[crewl1]

This is a thread to display photos of dancers of any type in any location.

Capturing dancers can be difficult because by definition they are in movement, and commonly do not have best lighting for photography whether they are on stage, in a club, a ballroom etc.

Feel free to offer tips on how you got your shots.

I look forward to your photos.
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I mainly shoot dance competitions in dimly lit high school gymnasiums so these are most of what I can post.
All these were shot using Sigma 70-200 OS on a K-3 except for the team shot which was with the Tamron 28-75 and K-5iiS. Typical settings were ISO 3200, F4, 1/500 sec. Noise reduction, WB and sharpening in LR4.

[wolfworx]

This is one of many images from a project shoot, I settled on the name of Wild Ballet as it's not really urban, we used an farm / small holding for it.

This particular image was done with the idea of using powder as the "backdrop", there is one bare studio light behind her flashing through the powder, on studio light off camera axis (to the right) and then 3 x 1000W "builders" lights spread around the perimeter, which actually contribute almost no light to the scene, but were mainly employed to allow my poor long suffering K5 to focus properly, which it does not do well in the dark.

[crewl1]

This is one of many images from a project shoot, I settled on the name of Wild Ballet as it's not really urban, we used an farm / small holding for it.

This particular image was done with the idea of using powder as the "backdrop", there is one bare studio light behind her flashing through the powder, on studio light off camera axis (to the right) and then 3 x 1000W "builders" lights spread around the perimeter, which actually contribute almost no light to the scene, but were mainly employed to allow my poor long suffering K5 to focus properly, which it does not do well in the dark.

The picture doesn't show

[wolfworx]

The picture doesn't show

What is the best way to get pictures on here, that was done as an attachment :P

Trying now from my gallery



---------- Post added 2015-01-15 at 03:17 PM ----------

And this is trying "insert image" with the url pointing to the image in my gallery..

[crewl1]

What is the best way to get pictures on here, that was done as an attachment :P

Trying now from my gallery



---------- Post added 2015-01-15 at 03:17 PM ----------

And this is trying "insert image" with the url pointing to the image in my gallery..

Great shot. I find it easiest to upload pictures to other hosts like Flickr or Photobucket and use the insert image function.
Both of those sites have an option to copy a URL that is interpreted properly by the forum software here.
See this thread https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/12-post-your-photos/6-how-upload-link-pho...tart-here.html

[wolfworx]

Great shot. I find it easiest to upload pictures to other hosts like Flickr or Photobucket and use the insert image function.
Both of those sites have an option to copy a URL that is interpreted properly by the forum software here.
See this thread https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/12-post-your-photos/6-how-upload-link-pho...tart-here.html

Thanks

[crewl1]

Here are some photos from a recent competition:

[cxdoo]

You got some great shots there, Larry.

Three greatest problems I face being a Dancing Dad (corresponds to Soccer Mom, I suppose) person with a camera are

1) poor (and often uneven) light; leads to white balance problems and a need for very high ISO, if flash is allowed it often can't be used on manual as lighting is uneven.
2) inability to exclude distracting background; there are garbage bins, yellow signs, billboards, flower pots, stands, random people everywhere
3) inability to move around or come closer; the shots I include here are taken from 20-30 meters distance as that's how far the stands are.
4) having one camera; I need both 17-50 and 70-200 and particularly that 50-70 part
5) poor judgement of how fast of a shutter speed I need to avoid blur at different focal lengths

These two did a great dance, but not knowing the choreography up front was the problem. They're fast!



Very graceful. Bonus points from me for having a black costume, providing for good contrast.



Love the harmony between the pose and the message.



Finally, I love catching moments like these the best.

[crewl1]

You got some great shots there, Larry.

Three greatest problems I face being a Dancing Dad (corresponds to Soccer Mom, I suppose) person with a camera are

1) poor (and often uneven) light; leads to white balance problems and a need for very high ISO, if flash is allowed it often can't be used on manual as lighting is uneven.
2) inability to exclude distracting background; there are garbage bins, yellow signs, billboards, flower pots, stands, random people everywhere
3) inability to move around or come closer; the shots I include here are taken from 20-30 meters distance as that's how far the stands are.
4) having one camera; I need both 17-50 and 70-200 and particularly that 50-70 part
5) poor judgement of how fast of a shutter speed I need to avoid blur at different focal lengths

These two did a great dance, but not knowing the choreography up front was the problem. They're fast!

Very graceful. Bonus points from me for having a black costume, providing for good contrast.

Love the harmony between the pose and the message.

Finally, I love catching moments like these the best.

Nice work cxdoo!
I would think the hardest part of being a dancing dad is having to be at the competitions from early morning until late at night

I provide the sound at these events so not really a dancing dad but I see what the parents go through.
Depending on the event I don't always have the opportunity to shoot photos but it is fun when I can.

The lighting in the gyms is really bad, even worse when it changes from one part of the floor to another.
I tend to use f3.2 or f4 and 1/400-500 like you, the white balance is hard to get right on site due to the types of lights used and I always have to correct it afterwards.

I have the luxury of carrying two bodies, K-3 and K-5iiS: with one the Tamron 28-75 for the teams and the other having the Sigma 70-200 for the soloists.
The 28-75 is great because 50-70 is a common focal length, you should maybe look into getting one. It will complement your 70-200 well.

I like to sit on the floor in front of the bleachers if it is allowed when I can, but if I am stuck to working the sound booth I can only get side shots.
The backgrounds are bad for sure, no way around it unless they perform on a stage, and then lighting may be even worse.

I am working on getting my DA*50-135 converted to screw drive and then I am hopeful it will be able to keep up wit the AF needs of these events.

I havent really decided on what AF mode to use for best results, I keep experimenting with AFC then AFS and the new K-3 has some nice options for near focus points.
I think there will always be tradeoffs.

I look forward to more of your shots.
(Not sure I will be able to get any more this season because I will be MC'ing and that requires I stay focused at the sound booth.)

[wolfworx]

Some more photos of mine. None are typical 'dance dad' tho

This was from a cast shoot, a brief in between moment, she looked at me as i looked at her ...



Kerri is an ex dancer, stopped only a short while before we shot together due to school academic pressures







Will try post some more tomorrow

[crewl1]

Very nice shots Wolfworx. It makes for striking images seeing dancers in other environments.

[wolfworx]

Very nice shots Wolfworx. It makes for striking images seeing dancers in other environments.

Thank you, and the big plus is you have a little bit more "clutter control"

[wolfworx]

The Huntress...
Part of a dance portfolio shoot for the young dancer.
The bow and arrow was my idea (and a story in itself), she liked the idea and I think it's fairly unique
Pentax K5 with a Sigma 70-200, 2x300w studio lights and 2xyoungnou strobes making it work

[crewl1]

The Huntress...
Part of a dance portfolio shoot for the young dancer.
The bow and arrow was my idea (and a story in itself), she liked the idea and I think it's fairly unique
Pentax K5 with a Sigma 70-200, 2x300w studio lights and 2xyoungnou strobes making it work

That looks great, nice job!

[crewl1]

This was last week's event at same venue, but this time I had to announce so was stuck in a bad location with dancers facing away most of the time and open doors causing bad backlight.
Only a few keepers resulted.
Mostly K-3+ DA*50-135, group shots with K-5iis and DA21ltd.