Shooting an Indian Garba dance party- need advice!

08/16/2005 08:59:21 PM · #1

What is the slowest shutter speed that can be used to stop motion (dancing)without blur?

In a relatively well-lit ball room, what would be an common ISO speed to use?

I am shooting this event with a 20d, 24-70L 2.8, and a 70-200L 2.8 IS.

Thank you so much for your help!
Eric

08/16/2005 10:28:45 PM · #2

quick bump

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

08/16/2005 10:34:39 PM · #3

I shoot a LOT of dance ... and I normally use flash inside...
You might be able to get away with the ASA 800 range ... depending on lighting...

Garba is much like ATS bellydance ... honestly I would go for the flash and sync 1/125 or 1/250 whatever you can make work.

hdogg4u

Canon EOS-20D

08/16/2005 10:39:28 PM · #4

1/60sec and flash will give to stoped motion. Anything lower and you really need steady hands. You may get that odd nice shot but most will be blurry.

I would try and get both the garba and rass of the dances too. There is a lot of different colors during these events. I would also try and capture the moods of the people in the garba and thier facial expressions.

Rass is the dance they use with sticks.

When using flash in a large ball room you may get the large shadow effect in the backgrounds so try and be careful with that.

The dances start out to a slow paced music and then progresses faster and faster I would try and capture everything during the slower sequence.

Different angles for the shoots. I would really like to see one from a high vantage point as this will show the pattern of the dance even though its circular in general the motion and the movements the participants do with create different effects. Maybe take a 12 foot ladder with you.

Some of the participants can get very and do some extra movements keep and eye on those ones as they will be the ones with the best expressions and movements.

I would probably suggest if this is your first ever garba, rass to view the first couple of dances so you get a good feel of what is happening then work your way into it with the different angles and such.

Please show us your pics when your done too and good luck if there is anything else I can help with let me know.

08/16/2005 10:49:18 PM · #5

I can tell ya... 1/60 may not work for dancers ... been there got the motion blur...

Got to go to 1/125 at least to hold the motion of the costumes

Trust me on this one !

08/16/2005 11:03:58 PM · #6

Thanks for the replies.

Message edited by author 2005-08-17 09:43:27.

CorySmith

08/16/2005 11:25:07 PM · #7

yeah get somethign 1.8 if you can
85mm 1.8 is awesome
the 70-200 is a must

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/17/2005 09:43:08 AM · #8

Thanks for the replies.

Would 1/125 work without the flash? The place seems to be reasonably lit.

Today I went and did test shots in the lighting and they were at 1/125 with no problems. The test shots didn't include and dancing, however.

Thanks again!

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

08/17/2005 09:47:41 AM · #9

I doubt 1/125 without flash would do it. I agree that 1/60 with flash is the one to go for.
Edit: 1/125 will give too much motion blur. I like the effect of a slower shutter speed such as 1/60 giving a tiny hint of motion blur with flash freezing most of the action.

Message edited by author 2005-08-17 09:49:28.

08/17/2005 09:26:56 PM · #10

final bump

Thanks

08/17/2005 10:49:49 PM · #11

1/125 without flash would indeed be a bad thing
and honestly I have a ton of examples of dancers shot WITH flash synced at 1/60th and I am normally not pleased with the result...

My normal for dancers is 1/125 with flash ... gets me (in most conditions) a f5.6 or so...

Just as a heads up I am shooting a 4 day bellydance show this week ... over 50 acts ... so I will share the results.

08/17/2005 11:15:48 PM · #12

Thanks for all the advice. I see that most would agree that I need a 1/125 speed. Now, as I change the ISO up, I can get more DOF... so, the next question is what DOF would be suitable? Is 2.8 too low? Do I need it to be around 5.6? And with that in mind, what ISO is too much? Should I keep it at 400 or under? Should I turn on the noise reducer in camera?

BTW, you guys are the greatest!

08/17/2005 11:30:33 PM · #13

I would stay under ISO 400 I found that 320 works well for my D70 and 400 for the D2x (it keeps the noise under control) 5.6 again works well for me synced at 1/125 whith my sb800

I know that for "normal" dance 1/60 works but the problem that I found only recently is that with costumes that have a lot of beading (coins) or other stuff moving around the motion blur effect that you get at 1/60 can sometimes be too distracting (they are small and move really really quickly...same with hands playing zills)

5.6 gives me acceptable DOF...

I don't know your camera well enough to comment on the noise reduction... sorry.

08/23/2005 04:15:13 AM · #14

well... my norms went out of the window when my SB800 overheated and started freaking out.

soooo...

I ended up going 1/125 at f2.8 to 3.2

I was able to get very cool shots...we did about 4000 images over the 3 day event...

I was going to post some shots... but better yet ... I will be posting shots to my web site over the next few days... so if you are interested you can visit

Image Fusion

Here is one to start (comments as always are welcome)

Message edited by author 2005-08-23 11:30:29.

08/23/2005 11:32:50 AM · #15

bump

kbhatia1967

Canon EOS-1100D

08/24/2005 11:10:08 AM · #16

I would recommend using no flash, because it spoils the atmosphere.
Use aperture priority mode, with widest aperture. Use ASA 100, and you can take good shots at 1/15 sec, although there will be a lot of Blur. Press the shutter at the decisive moment, when the face/hands are relatively still. Use ASA 400 and you can use higher shutter speed, however there will be more noise due to low light. Best of Luck.