series before MkIII. Thanks! that saved me lots of money.
By the way, I think I may have made an improvement on your “Black Foamie thing”. I now use velcro sticker on the foam to attach it just like sleeve button on shirts. And its easier and quicker to mount it on flash this way. I used to used the rubber band, but this is better and more secure (and looks better too )
Ujwal.
Hi! Neil,
With light from so many different sources (bounce flash, room light, DJ lights) do you have any suggestion on how to do White Balance for a sequence of shots like this.
Thanks,
Vikram
Hi! Neil,
” raw raw raw raw raw! ”
Completely agree. I can’t even imagine the pain of having to color correct jpegs for a scene like this.
Thanks for your response and for this fantastic blog. IMO “planetneil” has become “the place” for anyone wanting to understand flash photography. Keep up the good work! Wish you the best for the release of your book as well. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Thanks,
Vikram