Modern Dance

[Tony Field]

The University of Calgary Programme of Dance in the Fine Arts department completed it's year with a bang. The last two productions are created by the graduate students and guest teachers. The dancers, as for most of the performing arts, are chosen by audition.

Shooting dance usually is an excercise in timing peak action. Some dance genres such as ballroom (now, for some reason, is called "dance sport" are very fluid and to not have regular peak action. This makes it difficult to photograph at low shutter speeds. Fortunately, modern, jazz and contemporary dance do have signifcant peak actions that allow surprisingly low shutters and still have more than adequate sharpness. The general consensus for dance photography is that some parts of the body can suffer motion blur however at least one critical part of the body (the face, feet, etc) must be quite sharp. If everything is a blur, it is usually unacceptable.

The other side of the coin is how to develop a technique that permits you to consistently shoot peak action. I have found that using my new Canon system has resulted in far fewer good images than my Nikon system - only because I don't have much experience with the Canon. Here are a few of the images that actually worked... still more practice needed (( C&C welcome ))
1

2

3

4

 

[Tom Yi]

Not bad for just having switched systems and learning your new rig.

The noise is a bit bothersome for me. I noticed that you shot M Mode at ISO 3200, how was the exposure? Would it have been possible to lower ISO for less noise while keeping shutter speeds up? If not, then I guess you have to live with the noise. Unlike Nikon's Canon's seem to have more chromanoise.

As for composition, I prefer the second and the third one as they feel most dynamic to me. I know you can't really help the background and the position you were shooting from, but the bisected background in the second shot is a bit bothersome. The spotlight and the edge of the black backdrop on the left can be cropped out though. I'd also wish that the shots had them turned towards you so that the eyes and the faces could be visible.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Maybe some experimention with flash and first or second curtain, or mutiple fast strobe effects would be great.

Asher

 

[Tony Field]

The noise is a bit bothersome for me. I noticed that you shot M Mode at ISO 3200, how was the exposure?

Actually, the exposures are quite good - normally I shoot manual, use the spot meter and chimp a fair bit to control the dreaded blinking highlights. As far as possible in dance, these are "full tone range" In other words, there is a narrow transition from highlights to mid tones and the vast remaining tone is in the lower registers where the noise, even on Canon, is quite visible. (Actually, I think it is quite facinating to see how Nikon and Canon process their noise and how it impacts the image - both have similar nasty effects -- i.e. some posterized shadows particularily in skin tones at lowish ISO values -- however Canon's better overall control push this much lower in tone than the Nikon (i.e. Canon has better dynamic range).

The noise is another question. Most folks have an aversion to noise - I, for some reason actually quite like noise for much of the performing arts images I take. It adds a level of abstraction that I think is appropriate for dance, some forms of live music and even in special situations for theatre. I do find the chroma noise is the worst and I often remove it - however luminance noise is perfectly acceptable to my obtuse eyeballs.

As for composition, I prefer the second and the third one as they feel most dynamic to me. I know you can't really help the background and the position you were shooting from, but the bisected background in the second shot is a bit bothersome. The spotlight and the edge of the black backdrop on the left can be cropped out though. I'd also wish that the shots had them turned towards you so that the eyes and the faces could be visible.

Your comments for these images are well founded - however were chosen mostly as a demonstration of the requirement of timing the shutter for dance. You can get a better feel of the general performances at the University of Calgary on: http://www.ffa.ucalgary.ca/tfield/index.htm

tony

 

[Tony Field]

Maybe some experimention with flash and first or second curtain, or mutiple fast strobe effects would be great.

Hi Asher,

Fash for dance is certainly fun if you have control of the performance - however, I normally shoot production record images during a tech or dress rehearsal. Flash is emphatically not an acceptable alternative (other than press photographers using flash for the media photo call).

I have never lit a full stage production with flash - normally, getting one or two dancers for a shoot is the way to do it.

 

[Nill Toulme]

Tony I really like these images. I have only shot dance once and found it similar in concept to shooting sports, but with more opportunity for really nice composition, as you have demonstrated here. The lighting issues are similarly challenging (and rewarding), and of course flash is for the most part out of the question.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

 

[Anita Saunders]

The lighting, movement, good timing and composition are pretty pleasing to me - I would describe the results as evocative and energising. But as others have expressed, the noise is somewhat bothersome to my eye and imo distracts from the energy of the dancers.

If they were my pics I would probably use photoshop CS2 raw converter, and post process on the colour noise reduction (under the 'detail' tab).

Nice shots anyway and quite impressive for a new Canon user. I anticipate some fabulous developments

 

[Nill Toulme]

Here is a very nice Luminous Landscape article on shooting dance.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

 

[Larry Cothren]

Tony,
Your images are very nice. I think that a little noise ninja or neat image would help with the noise issue. I broke into photography shooting dancers. I am still an amature but I am getting better every year. My wife has a dance school and I shoot her competition team at regional and national competitions. I also shoot her year end recital.

I normally shoot either shutter priority or manual useing a f2.8 or faster lens. You are right as about the peak action of the jazz, lyrical, ballet, and tap styles. It is pretty much timing and knowing the peak of the movements. I try and keep my shutter speed around 200 to 250 normally. With tap I have been able to shoot as low as 160. I try not to go above iso800 because of the noise levels of the D2X.

From my experiences dark colored costumes are evil. I have always had problems with blown highlights on dancers with dark costumes. I have found useing spot metering finding some skin has resolved 90% of my problems. Stage lighting is something that one cannot control and will always be a pain.

Here are some of my most recent from our nationals trip to Branson, Mo. last month. http://www.pbase.com/icetraxx/06nationals
I just got a pbase account and I am working on getting the better of my work up there.

Take care,
Larry

 

[Gary Ayala]

I have noticed you stating that these were just test shots , but (the big but), I'd like to add some comments.

#1 and #2 are moving away and backsides usually are not as pleasing as frontside (buy you already knew this). I would have like to have seen a shot from the front of #2 ... the dancers seems like salmon leaping in unison upstream.

#3 is very nice, the blurred dancer on the right distracts from the dancers that are sharp. The floor seems a bit tilted, but I enjoy the image ... the grace and power of the dancers seems to transend human form and capability.

#4 ... I would convert to B&W. I like the dancers emerging from the sea of darkness ... subtle yet bold at the same time. This image seem to have the most noise. I found that underexposing creates more noise than a proper exposure at a higher ISO. But with 2.8 at 3200 ... you had nowhere to go.

Finally... I really am anxious to see an evaluation between Canon and Nikon.