photogrpahers help!
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- Meeklo
Hey, so I got a new camera, canon 300d. I'm a complete newbie but I need to learn as much as I can for next friday.
My specific situation is, I do stage visuals (VJ) and I have a big gig coming up and I would like to learn how to improve my shots. I'm looking to capture the screens mainly, I don't care if the artists/performers on stages end up dark, as long as they are sharp, I just care about my screens, on the examples below I was cheating, I used a tripod and froze the video so it looks still, but I need to get that on friday while everyone is moving.
http://accentfeed.blogspot.com/2…
any tips?
I would appreciate the help from anyone, thanks in advance!
- Carty0
stick with the tripod.
shoot at 400... 800 with that camera with create a bit too much noise.
the tripod will keep your screens and the frame sharp... the movement with the performers is what you will have to watch... look out for moments of stillness with the performers and shoot that. handheld will just result in camera shake.unfortunately, this is not a perfect situation for creating pictures.. but it can work... tripod, set the cam to iso 400 or 800 and preframe up those shots. shoot some tests... also see if they can bring up some front lights. that will help with exposure of the performers.
- planet010
The only way you are going to get the visuals to show up well while keeping the performers sharp, is with lots of light. So, you'll have to see if the lights on the stage are enough (I would be surprised). Otherwise, you'll have to look at fairly powerful flash setup.
You probably know the basics, to get as much light as you can, you'll need a wide open aperature. To freeze performers (not sure how much movement is involved) you need to adjust shutterspeed as necessary as low as you can while retaining sharpness.
Perhaps you could take a couple shots (one the captures the performers well, and on that captures an empty stage well) and composite them? If the detail in the performers isn't crucial, this might be the best way to go.
- Carty0
flash is not the way to go.. unless they are studio strobes, slaved and off to the left and right.. any flash is going to erase any hope he has of seeing his screens which is the intention.
but hey.. what do i know.
- Meeklo0
flash is not the way to go.. unless they are studio strobes, slaved and off to the left and right.. any flash is going to erase any hope he has of seeing his screens which is the intention.
but hey.. what do i know.
Carty
(Feb 7 06, 09:54)Exactly..
Flash or abmient light in general washes the screens aways, I usually have full control of stage lights, so I could try to incres the ones that point to the performers, (there will be a band playing and models walking on 3 different runways so performers will be moving a lot, I think the tripod might be my only option like Cary mentioned earlier, I do not have strobes or anything else than my camera and my newbie level skills to shoot and collect good portfolio pics. I think my only chance will be to cheat again during rehersal before the show, but I woulded be nice to have the images showing a packed venue.Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it..
Any more tips? :)
- spiralstarez0
Learn the PS RAW editor fast, and shoot RAW. You'll have a lot of flexibility to adjust your exposures after if they are slightly off. That, plus with RAW you just have more flexibility in the post.
Also, I find the histogram to be helpful to let you know if you've lost detail - if it's pushed up to one side (left or right) then it's too dark in the shadows or too light in the highlights.
- Carty0
for sure.. you have to shoot raw like spiral says.
thats a given.
never shoot jpgs.. ever.
- trevedda0
You could try mixing flash and ambient/available light. The flash would freeze the movement and then a longish exposure would capture your screen work. Obviously if the screen stuff is animated then you're just going to get a blur with any length of exposure -
If you've not got a powerful flash gun and the time to experiment then available light and a tripod is all you can do.
Use a fast wide angle lens. Set the ISO rating to 400/800 (as said before). f2.8 or wider if you can, and probably 1/4 second or more for the screens to burn in. Again you're tests should give you an idea.
A blib of fill flash will possibly freeze some motion but it depends on where you are, how powerful your flash is and how long your shutter is open for.
- ethios0
high aperture, meter from the screen. not too long shutter speed or you will just get a huge blur