Ballroom dance - sexy babes and yandao kos

[hwchoy]

want to make my camera gear work harder…

shot this ballroom dance performance at a birthday party. I had a serious problem with WB because they used this weird red spotlight. only till the later routines did we decide to use flash. most were shot with EF 50/1.4 and some with EF 24-70/2.8L. Two of us took 300 shots in 30 minutes.

Marvin's Birthday ballroom performance


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[David Moses Heng]

nose bleed already... just wondering who is this marvin guy?

ps: Uncle Choy, do i still carry on with the 4 M113, 1 AVLB an half completed M728?
Please advise.

[wynx]

Tough lighting...

I can see the camera struggling ...

[valice]

Shot at Upper Club at Chijmes?
Not a really easy place to shoot with those lightings...

See that your camera really struggling with the high ISO.

[hwchoy]

actually is not a problem with high ISO (only 800) but because of the red light I have to use dramatic white balance to pull back the skin tone, which causes these weird blueing in the background which is not casted by the red light. the problem is due to non homogenous coloured lighting.

[benny]

Interesting set of pictures. But some are a bit too static to convey the 'motion' of dancing. I think you have a bit more leyway in the shutter speed if you can anticipate their moves.

If the lighting is part of the effect, then let it be. It's impossible to get the 'daylight/natural' effect if the subject is lit with a red light.

Cheers,

[hwchoy]

there is one with red-cast, it almost unuseable because practically cannot even see expressions on the dancers. in fact cannot anticipate anything as it was a one-run show, so we just keep shooting loh. I have a brand new 4GB Sandisk Extreme IV

[benny]

I have a brand new 4GB Sandisk Extreme IV

Wouldn't this slow you down as it's not as fast as the 2GB? With larger files, the slower speed might make a difference expecially when you are in a burst mode without flash.

Cheers,

[hwchoy]

actually the speed is about the same so just go for the 4GB. I did not take in burst mode, just Servo AF and shoot when I think the pose looks interesting. It is very very fast there is no time to think or compose, plus I am on a prime and cannot move about.

[ranmasatome]

on prime?? shooting dancers? win liao...haha..

anyway.. its like always the same girl...

all of a sudden i miss eating ba kut teh...

[valice]

What does ballroom dancing have to do with Ba kut teh?!

[ranmasatome]

Valice... your taste in girls about the same as mine.. what do we look at first? hahaha.. look like ba kut teh right?

[hwchoy]

on prime?? shooting dancers? win liao...haha..

anyway.. its like always the same girl...

all of a sudden i miss eating ba kut teh...

of course, where to find a zoom faster than ƒ/2.8?

[ranmasatome]

Benny? hahaha..

[benny]

of course, where to find a zoom faster than ƒ/2.8?

I think either Tokina or Tamron has a 27/28 to 70 mm with a ƒ/2.4 aperture. Can't quite recall the details. I don't have such a fast zoom lens.

Cheers,

[hwchoy]

halamaku, we are talking about at least ƒ/1.4-1.8 leh. where to find such zooms.

[benny]

ƒ/1.4-1.8!! I think a 24-70 mm ƒ/1.8will weigh nearly 3 kg and looks more storky than the 300mm ƒ/2.8 if it is a reality. Handling it effectively will be another challenge.

Cheers,

[hwchoy]

I find that I am shooting in the range of no more than ƒ/2.2 at ISO800 and only 1/160s. So really with only stage light it is unrealistic to shoot with anything more than ƒ/2.

At the end of the day I think an ultra-fast prime is more realistic, yes you will lose some shots, but those that fall into the good composition window (in terms of distance of subject from you) will be at least good, whereas almost all shots at ƒ/2.8 maybe unuseable.