Low-light School Play Stage Pics

[meillana]

my daughter was one of the lead characters for the play "a midsummer night's dream" and i just had to take her photos!
tried at first to use p-mode but only got blurred images so i just had to work in manual mode. these were those taken without flash, manual settings f2.8 1/25-30s iso200. i was on the 2nd row left of centerstage about 8-10 meters away

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/meillana/People/P1250786.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/meillana/People/P1260065.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/meillana/People/P1260046.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y281/meillana/People/P1250783.jpg

[genece]

Boy I think you did quite good....just goes to show if folks would spend more time using the camera and less time looking for it problems they would enjoy the camera much more.

I though maybe they needed color corected but then realized it may be the way the light was......Oh your daughter seems very pretty.

[BonjiB]

Well done. Excellent use of manual mode.

[adamsfamily]

Great pictures, they have captured everything well and kept the ambience....

You don't say what Camera you used Meillana??

[meillana]

thanks to all for your kind words...

yes gene, the colors were pretty much spot on as it was on stage and i'm very pleased in fact. she's growing up to be quite a fine lady.

gene and bonjib... the fz20 has its limitations as with most other cameras... the hard part is being able to maximize its potential... and it takes lots of practice, if i may say so myself.

sorry about that adamsfamily, it's an fz20. agree with you fully, the ambiance and mood was definitely captured!

to add to this story. use of the flash blew out the stage settings. and i had 2 chances to shoot. i attended 2 performances, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. i was in the middle of center stage in the morning and was actually video-recording as well. had the sony dv camera mounted on a monopod (my mistake of not bringing the tripod). so using the left hand to direct the angle of the video and keeping the monopod in place with my knees then using my right for the fz20..... it was really a juggler's act... hahaha!

wasnt' really so happy with my vantage in the morning (but this was best for the video though) so i decide to slightly veer off center in the afternoon. it provided me with a "better" angle. thanks again folks.

[tim11]

Great shtos.
Personally, for similar indoors conditions I find ISO200 and S-mode work best for me; and spot auto focus (I got this useful hint from Genece).

[gwhizkids]

What I like about these photos is that they dispel the notion out there that any low-light, high ISO shots with these cameras will feature a high amount of noise. Now, I'm sure an expert could find noise in these photos, but I can't really see any.

[meillana]

What I like about these photos is that they dispel the notion out there that any low-light, high ISO shots with these cameras will feature a high amount of noise. Now, I'm sure an expert could find noise in these photos, but I can't really see any.

and it printed well on 5R (photo lab)! will have 1 or 3 pictures printed later on 8x10.

[jcon]

Excellent photos! You did very very well in a very tough shooting condition.


What I like about these photos is that they dispel the notion out there that any low-light, high ISO shots with these cameras will feature a high amount of noise. Now, I'm sure an expert could find noise in these photos, but I can't really see any.

I dont think it dispells any notion, because she used ISO 200. Anything higher they wouldve been noisy. I do agree, theres hardly any noticable noise in these pictures, Excellent work, meillana

[genece]

and it printed well on 5R (photo lab)! will have 1 or 3 pictures printed later on 8x10.

That, and they look good on screen .....is that not what its all about.

[Donte]

Can you post them any bigger? They are so small.

[Phill D]

meillana
I just caught these & as a fellow FZ20 user who has tried similar school shots I am very impressed. I know how difficult it is & how my first shots came out so very well done, I'm not suprised you are pleased with them. I also agree that the camera is not perfect but with perseverence & once the photographer is atuned to the camera shots like yours can be had. I have also tended to settle on similar settings for such shots. Although sometimes when the light gets even lower the shutter speed drops even further but the anti shake still copes well for a couple of stops slower. You really have to pick your moment though in this case i.e. when movements change direction or stop. Motion blur in some cases can work OK though.
Below is a shot where the light was much lower than I expected & I ventured up to iso 400. Yes there is some noise but I felt it was perfectly acceptable viewed on the screen & it prints fine. Settings F2.8, 1/8s, hand held & iso400 with about a 15% crop & no noise reduction.

[meillana]

Can you post them any bigger? They are so small.

donte, photobucket site automatically resizes the uploaded images and i don't know how to control it. i can email some to you if you like.

[meillana]

meillana
I just caught these & as a fellow FZ20 user who has tried similar school shots I am very impressed. I know how difficult it is & how my first shots came out so very well done, I'm not suprised you are pleased with them. I also agree that the camera is not perfect but with perseverence & once the photographer is atuned to the camera shots like yours can be had. I have also tended to settle on similar settings for such shots. Although sometimes when the light gets even lower the shutter speed drops even further but the anti shake still copes well for a couple of stops slower. You really have to pick your moment though in this case i.e. when movements change direction or stop. Motion blur in some cases can work OK though.
Below is a shot where the light was much lower than I expected & I ventured up to iso 400. Yes there is some noise but I felt it was perfectly acceptable viewed on the screen & it prints fine. Settings F2.8, 1/8s, hand held & iso400 with about a 15% crop & no noise reduction.

hi phill, thanks for the kind words. wow, 1/8s ....you've got stable hands mate as i don't venture below 1/25s.

[Phill D]

I just stopped breathing ;) Well actually I did hold my breath & tuck my elbows in tight to my chest but the main aid was a convenient roof support post that I managed to lean on as well. Anyone watching from behind would have thought I was drunk :D