Low Light stage photography

[Mata]

Hi

I don’t know if this is the right place on the forum to place this thread?

I would like some help on how to get a better shots under bad stage lightning conditions.

I have become a member of a Spanish ‘Flamenco’ Dance and Music Group based in Victoria. Since I was going there anyway I thought it would be good idea to practice and improve my Photography skills, especially as the lightning is rather harsh.

I have added some images (of badly taken shots) below to show the layout of the hall and the stage. I tend to sit on the right of raised side walkway as it gives me a better view. I also go down and sit on the floor in front of the stage to take shots.

This set was taken with 35mm 1.8 lens. I tried few different settings but didn’t get much joy.

I was working with ‘Manual’ setting. Maybe try ‘Aperture’ next week.

Any ideas most welcome.

[Mike Farley]

This enquiry is better initiated in the General forum, so I have moved it there for the time being. Depending on the responses, it might be worthwhile moving it back to Techniques and Tutorials later on if there is sufficient information which will help people learn.

Can you provide details of your camera settings for the example shots, without which information it is not possible to provide a meaningful reply. For example, I suspect that camera shake due to low shutter speeds is an issue, but without knowing what you used it is not possible to say.

[davidc]

Initial advice would be to use aperture priority, as fast a lens as you can and spot meter on the part you want to be properly exposed before composing the shot. usually people need to be properly exposed.

They do look oversaturated too, though not sure if that's due to how they were shot or post processed?

[Mike Farley]

Good advice about spot metering, although I would take a slightly different approach. On the basis that there will be some subject movement, shutter speed will be an important consideration, but so will aperture. If you set the camera to Shutter Priority, you might not get the aperture you want. Aperture Priority might not give the desired shutter speed.

You will need to test out how your camera functions, but one option is to set the camera to manual so that you can select the desired shutter speed and aperture, but the ISO to auto. Depending on how Auto ISO has been implemented by Nikon, the camera's metering system ought to adjust the ISO to give the correct exposure. If the light is within the limits of the maximum ISO setting, you will be OK, albeit you might end up with some noisy images to deal with in post processing.

It still would be useful to have the camera settings for the example shots.

[Mata]

Looking at the setting I have made a complete hash of it.

Camera D5300
Lens used: 35mm 1/8
First shot – 1/8 at F/2.5 ISO 640
Second shot – 1/60 at F/1.8 ISO 800
Third shot – 1/30 at F/2.0 ISO 640

Sorry for posting two threads. You must have moved it by the time I looked and thought it didn’t get registered and did another one. Can delete one that hasn’t been used yet?

[Mata]

There is movement to capture as well. Some dance sequences are fairly fast followed by a slow one.

There isn’t enough time to change settings because I don’t know what is coming next, which is why I was trying the manual mode.

Because of the bad light on the stage – the front part is well lit but the back – where the singers and musicians sit is not so.

The question is how to balance the front glare and capture some depth from the back as well?

The other question is ‘which lens would be ideal in a situation like this’?

[Mike Farley]

The question is how to balance the front glare and capture some depth from the back as well?

Use spot metering for the brightest area which you want to be correctly exposed. Depending on the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of the scene, you might have to accept some blown highlights if it exceeds the dynamic range of your camera.

The other question is ‘which lens would be ideal in a situation like this’?

Without knowing the scene or what you are trying to achieve, that's an impossible question to answer.

[davidc]

The other question is ‘which lens would be ideal in a situation like this’?

Fast lenses are better in low-light situations because they let more light in. The tradeoff can be reduced depth of field but depending on the rest of the scene/background, that may not be an issue at all. Also, it can be hard to nail focus using a larger aperture.

Something f/1.8 or lower would help, and pushing the ISO (depending on your camera) would let you keep shutter speeds fast enough to remove camera shake (aim for at least 1/focal length as shutter speed, ideally a bit more)

[Mike Farley]

Sorry for posting two threads. You must have moved it by the time I looked and thought it didn’t get registered and did another one. Can delete one that hasn’t been used yet?

I suspect that were both updating at around the same time which caused the duplication. I have now deleted the second thread.

[Mata]

Davidc – I am going to try the 50mm F1.8 the next time I go. Ideally a zoom would help as I could focus on areas that are not directly under the spotlight. The only zoom I have at the moment is the 18/300mm 3.5-6.3?

I think I will experiment by breaking the evening into three parts and try all three settings – M, A & S and see what I come back with. I will also try a ‘floating’ ISO and see what happens.

Mike – The scene is as the above images. On this occasion a number of Flamenco teachers across London had been invited to bring their students to have some practice in front of an audience.

Normally there is only one individual dancer on stage at a time. Since they take centre stage it is difficult to focus when the spotlight is them.

I have added two images below to show the effects of direct light on them when they are in the middle of the stage.