Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] dance photo shoot

Subject: Re: [OM] dance photo shoot
From: "siddiq@xxxxxxx" <siddiq@xxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:13:55 -0800
On Jan 16, 2009, at 8:46 AM, Ken Norton wrote:

> If the lighting is consistent, just stick you hand in the light,  
> meter it
> and raise exposure one stop--two stops at most.  Lock this exposure  
> in using
> manual-exposure.  (Yes, that "M" position which Canon users have no  
> idea
> what it does--they think it stands for "Mistake").

Another fan of the palm + 1 stop method I see!

>
>
> You'll find that the exposure really isn't that slow when you do  
> this. Under
> this kind of lighting you'll find yourself in the neighborhood of  
> ISO 1600,
> F4 and 1/125 give or take a stop or so.  Do manually set your WB!

Did you just go in and read out the EXIF?!

>
>
> F4, with most lenses is a stop down from wide-open which gives you  
> just
> enough usable DoF while also covering up a slew of auto-focusing  
> errors.
> 1/125 is almost always fast enough to stop most motion except when  
> they are
> really moving their hands, feet or heads.  ISO 1600 is a good start  
> point,
> but adjust as necessary to maintain F4 at 1/125.
>
> Even the best auto-focus will have a horrible hit-rate in this  
> lighting
> condition.  Personally, I find auto-focus to be a distraction when  
> doing
> this kind of photography because it ends up fighting you and you  
> miss the
> "decisive moment".  After 1/2 hour of practice or use, you can  
> manually
> track and focus better than auto-focus ever can.  Your frustration  
> level
> will go down greatly. Instead of a 25% hit-rate (shutter-release  
> priority),
> you can up that to 80% hit-rate of in-focus images.  (Even the best AF
> systems can't muster much better than 25% hit-rate under these  
> specific
> conditions using SRP).

One thing that came to mind, more specifically for bodies that have  
multiple AF points, is that the center point is usually the one most  
sensitive and/or cross type (handy when shooting vertically). Have to  
focus using center point and recompose, which can get annoying and  
result in missed shots. In an E3, just shift the focus point up (or  
down) and voila, it's right near the subject's face, lot less shifting  
to focus/recompose

>
>
> I put the camera in "motor-drive" mode.  When I shoot action like  
> this, I
> fire a three-frame burst.  (Almost always in JPEG mode for this type  
> of work
> so I'm not stuffing the buffer and waiting for the camera--just set
> in-camera sharpening to off or 0). The three-frame burst is actually  
> quite
> important as you will invariably blur the shot (unless you have
> image-stabilization) with the pressing of the shutter-release.  The  
> second
> frame is typically the better frame until you know how to roll your
> trigger-finger instead of "pushing" the shutter release.  A slow  
> roll from
> the half-press position will usually result in a two or three frame  
> burst
> anyway.

Good point

>
>
> I don't need to make recommendations about the compositions.  You've  
> nailed
> them and I really like the images presented!

Nicely done. I like #9 the best, the framing, her expression, position  
in the frame lower left, avoiding whatever lurks in the all the  
negative space above her shoulder/behind her. #8 is a close second,  
for similar reasons, hiding from whatever it is that she's just seen  
and wants to push away.

/s

-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz