A Dance Question from Australia...

July 20, 2022 in Tutorials

I was recently asked this question via Email. In replying I realised this is the methodology I use to get to the optimum settings for all my shoots, so I thought I’d publish it in case others might find it useful :-)

Hi David,

A friend of mine has asked if I could take a couple of photos of her a local ballroom/Latin dance event. I have no idea what I’m doing so came across you & your fabulous photos while frantically searching for information on camera settings, lens etc.

I did shoot her at practice… and it’s fast. My images were all noisy & grainy so am reaching out to you with fingers crossed and hopeful that you may share some of your tip to help me capture at least one image for her.

My gear;

- Canon RP
- 24-105 / f4
- 70-200 / f4
- 85 / f1.6

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks, Claire, Cairns, Australia

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Hi Claire,

I’m guessing lack of light will be your main problem - this is often the case indoors.

Turn your camera to Manual Mode - we are going to work through logically to get the optimum settings for Aperture, Shutter Speed & ISO;

Aperture (depth of field)

Shoot at the lowest Aperture you can - this lets most light into the camera.

I'd use the 85mm lens & shoot at F2.8 - you only need the dancers sharp, everything behind can be blurred, that makes the dancers stand out. With the other lenses (but I'd try to not to use them) shoot at F4.

Shutter speed

Shoot at the lowest shutter speed you can - this lets most light into the camera.

Start with 1/200s & use auto ISO so the camera gets a good exposure. Take a shot then zoom in on the back screen of the camera;

are they blurred? (i.e. motion movement) - shoot faster
are they sharp? - shoot slower

Keep going slower until they go blurred - then slowly faster until they are sharp again. You now know the minimum shutter speed to keep them sharp.

ISO

Shoot at the lowest ISO you can - this will give you the best quality image (i.e. less noise / grain).

Deselect Auto ISO & go to manual ISO & start at ISO 400. Take a shot & then use the histogram (or just look at the back screen if you're not comfortable using the histogram);

is it over exposed? - lower the ISO
is it under exposed? - raise the ISO

Keep going until you get the minimum possible ISO

This would be the way I would approach any new situation to get to the optimum camera settings.

Hope this helps.

Regards, David

Water Dancer Workup

December 06, 2020 in Tutorials

Here's a video demonstrating the workup of an image from my Water Dancer follow up shoot. It uses one of my favourite plugins, Flood 2, to create the water reflection. If you want to skip straight to the section showing how I use Flood 2 it's at 11m 35s.

Flood 2 currently costs £25 & you can get it here - www.flamingpear.com/flood-2

Personal Tutorials

April 12, 2020 in Tutorials

Using the Zoom platform I can deliver personal tutorials on Lightroom, Photoshop or any other aspect of my photography. More details here.

Here’s a short sample video showing how it works;

Adding a Ball into a Sports Image

March 13, 2020 in Tutorials

When I present my Sports Lecture I'm often asked "do you move the ball in your sports images for maximum visual impact?" And my reply is "yes - all the time!"

Here’s a short video I recorded for Trevor (who asked that very question) showing how I do it...

New videos added to my YouTube channel

February 10, 2020 in Tutorials

About a year ago I decided that I needed to develop my photography further than just taking images and entering competitions - it was already beginning to feel like it wouldn’t be enough to keep me fully focussed.

For several years in my 30s I worked in training and it’s a period in my life that still holds fond memories - helping people develop is a great feeling. So I decided I’d do the same with my photography and adopted the strapline “Decoding the Image Puzzle” . That’s my objective - to show how I plan, shoot & process my images. Lectures, workshops, behind the scenes videos, processing tutorials are all part of this. I have no end game in sight, I’m certainly not trying to develop a business, but I’m finding this new angle to my photography is really keeping me engaged. No longer is it enough to just get the shot because now I need to think about how I’ll demonstrate the process to others. I’ve received lots of help myself over the last 5 years so if I can help anyone else, however small the contribution, that will be reward enough.

Anyway, enough of my rambling - here’s my YouTube Channel - this is my main outlet for showing how I go about things. If you subscribe you’ll get notifications whenever I post new videos.

Weightlifter workup

January 30, 2020 in Tutorials, Sport

If you’re interested in how I process my images you might want to take a look at a 12 minute video I’ve added to my YouTube channel. I take you step by step through the Photoshop layers in working up the image below, plus some of my thinking behind why I processed it that way.